Microsoft Word and OpenOffice Writer?

Question

I’ve installed Microsoft Word and OpenOffice Writer on the same computer. I’ve used Writer several times, and it has taken over to handle all my word processing documents. What do I have to do to let Word handing those documents, and vice versa? Please be more specific in your answers.

Answer 1

Personally, I would not have installed Word and OpenOffice on the same PC -- what's the point? Most people opt for OpenOffice because it is not important enough to them to buy MS Office. With that said, Word and OpenOffice must have different extensions -- Word, being .doc and whatever OpenOffice uses. Read the information below and specify that .doc files are to open with Word and ___ opens with OpenOffice.

Change the default program Windows XP uses to open a specific type of file

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/hwandprograms/filetype.mspx

When you double-click a file, Microsoft Windows XP opens the file in the default program assigned to that type of file. However, that program might not be the one you prefer. For example, you may want to open pictures in Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 Editor instead of in the default program, which is Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. Sometimes, a newly installed program will open instead of the program you’re used to using.
1. To change the program that opens when you double-click a certain type of file
2. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
3. On the Tools menu, select Folder Options.
4. In the Folder Options dialog box, click the File Types tab. In the Registered file types list, select the file type that you want to configure. Then, click Change.
5. In the Open With dialog box, choose the program you want to use to open the file type, and then click OK.
6. In the Folder Options dialog box, click Close.
Notice that the icon for the file type changes to that of the program you selected.
Tip: You can repeat this process to change the default program for any file type. If a file type has multiple file extensions, repeat the process for each extension. For example, to configure the default program for common picture types, you should repeat the process for .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, and .tif extensions.
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Open a Specific FileType With a Different Program
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307859/

You can specify that files with certain file name extensions are always opened in the same program. You can also modify an existing file type to change its association with a program. You can work with file associations in Microsoft Windows Explorer or My Computer. This article describes how to change file associations in Microsoft Windows XP.
How to change file associations
You may want to change the association of a file name extension from one program to another. For example, you may prefer to open text files (.txt) in your favorite word processor so that you can format the text. By default, text files are associated with Microsoft Notepad. By default, file name extensions for known file types are hidden.
To See All File Extensions
1. On the Tools menu in My Computer or Windows Explorer, click Folder Options.
2. Click the View tab.
3. Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box.
To change file associations
1. Right-click a file with the extension whose association you want to change, and then click Open With.
2. In the Open With dialog box, click the program where you want the file to open, or click Browse to locate the program that you want.
3. Select the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file check box.


How to create file associations for unassociated file types
You may want to create a file association for a file type that is not associated with a program in your computer. There are two common reasons for this action:

• A program such as a database produces file reports with extensions that are not registered in Windows XP.
• You receive e-mail message attachments that are created in a program that is not installed on your computer, but there is an installed program that can read these files.

To create file association:

1. Right-click a file with the extension that you want to change, and then click Open, or double-click the file.
2. Windows XP displays a dialog box that indicates that no program is associated with this file. The dialog box offers two choices for creating an association:
• Use the Web service to find the appropriate program
• Select the program from a list
Unless you want to find and download software that opens this file type, the best choice is to select the program from a list.
3. Windows displays a dialog box that displays programs that are installed on the computer. If the program that you want to use for this file type is not listed, click Browse to locate the appropriate software. Select the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file check box.

Answer 2

Right click on the file in question and select "Open With > Choose default program"

Find Word or Writer, and make sure you check the box that says something like: "Always open with this program"

To the poster below...OpenOffice Writer allows you to create PDFs (for free) which is really useful when you consider the alternatives! BTW you turned my two sentence answer into an essay, why?