Well, Microsoft Word would be your default word processing program if you normally use it to create, read, and/or edit text documents. If you double-click a document bearing a .doc extension (such as MyStory.doc) it will automatically open up in MSWord.

However, if you double-click a .doc file and don't have MSWord on your computer you'll get an error message saying: "Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open this file…."

If MSWord is your default word processor and someone sends you a document created with WordPerfect or MSWorks and you try to open it with a double-click you'll get a message saying: "Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open this file…."

Okay, you can still open a document created with WordPerfect if you first launch MSWord and use File>Open, followed by clicking "WordPerfect (*.wpd)" in the "Files of Type" box in the lower-right corner of the MSWord window.

Conversely, if WordPerfect is your default word processor you can use the above steps to open MSWord, MSWorks, or OpenOffice Write documents.

By the way, all files have an extension appended to their names, such as .doc for MSWord documents (.docx for Word-2007 documents), .xls for Excel spreadsheets, .pdf for portable document files, and .jpg for most photographs.

If you don't see these extensions on your file names click Start>Control Panel>Folder Options>View and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types." (We do not want these extensions hidden!)

Well, you can still open a document created with WordPerfect if you first launch MSWord and use File>Open, followed by clicking "WordPerfect (*.wpd)" in the "Files of Type" box in the lower-right corner of the MSWord window.

Conversely, if WordPerfect is your default word processor you use the above steps to open MSWord or MSWorks documents.

The file name extensions in the above examples are normally exclusive to certain programs, such as wpd to WordPerfect documents. Likewise the extension .xls is exclusive to Excel as is .pps to PowerPoint.

Your Default Image-editing Program

The extensions of various types of image files (such as .jpg, .gif, .bmp, and .tif) are not exclusive to any particular image-editing program.

As an example, on your computer what program will display a photo if you double-click an image's .jpg file name?

Well, it could be 10 different programs on 10 different computers. Most picture file name extensions (.jpg/.gif/ .bmp/.tif) are generic and can be opened with whatever image-editing program you prefer to use.

So which program should you prefer?

If the only thing you do with your digital photos on a PC is look at them, it really doesn't make much difference. However, if you want to crop or resize a photo you most likely have a favorite program for doing these things.

For instance, I have nine different image-editing programs on my computer. So how do I make one of them the default?

Taking a brief look at the history of Windows image-editing might make this easier to understand.

Microsoft has always included a program named Paint with Windows. (It has also been known as Paint Brush and PBrush). In the early days of Windows PCs this was the default program for viewing graphics. More recent PCs have come with Windows Photo Gallery, which Microsoft pre-sets as your default.

However, these are no-frills, bare-bones image-editors. Most professionals use Adobe Photoshop, a high-powered, heavy-duty (and expensive) program. A less intimidating (and less expensive) program from Adobe is Photoshop Elements.

Better yet, there are a number of totally free downloadable image-editing programs, including Picasa, Gimp, Paint.net, and my personal favorite Irfanview.

I made Irfanview my default graphics program as it was installed. During installation I was asked which extensions I want associated with Irfanview, and was shown a list of extensions with checkboxes.

Beyond that, you can set Irfanview's file associations at any time by clicking Options>Set File Associations. One of the options is "Images Only," which lets you choose all picture files with one click. (Irfanview can also play media files, such as .wmv and .mpg videos. I prefer to have Windows Media Player as my default for opening and playing videos and music files).

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