When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to UNinstall
Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no longer shows up
in the windows Control Panel list of programs that can be uninstalled
(though MSO Tools is still there). At this point I installed Libre
Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open files that have MS
Office file extensions.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That
circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry change can
do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.

TIA. Bill S.

bilsch01 wrote:

> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to UNinstall
> Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no longer shows up
> in the windows Control Panel list of programs that can be uninstalled
> (though MSO Tools is still there).  At this point I installed Libre
> Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open files that have MS
> Office file extensions.
>
> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That
> circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
> start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry change can
> do

Go to Start | Settings | Apps | Default apps
Scroll down the right-hand panel and click Set defaults by app
Pick LibreOffice and click its manage button
Find the .doc file type there, and set its association to Libre Office

<https://www.google.com/search?q=associate+doc+files+with+Libreoffice>

You could be seeing the "sales lead" association for .doc files which MS
bundles with Windows 10. How are you sure it is Word97 and not the
"sales lead" association?

bilsch01 wrote:
> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to install
> Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to UNinstall Word97. It
> appeared that I was successful. MS Office no longer shows up in the
> windows Control Panel list of programs that can be uninstalled (though MSO
> Tools is still there).  At this point I installed Libre Office, choosing
> the option that allows LO to open files that have MS Office file extensions.
>
> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc" extension,
> Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I need to
> purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right click the doc
> file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That circumvents the
> problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not start up when a doc
> file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry change can do it. Please let me
> know if you have a suggestion.
>
> TIA.    Bill S.
You might try this. Ymmv.
<https://www.mysysadmintips.com/windows/clients/471-force-remove-ms-office-97>
- there's a link to the older uninstall tool included in the Office 2003
Resource kit(ORK) i.e. Office 2003 era that works for Office 97. The link
is on the text that says ' you can download it *here*'.

Once done removing Office97 programs, uninstall the OR Kit.

--
....w¡ñ§±¤n

On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 at 09:41:47, KenW <ken1943@invalid.net> wrote (my
responses usually follow points raised):
>On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 08:05:11 -0800, bilsch01 <usenet@writer.com> wrote:
>
>>When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>>Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
[]
>>circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
>>start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry change can
>>do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>>
>>TIA. Bill S.
>
>Get Revo Uninstaller Free although you may have uninstalled too much
>for it to work. The other way would be to work with the registry if
>you are familiar with working there.
[]
If changing the default association as others have suggested doesn't
work, and Revo can't find enough of '97 to uninstall it, reinstalling
'97 and _then_ uninstalling it with Revo will probably work. (Revo,
AFAIUI, basically watches a piece of software's own uninstaller, to give
it some hints - both in the registry and on disc - where to look for
leftover droppings.)
(Reinstalling '97 might upset your LibreOffice installation, which might
have to be reinstalled - though I'd hope it [LO] has a "repair" option
which might work more quickly than a full install. But I've never used
LO.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

so that the vendors can "serve you better". As if you were a tennis ball, I
guess. - Wolf K, in alt.windows7.general, 2014-7-21

bilsch01 wrote:

> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to
> UNinstall Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no
> longer shows up in the windows Control Panel list of programs that
> can be uninstalled (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point
> I installed Libre Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open
> files that have MS Office file extensions.
>
> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office".
> That circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just
> not start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry
> change can do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.

Microsoft decided to block programmatic changes to select filetype
associations. While programs you install may have an option to
associate filetypes to themselves, or their installers can do that, so
can malware. To prevent malicious alteration of filetype assignment,
Microsoft blocked apps from programmatically changing the associations.
Users must specify which handler is associated to important filetypes.

In the Start menu, search on "default", and select "Default apps".
Scroll down in the right pane to click on "Choose default apps by file
type". Scroll down to the .doc entry, click on whatever is the current
handler (Word97), and a list pops up showing which apps registered
themself as handlers for that filetype. LO should be listed, so pick
that handler. Even if LibreOffice is not the currently associated
handler for the .doc filetype, it should've registered itself as a
candidate handler.

That can get tedious to reassign all Word, Excel, and other Office
filetypes to LO. Instead, back in Default Apps, scroll down to pick
"Set defaults by app". Scroll down the LO entry, and click on it, and
then click on the Manage button that appears. That will list all the
filetypes for which LO registered itself as a candidate handler even if
LO is not currently the default handler for them. You probably don't
want to use LO for every filetype it can handle. For example, I have
..htm[l] (web docs) assigned to Firefox, .bmp and .jpeg to XnView, .txt
to Notepad, and so on. Some filetypes may already be assigned to LO
while some may still be assigned to Word. The block against
programmatic alteration is only for important filetypes: those that
malware often targets.

Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
for the "Always use this app" option.

On 2/1/2022 10:47 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
> bilsch01 wrote:
>
>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to
>> UNinstall Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no
>> longer shows up in the windows Control Panel list of programs that
>> can be uninstalled (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point
>> I installed Libre Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open
>> files that have MS Office file extensions.
>>
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office".
>> That circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just
>> not start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry
>> change can do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>
> Microsoft decided to block programmatic changes to select filetype
> associations. While programs you install may have an option to
> associate filetypes to themselves, or their installers can do that, so
> can malware. To prevent malicious alteration of filetype assignment,
> Microsoft blocked apps from programmatically changing the associations.
> Users must specify which handler is associated to important filetypes.
>
> In the Start menu, search on "default", and select "Default apps".
> Scroll down in the right pane to click on "Choose default apps by file
> type". Scroll down to the .doc entry, click on whatever is the current
> handler (Word97), and a list pops up showing which apps registered
> themself as handlers for that filetype. LO should be listed, so pick
> that handler. Even if LibreOffice is not the currently associated
> handler for the .doc filetype, it should've registered itself as a
> candidate handler.
>
> That can get tedious to reassign all Word, Excel, and other Office
> filetypes to LO. Instead, back in Default Apps, scroll down to pick
> "Set defaults by app". Scroll down the LO entry, and click on it, and
> then click on the Manage button that appears. That will list all the
> filetypes for which LO registered itself as a candidate handler even if
> LO is not currently the default handler for them. You probably don't
> want to use LO for every filetype it can handle. For example, I have
> .htm[l] (web docs) assigned to Firefox, .bmp and .jpeg to XnView, .txt
> to Notepad, and so on. Some filetypes may already be assigned to LO
> while some may still be assigned to Word. The block against
> programmatic alteration is only for important filetypes: those that
> malware often targets.
>
> Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
> Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
> if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
> selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
> Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
> for the "Always use this app" option.

On my PC Start-->Settings-->Apps has no category Default Apps. The list
is alphabetical and skips from Cortana to Epson. It may have been
deleted. Do you think it might be possible I could create such a
category manually?

On 2/1/2022 10:47 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
> bilsch01 wrote:
>
>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to
>> UNinstall Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no
>> longer shows up in the windows Control Panel list of programs that
>> can be uninstalled (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point
>> I installed Libre Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open
>> files that have MS Office file extensions.
>>
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office".
>> That circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just
>> not start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry
>> change can do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>
> Microsoft decided to block programmatic changes to select filetype
> associations. While programs you install may have an option to
> associate filetypes to themselves, or their installers can do that, so
> can malware. To prevent malicious alteration of filetype assignment,
> Microsoft blocked apps from programmatically changing the associations.
> Users must specify which handler is associated to important filetypes.
>
> In the Start menu, search on "default", and select "Default apps".
> Scroll down in the right pane to click on "Choose default apps by file
> type". Scroll down to the .doc entry, click on whatever is the current
> handler (Word97), and a list pops up showing which apps registered
> themself as handlers for that filetype. LO should be listed, so pick
> that handler. Even if LibreOffice is not the currently associated
> handler for the .doc filetype, it should've registered itself as a
> candidate handler.
>
> That can get tedious to reassign all Word, Excel, and other Office
> filetypes to LO. Instead, back in Default Apps, scroll down to pick
> "Set defaults by app". Scroll down the LO entry, and click on it, and
> then click on the Manage button that appears. That will list all the
> filetypes for which LO registered itself as a candidate handler even if
> LO is not currently the default handler for them. You probably don't
> want to use LO for every filetype it can handle. For example, I have
> .htm[l] (web docs) assigned to Firefox, .bmp and .jpeg to XnView, .txt
> to Notepad, and so on. Some filetypes may already be assigned to LO
> while some may still be assigned to Word. The block against
> programmatic alteration is only for important filetypes: those that
> malware often targets.
>
> Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
> Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
> if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
> selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
> Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
> for the "Always use this app" option.

Please excuse. I'm reading your post now.

On 2/1/2022 10:47 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
> bilsch01 wrote:
>
>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to
>> UNinstall Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no
>> longer shows up in the windows Control Panel list of programs that
>> can be uninstalled (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point
>> I installed Libre Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open
>> files that have MS Office file extensions.
>>
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office".
>> That circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just
>> not start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry
>> change can do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>
> Microsoft decided to block programmatic changes to select filetype
> associations. While programs you install may have an option to
> associate filetypes to themselves, or their installers can do that, so
> can malware. To prevent malicious alteration of filetype assignment,
> Microsoft blocked apps from programmatically changing the associations.
> Users must specify which handler is associated to important filetypes.
>
> In the Start menu, search on "default", and select "Default apps".
> Scroll down in the right pane to click on "Choose default apps by file
> type". Scroll down to the .doc entry, click on whatever is the current
> handler (Word97), and a list pops up showing which apps registered
> themself as handlers for that filetype. LO should be listed, so pick
> that handler. Even if LibreOffice is not the currently associated
> handler for the .doc filetype, it should've registered itself as a
> candidate handler.
>
> That can get tedious to reassign all Word, Excel, and other Office
> filetypes to LO. Instead, back in Default Apps, scroll down to pick
> "Set defaults by app". Scroll down the LO entry, and click on it, and
> then click on the Manage button that appears. That will list all the
> filetypes for which LO registered itself as a candidate handler even if
> LO is not currently the default handler for them. You probably don't
> want to use LO for every filetype it can handle. For example, I have
> .htm[l] (web docs) assigned to Firefox, .bmp and .jpeg to XnView, .txt
> to Notepad, and so on. Some filetypes may already be assigned to LO
> while some may still be assigned to Word. The block against
> programmatic alteration is only for important filetypes: those that
> malware often targets.
>
> Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
> Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
> if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
> selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
> Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
> for the "Always use this app" option.

The option "Always use this app" did the trick! Thanks. You're a genius!

Bill S.

On 2/1/2022 10:47 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
> bilsch01 wrote:
>
>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to
>> UNinstall Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no
>> longer shows up in the windows Control Panel list of programs that
>> can be uninstalled (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point
>> I installed Libre Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open
>> files that have MS Office file extensions.
>>
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office".
>> That circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just
>> not start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry
>> change can do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>
> Microsoft decided to block programmatic changes to select filetype
> associations. While programs you install may have an option to
> associate filetypes to themselves, or their installers can do that, so
> can malware. To prevent malicious alteration of filetype assignment,
> Microsoft blocked apps from programmatically changing the associations.
> Users must specify which handler is associated to important filetypes.
>
> In the Start menu, search on "default", and select "Default apps".
> Scroll down in the right pane to click on "Choose default apps by file
> type". Scroll down to the .doc entry, click on whatever is the current
> handler (Word97), and a list pops up showing which apps registered
> themself as handlers for that filetype. LO should be listed, so pick
> that handler. Even if LibreOffice is not the currently associated
> handler for the .doc filetype, it should've registered itself as a
> candidate handler.
>
> That can get tedious to reassign all Word, Excel, and other Office
> filetypes to LO. Instead, back in Default Apps, scroll down to pick
> "Set defaults by app". Scroll down the LO entry, and click on it, and
> then click on the Manage button that appears. That will list all the
> filetypes for which LO registered itself as a candidate handler even if
> LO is not currently the default handler for them. You probably don't
> want to use LO for every filetype it can handle. For example, I have
> .htm[l] (web docs) assigned to Firefox, .bmp and .jpeg to XnView, .txt
> to Notepad, and so on. Some filetypes may already be assigned to LO
> while some may still be assigned to Word. The block against
> programmatic alteration is only for important filetypes: those that
> malware often targets.
>
> Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
> Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
> if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
> selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
> Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
> for the "Always use this app" option.

The option "Always use this app" did the trick! Thanks. You're a genius!

Bill S.

On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 08:05:11 -0800, bilsch01 wrote:
> when I double click a filename with a "doc"
> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That
> circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
> start up when a doc file is clicked.

Right-click and select "Open With ..". Check (tick) the box next to
"Always use this app to open .doc files", _then_ select Libre Office.

At least, that's how it works in Windows 10. You didn't say which
Windows you have, but this is a Windows 10 newsgroup.

But doesn't Libre Office itself give you an option to associate
various file types with itself?

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

On 2/1/2022 3:07 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 08:05:11 -0800, bilsch01 wrote:
>> when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That
>> circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
>> start up when a doc file is clicked.
>
> Right-click and select "Open With ..". Check (tick) the box next to
> "Always use this app to open .doc files", _then_ select Libre Office.
>
> At least, that's how it works in Windows 10. You didn't say which
> Windows you have, but this is a Windows 10 newsgroup.
>
> But doesn't Libre Office itself give you an option to associate
> various file types with itself?
>
>
>

LO -->Tools -->Extension Manager has some stuff but it's not about
filename extensions. It doesn't work with those.

On 2/1/2022 8:41 AM, KenW wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 08:05:11 -0800, bilsch01 <usenet@writer.com> wrote:
>
>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to UNinstall
>> Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no longer shows up
>> in the windows Control Panel list of programs that can be uninstalled
>> (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point I installed Libre
>> Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open files that have MS
>> Office file extensions.
>>
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That
>> circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
>> start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry change can
>> do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>>
>> TIA. Bill S.
>
> Get Revo Uninstaller Free although you may have uninstalled too much
> for it to work. The other way would be to work with the registry if
> you are familiar with working there.
>
>
> KenW
VanguardLH posted a good solution below, but I would be interested to
hear specific tricks you can do with Registry Editor too - for reference.

On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 at 12:47:26, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote (my
responses usually follow points raised):
[]
>Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
>Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
>if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
>selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
>Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
>for the "Always use this app" option.

I'm pleased to here they've finally got round to turning that to default
off. Up to at least W7, I found it being on by default very tedious: if
I wanted to examine a file with an unknown (or no) extension (I'd
generally try IrfanView and/or a plain text viewer like Notepad), it was
infuriating if I forgot to turn the "always use" off, especially if the
prog. I tried _didn't_ open the file; its a lot harder to _undo_ an
association like that than to accidentally make it.

(In 7, I have some utility to "fix" the problem, but that has only
worked by removing "always ..." altogether, which is also tedious.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Practicall every British actor with a bus pass is in there ...
Barry Norman (on "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" [2011]), RT 2015/12/12-18

On 2/1/2022 8:41 AM, KenW wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Feb 2022 08:05:11 -0800, bilsch01 <usenet@writer.com> wrote:
>
>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to UNinstall
>> Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no longer shows up
>> in the windows Control Panel list of programs that can be uninstalled
>> (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point I installed Libre
>> Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open files that have MS
>> Office file extensions.
>>
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office". That
>> circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just not
>> start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry change can
>> do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>>
>> TIA. Bill S.
>
> Get Revo Uninstaller Free although you may have uninstalled too much
> for it to work. The other way would be to work with the registry if
> you are familiar with working there.
>
>
> KenW

I got Revo. I think I must have uninstalled Word too much. It still
shows in the Start menu but Revo doesn't see it.

bilsch01 wrote:

> On 2/1/2022 10:47 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
>> bilsch01 wrote:
>>
>>> When I first got this PC I custom installed the Word97 portion of MS
>>> Office 97, along with MSO97 Tools. Just the other day I decided to
>>> install Libre Office Suite, but before I did that I wanted to
>>> UNinstall Word97. It appeared that I was successful. MS Office no
>>> longer shows up in the windows Control Panel list of programs that
>>> can be uninstalled (though MSO Tools is still there). At this point
>>> I installed Libre Office, choosing the option that allows LO to open
>>> files that have MS Office file extensions.
>>>
>>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I double click a filename with a "doc"
>>> extension, Word97 starts up, along with a series boxes that tell me I
>>> need to purchase Microsoft Office suite. A "work around" is to right
>>> click the doc file and choose the option "open with Libre Office".
>>> That circumvents the problem but I would much rather have Word97 just
>>> not start up when a doc file is clicked. Maybe a simple registry
>>> change can do it. Please let me know if you have a suggestion.
>>
>> Microsoft decided to block programmatic changes to select filetype
>> associations. While programs you install may have an option to
>> associate filetypes to themselves, or their installers can do that, so
>> can malware. To prevent malicious alteration of filetype assignment,
>> Microsoft blocked apps from programmatically changing the associations.
>> Users must specify which handler is associated to important filetypes.
>>
>> In the Start menu, search on "default", and select "Default apps".
>> Scroll down in the right pane to click on "Choose default apps by file
>> type". Scroll down to the .doc entry, click on whatever is the current
>> handler (Word97), and a list pops up showing which apps registered
>> themself as handlers for that filetype. LO should be listed, so pick
>> that handler. Even if LibreOffice is not the currently associated
>> handler for the .doc filetype, it should've registered itself as a
>> candidate handler.
>>
>> That can get tedious to reassign all Word, Excel, and other Office
>> filetypes to LO. Instead, back in Default Apps, scroll down to pick
>> "Set defaults by app". Scroll down the LO entry, and click on it, and
>> then click on the Manage button that appears. That will list all the
>> filetypes for which LO registered itself as a candidate handler even if
>> LO is not currently the default handler for them. You probably don't
>> want to use LO for every filetype it can handle. For example, I have
>> .htm[l] (web docs) assigned to Firefox, .bmp and .jpeg to XnView, .txt
>> to Notepad, and so on. Some filetypes may already be assigned to LO
>> while some may still be assigned to Word. The block against
>> programmatic alteration is only for important filetypes: those that
>> malware often targets.
>>
>> Alternatively, use File Explorer, right-click on a .doc file, select
>> Open With in the context menu, and click on Browse to pick an app. Even
>> if LO is listed as a candidate, picking it will only use it once for the
>> selected file. LO won't be the default thereafter. Use Open With ->
>> Choose another app, and pick LO, but also be sure to select the checkbox
>> for the "Always use this app" option.
>
> On my PC Start-->Settings-->Apps has no category Default Apps. The list
> is alphabetical and skips from Cortana to Epson. It may have been
> deleted. Do you think it might be possible I could create such a
> category manually?

That list shows the current defaults, NOT all the apps since not all
apps will be default apps. That's why I said to dig further by
scrolling down to click on:

"Choose default apps by file type"
To set default app by the filetype.

"Set defaults by app"
Per app listed, it shows what the app is registered as the filetypes it
will handle. Several candidate handlers may be listed per filetype, so
pick the handler you want.