Default Word VERSION

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Because I occasionally need to field questions from those using several versions of Word, I have Word 2003, 2007, and 2010 on my computer. All work properly. However after helping someone with tab settings in Word 2007, Windows thinks that is the default. Even after using Word 2010 multiple times (by specifically opening the program), when I double-click a .doc or .docx file, Windows 7 tries to re-install Word 2007. How can I set the default?
Thank you.

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You can reassociate .doc and .docx with Word 2010.

Open up File Explorer (click Start then Computer).
Find a .doc file. Right-click on it, and choose Properties.
On the General tab, you will find “Opens with:”. Click the Change button to the right of that.
Select Word 2010 from the list of recommended programs.
If Word 2010 is not listed, then click Browse (bottom right) and browse for it. It will likely be in C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Office, in a subfolder called Office13 or something like that. It will likely be called WINWORD, and the type of file will be “Application”. If you see an application called WINWORD, highlight it and click Open. Then back in the previous window, make sure that “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” is checked, then click OK.

Do the same for a .docx file.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Thank you – that fixes 1/2 the problem. .docx files now open with Word 2010, but .doc files still trigger Word 2007. I chose the same program for both. The path for my system is C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Office Office 2010 Office 14Winword.exe
Is it significant that a system search finds only one Winword, the one for Office 2010?

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In my experience, the system finds the last version that was installed.

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Here are some possible answers:

http://www.sevenforums.com/microsoft-office/91886-word-2010-issues-opening-older-version-documents.html

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/59b1b971-ba80-4220-b31b-29300aca8a30/cant-open-doc-files-with-word-2010

Here’s an interesting post from the Microsoft Technet link above:
I had the similar problem but just by trying as below, was able to open the file in MS Word 2010:
1. Right Click on File
2. Click on “Open With”
3. Click on “MS Application Virtualization DDE Launcher
The File will open straightaway.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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My guess, and it’s only a guess, is that .doc is such an old format that Microsoft may have coded something into Word 2010 to not let it default to .doc.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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I have Word 97, 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013 on my computer and prefer most of the time to be using Word 2010.

One method is to re-register the application you want as the default. This is done as a command-line option. You use the Run command under the Start menu. The following is the command I use to re-register Word 2010 as the default:

Code:

"C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice14WINWORD.EXE" /r

The key is to give a full path to Winword.exe. The one shown above is for Word 2010 on my computer. Yours may simply say “Program Files” without the (x86). Note the space before “/r.”

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