Puzzling problem

I received an email with an attachment from a friend. When I click on the
attachment I get the message "This file does not have a program associated
with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Folder
Options control panel."
I don't know what a Folder Options Control panel is and wouldn't know how to
create an association! Can someone please help me with this? John D.

Jeff Gaines...

Do you know what type of file it is (or can you give us the full name
including the extension)?

We can talk you through associating it with a program but need a bit
more info to make sure it's the right one :-)

John D....

Thanks Jeff. It says in the message Type: Word Pad document. I think
it is a joke about Bird Flu! John D.

Jeff Gaines...

OK, some thoughts for after snooker :-)

It may be sensible to save the file then scan it with your anti-virus
program before you try and open it, you may be able to assume your
friend is sensible but he may be passing it on from elsewhere.

Then navigate to it in Explorer, right click and you get get an option
'Open' and further down the menu 'Open With'. Try 'Open', if that
doesn't work then try 'Open With' and select a suitable program. If you
tick the box 'Always Use The Selected Program To Open This Type Of
File' then it will set a file association up for you.

It does depend on what type of file it is, Windows uses file extensions
to indicate the file type (e.g. file.txt, file.rtf, file.doc etc.) but
if your friend is using a different operating system (like OSX or Linux
or even RISC OS) then it may not have an extension and that will
confuse Windows. In that case you may need to ask what type of file it
is.

John D....

Thanks Jeff, I'll print it out now and try to work my way through it
to-morrow afternoon. Thanks for taking the trouble. I played rotten by the
way at the club. :-) John D.