Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My only
options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or go to the
Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing. Can you help.

<Bill>

On 10/13/2023 1:17 PM, Bill Bradshaw wrote:
> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
> version of Pro.

If you have registered your purchased version of Pro, you can sign into
your Windows 10 Home with that Microsoft account, and Microsoft will
change your Home to Pro. Or you find the serial number of your Pro and
change the Windows 10 Home to that serial number.

> I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My only
> options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or go to the
> Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing. Can you help.
>
> <Bill>
>

I suggest you right click on a blank spot on your Desktop to creat a new
text document .txt file on your Desktop. Then rename the extension .txt
to .pdf.

 Now you have a fake .pdf file on your Desktop. Now right click on that
fake .pdf file and choose "Open with", then "Choose another app". If you
see your preferred PDF software, then highlight it and check the box
"Always.....". Otherwise, go down to the bottom and pick "Choose an app
on your PC", and then navigate to the software that you want.

Hope that helps. Please report back.

Bill Bradshaw <bradshaw@gci.net> wrote:

> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
> version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My
> only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or
> go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing.

A .pdf is a filetype. You don't associate a file with a file. You
associate a program (handler) with a filetype.

What happens in File Explorer when you right-click on a .pdf file, and
select Open With in the context menu? If you installed a PDF viewer
program, you should see a list of candidate handlers for the .pdf file
type. Pick one, and make sure to check to option to remember your
choice if you don't want to keep making this selection.

Firefox has a built-in PDF viewer. It is very basic. It is listed as a
candidate handler, because it registered itself (Windows registry) as a
PDF file type handler. I have used Edge very little (Firefox is my
primary web browser), but apparently it also embeds a PDF viewer in that
web browser.

Have you yet actually installed a PDF viewer as a UWP (Universal Windows
Platform) app, or as a Win32 program? You can't open apps/programs you
don't have. There are lots of choice of PDF viewers both free and paid.
You could pay for Adobe's Acrobat, but that is likely overkill for just
wanting a viewer instead of an editor. For a free PDF viewer, I use
PDF-Xchange's PDF Editor. While it has Editor in its product name, it
only does a few editing tasks, like annotation and adding circles. Some
folks like CutePDF, Adobe Reader DC, Foxit Reader, PDF Escape, Sumatra.
Do an online search on "windows pdf viewer" for lots of suggestions on
PDF viewers. Add "free" if you don't want to consider payware.

There are lots of web-based tools to view PDF files, or add-ons to web
browsers, but for filetype association you need a local handler for PDF
files.

Other than Edge, Windows does not come bundled with a PDF viewer. You
will have to install one. Microsoft begrudgingly supports PDF in Edge,
but Microsoft doesn't want to support Adobe's file formats. Microsoft
tried to come out with their substitute doc format of XPS, but it didn't
get accepted well, and died off pretty much a decade ago, but it
lingered for a while.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_XML_Paper_Specification

That XPS failed doesn't mean Microsoft embraced PDF. If you want to
open .pdf files in Windows without using Edge, you need to install a PDF
viewer app or program (that registers itself as a PDF handler).

In article <kotcd4Fb7htU1@mid.individual.net>, bradshaw@gci.net (Bill Bradshaw)
wrote:

> *From:* "Bill Bradshaw" <bradshaw@gci.net>
> *Date:* Fri, 13 Oct 2023 09:17:04 -0800
>
> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old
> purchased version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local
> file. My only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge,
> Firefox, or go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I
> am missing. Can you help.

Assuming you mean associating a program to open your file, there should be a
shaded out "More Apps" entry on the Open With dialog. If you click that and scroll
right to the bottom of the list there's another shaded out entry "Look for another
app on this PC" and clicking that will bring up the normal file selector where you
can choose the program you want to open your PDF files.

--
Regards
John

Bill Bradshaw wrote:
> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
> version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My
> only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or
> go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing. Can you
> help.
> <Bill>

I am moving to a new computer from a 13 year old computer and there a lot of
things I have not performed in a long time. Right clicking and selecting
the program and remembering to check always use this program fixed the
problem. The reason I waited 13 years to get a new computer was because
even after all these years I still remember what a hassle it was the last
time.
--
<Bill>

Brought to you from Anchorage, Alaska

In message <kotjjuFcjlpU1@mid.individual.net>, Bill Bradshaw
<bradshaw@gci.net> writes
>Bill Bradshaw wrote:
>> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
>> version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My
>> only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or
>> go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing. Can you
>> help.
>> <Bill>
>
>I am moving to a new computer from a 13 year old computer and there a lot of
>things I have not performed in a long time. Right clicking and selecting
>the program and remembering to check always use this program fixed the
>problem. The reason I waited 13 years to get a new computer was because
>even after all these years I still remember what a hassle it was the last
>time.

I sympathise. Nine years and counting here.
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)

On 10/13/23 01:17 PM, this is what Bill Bradshaw wrote:
> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
> version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My only
> options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or go to the
> Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing. Can you help.
>
> <Bill>
>
>
There is an old program that still works from NirSoft, filetypesman.
If you are industrious and want to get into the nitty gritty of things you can. Not sure if it's your gig.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html
Way down the bottom of the page is the DL link.
--
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon
Al

On Fri, 13 Oct 2023 11:19:59 -0800, "Bill Bradshaw" <bradshaw@gci.net>
wrote:

>Bill Bradshaw wrote:
>> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old purchased
>> version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local file. My
>> only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge, Firefox, or
>> go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I am missing. Can you
>> help.
>> <Bill>
>
>I am moving to a new computer from a 13 year old computer and there a lot of
>things I have not performed in a long time. Right clicking and selecting
>the program and remembering to check always use this program fixed the
>problem. The reason I waited 13 years to get a new computer was because
>even after all these years I still remember what a hassle it was the last
>time.

Your choice of course, but in my view, the longer you wait, the more
of a hassle it probably is.

That's primarily for two reasons:

1. The longer you wait, the more the newer version of Windows is
different from your older one.

2. The longer you wait, the more configuration changes you have made,
the more default programs you have changed, etc.

Big Al wrote:
> On 10/13/23 01:17 PM, this is what Bill Bradshaw wrote:
>> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old
>> purchased version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local
>> file. My only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge,
>> Firefox, or go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I am
>> missing. Can you help. <Bill>
>>
>>
> There is an old program that still works from NirSoft, filetypesman.
> If you are industrious and want to get into the nitty gritty of
> things you can. Not sure if it's your gig.
> https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html Way down the bottom
> of the page is the DL link.

Thanks for the heads up. I actually have that through WSCC but was not
familiar with it.

<Bill>

On 10/14/23 12:23 PM, this is what Bill Bradshaw wrote:
> Big Al wrote:
>> On 10/13/23 01:17 PM, this is what Bill Bradshaw wrote:
>>> Windows 10 Home because I could not find a way to use my old
>>> purchased version of Pro. I want to associate a .PDF with a local
>>> file. My only options being presented by Windows 10 Home are Edge,
>>> Firefox, or go to the Microsoft Store. There must be something I am
>>> missing. Can you help. <Bill>
>>>
>>>
>> There is an old program that still works from NirSoft, filetypesman.
>> If you are industrious and want to get into the nitty gritty of
>> things you can. Not sure if it's your gig.
>> https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/file_types_manager.html Way down the bottom
>> of the page is the DL link.
>
> Thanks for the heads up. I actually have that through WSCC but was not
> familiar with it.
>
> <Bill>
>
>
There's a hell of a learning curve to get the most out of it. You can look at one file type for example, and use that
for your file ext you want. Or that's what I do, I'm good at copy/paste.
--
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon
Al