Help! All my saved games now show as Paint files

[stwils]

This is very upsetting. I can still play my Civ3 saved games, but when I go to MyComputer/c/Programs/Infogrames/Civ3/Saves, instead of each one showing with a little windows thingy in the middle they show a cup with paint brushes.

Yesterday I tried to open something someone on the forum sent me which I thought was a screen shot. So I tried to open it in Paint. (I've never used Paint before.) Nothing happened.

But now when I try to open a downloaded zip file winzip tries to open it in Paint.

Horrors!

How do I get things back to normal?

I don't know much about file extensions - I know jpgs and doc. and a few others. What is the extension on all my saved games? Why have all the little pages with the windows icon changed?

Please advise.

stwils

 

[Hawkster]

I think you have created a file association to the paint program so that when you try to opent he program it defaults to paint.

To try and sort out use explorer to find the file and right click on the file name - from the menu select Open With - then slect the program you want to open the file with (for zip files - winzip for civ3 save files the civ3.exe file you may need to bowse for the correct file as it may not automatically show up in the list) - make sure the always use this program to open these files option is checked.

This should recreate the file association back to how it was ....

Good Luck.

 

[stwils]

Hawkster, thanks for trying to help me.

I am still in the dark on this. I opened Windows Explorer and found the Civ3 Save file and right clicked. It just showed me all the little games I had.

I right clicked on one of them and went to open, but there was not an "open with" there. And I even tried doing it for the whole folder.

I have Windows 98 for Dummies and More Windows 98 for Dummies, but neither of them tells me anything.

I can play my saved games all right in Civ3. But I doubt if I sent a saved game to the Succession Game forum it would open properly as it is set to open with Paint.

Confused. And scared I'll do something here to mess things up even more.

Any other thoughts?

stwils

 

[Padma]

stwils:

Hold down the <SHIFT> key when you right-click. That should enable the "open with" option.

 

[stwils]

Thanks, Padma and Hawkster.

But I still can't find the "Open with" option. And if I do, will Civ.exe be listed.

In looking in my hard drive, I have found that not only are my saved games in Civ3 showing up with the Paint icon, all my saved games in Civ1 and Civ2 are, too, and they are not in the same folder. (I checked in my Age of Empires saved games and they are all right. Thank goodness not everything is showing up with the Paint icon.)

I don't know what to do. I can still play my saved games fine. Do you think it is all right to leave things as they are?

Eventually I will be sending one of my saved games to the Succession Games forum. What should I do?

Sorry I can't seem to get this fixed. My computer is a good Dell and that is not the problem. The problem is me.

stwils

 

[stwils]

I still can not get this straight. Still can play my saved games. And fortunately they downloaded on the forum when I sent an attachment of my saved game.

BUT - there they all sit in all of my Civ save games. (Civ2 also?)

Can anyone help me with an easy solution or one that I can handle.

stwils

 

[Padma]

The problem is that the ".sav" extension has somehow become associated with Paint. It's not really a problem, but I know it would be more comforting to have it fixed. I just don't remember right now how to fix it!

 

[stwils]

Well, yes, it would be more comforting to get the thing straight.

But at least the saved game I am sent to our Training Day game seem to arrive all right and folks could download it.

Must just be the way my computer is trying to open the files. But I don't need them opened, except inside the game, do I?

If it isn't really a problem, Padma, I will let it rest.

stwils