Update: 2/25/2008
I just installed Nero 8 Ultra Edition and it totally hosed all of my file associations again, so I had to refer back to this post of mine in order to fix it. Why do these software companies release such installers? Shame on you Nero!
Unfortunately this didn't fix the issue this time. I had to call the Nero tech support hotline and they were no help. Eventually I just uninstalled the Nero media player and other non-CD/DVD burning related cruft that comes with Nero 8 Ultra, and after rebooting, my file associations were repaired. This is a really big deal Nero engineers! You need to FIX THIS! It's not cool to break people's computers whenever they install your software. While I don't recommend Roxio, this is a big drawback of paying Nero $100. maybe someone out there can recommend me something other than Nero or Roxio.
I recently installed Winamp, because I like the little program and enjoy using their Shoutcast streaming services. Unfortunately Winamp hosed my file associations such that I could no longer launch streaming radio files (*.asx) from IE. Whenever I'd click one, it'd ask me if I wanted to save the file...
"Do you want to save this file?"
I understand that some people get...
"Save Target As"
Many sites give instructions to go to the File Types tab in Windows Media Player 11 to reassociate the asf and asx files with WMP, but mine doesn't have a file types tab. After some digging, and a few wrong emails from tech support people at clear-channel and other places; I have figured out how to fix the issue. Remember, this is in Windows Vista (Ultimate in my case), Windows Media Player 11 and IE7.
- Close all instances of Internet Explorer.
- Navigate to ... Start | Control Panel | Default Programs.
- Click on "Associate a file type or protocol with a program".
- Sort by Name and scroll down to .asf. It will likely say the default program is Windows Media Player, but it is lying. In my case WinAmp had hijacked the extension, but wasn't working.
Bad Winamp!
- Double click the .asf file extension, select "Windows Media Player" and click [OK].
- Do the same thing for .asx files
- Close all little windows and restart IE. Clicking on an asx or asf link should now launch Windows Media Player rather than asking you if you want to save the file.