Managing Software on Windows Vista

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Once you have installed software on Windows Vista, you'll need to manage it. This article, the third of four parts, explains what you need to do. It is excerpted from chapter four of Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide, written by William R. Stanek (O'Reilly, 2007; ISBN: 0596528000). Copyright © 2007 O'Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission from the publisher. Available from booksellers or direct from O'Reilly Media.

Managing Software Once It’s Installed

Installing software is only one part of software management. Often after you install software, you’ll need to make configuration changes to your computer or the software itself. You may want files of a certain type to open in the software when you click or double-click the files in Windows Explorer. You may need to reconfigure, repair, or uninstall the software. Alternatively, you may need to resolve problems with the way the software starts or runs. I discuss all of these tasks in the sections that follow.

Assigning Default Programs

When you install productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, the installation process may configure your computer so that certain types of files automatically open in the application when you click or double-click it in Windows Explorer. The installation process may also configure your computer so that when you insert media containing music, video, or pictures, the media is opened and played automatically using a particular application. 

Associating an application with particular file types and running an application for certain types of media are separate features. You make files with a specific extension or type open in a specific program by associating the file extension or type with the program. You make media on CDs, DVDs, or portable devices open and play in a particular program by making a program the default for AutoPlay.

You configure file associations and default programs either only for yourself or globally for all users of your computer. Your individual default settings override global default settings. For example, you might want Apple iTunes to be your default audio player, but the global default for all users could be set to use Windows Media Player.

Setting your default programs

You can configure your default programs by completing the following steps:

1. Click Start and then click Default Programs.
   
2. Click “Set your default programs.”
   

3. As shown in Figure 4-7, select a program you want to work with from the Programs list.

4. If you want the program to be the default for all the file types and protocols it supports, click “Set this program as default” and click OK. Skip the remaining steps.
   
5. If you want the program to be the default for specific file types and protocols, click “Choose defaults for this program.”
   
6. As shown in Figure 4-8, select the file extensions and protocols for which the program should be the default.
   
7. Click Save.

Figure 4-7.  Selecting the program you want to work with

Figure 4-8.  Configuring file extensions to associate with the program

Next: Setting global default programs >>
 

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