Unwanted interference

Question

I have documents saved to hard drive or USB stick but when I open them Microsoft insists on opening them in Windows Explorer. How can I stop this unwanted interference and why does Microsoft do this?

Answer 1

When you said "Windows Explorer" did you mean to say "Internet Explorer"?

While Windows Explorer can show the lists of files in each of the folders on your computer and is capable of showing a preview of some files, it is NOT capable of opening a Word document.

Note also that you should NEVER open a Word document when it is located on a USB stick or any other form of removable media and you should NEVER save a Word document directly to such media.

Answer 2

In whatever version of Windows you have (which is important to know if you want us to give you step-by-step instructions), go to the Control Panel or the Settings page and change the default application for PDF files from Internet Explorer to whatever PDF reader program you prefer.

For example, in Windows 7, click the Default Programs link in the Control Panel, and then click "Associate a file type or protocol with a program". In the next dialog, select PDF in the list and then click the Change Program button. Select the program you want.

Doug's advice about not opening or saving documents on removable media applies mostly to Office (Word, Excel, etc.) documents, which tend to become corrupted -- most often if you remove the media before Windows has written any cached data to it. That's less likely to happen with PDF files, which aren't often edited directly.

Answer 3

When you said "Windows Explorer" did you mean to say "Internet Explorer"?

While Windows Explorer can show the lists of files in each of the folders on your computer and is capable of showing a preview of some files, it is NOT capable of opening a Word document.

Note also that you should NEVER open a Word document when it is located on a USB stick or any other form of removable media and you should NEVER save a Word document directly to such media.

Thank you Doug for prompt and fulsome response.

I did indeed mean "Internet Explorer"

Moving on.

Does your advice re removable media relate to cybersecurity risks? If so point made.

My issue is with pdf files, not Word.

So summing up: I am irritated that my pdf documents open in IE, I posted an irritated post and managed to get 2 key matters wrong in it.

You replied promptly, accurately and helpfully.

:-)

Thank you