File Association Problem

I already had the latest version of InDesign installed but I tried installing the patch (v5.0.2) again anyway. Made no difference.

the only other information i can find is to do with having both cs2 and cs3 on the machine at the same time, is this the case or did you de install cs2 first?

if not might be worth stripping cs2 and 3 off machine rebooting then doing clean install fo cs 3

What happens if you right-click on the file, select 'Open With', and then select InDesign? Does the file open properly? If it does, perhaps when you set it manually, you missed a parameter needed to open the file. If it does work in the above manner, try doing it again, only this time select 'Select Program'. Select InDesign and click on 'Always use this program"

If this is the process you have already done, then....never mind  :)

@slam69: Yes, I completely uninstalled CS2 before putting CS3 on my computer.

@flubbster: "Open With" does the same thing as double-clicking. That is to say, it opens InDesign but not the actual document. I don't remember what exactly I did but I'm pretty sure I set it to "always use this program". I know I had to go and manually reset the icon from the "no known file" icon to the actual InDesign icon.

Open regedit and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts

Under file extensions, verify that .indd is listed. If it is, expand that key.

There will be one or two subkeys called: OpenWithList and/or OpenwithProgids

The second entry (below default) is the Program that will be used to open the file type. Please let us know what you find.

Flubbster: I followed your directions. Please see the attached jpeg for the result.

Could you also post the entries, if any, for the OpenWithList?

Here you go

OK... OpenWithList shows InDesign as the first selection to open .indd files. I do not have this program, so I am assuming that is the correct entry.

Having said that, I believe the problem may be the entry in the OpenWithProgids entry. The one that says:
indd_auto_file

Record or export that key so you can change it back if required.
Double click the key and change it to:  InDesign.indd.versionmajor.version.minor
where: versionmajor.versionminor is the version of the program. ie. 3.2  It is not really needed and can be excluded. It is needed mainly if 2 or more different versions of the same program are on the system.

After making the change, exit out and do the following:

Right-click a .indd file and select InDesign to open it. After it opens, close the program. Then, try to just double-click the file and see if it works.

I can't edit the indd_auto_file.

Whenyou try to edit it, and the edit box opens, is it greyed out? In the bottom section of the box, does it have a bunch of zeros...like this?

0 0 0 0

If it does, change the last zero to a one (1)... like this:

0 0 0 1

apply the change, then open the key again and try to edit it. If it works, try what I said above.

It has got 0 0 0 0 but it won't let me change any of them. I can add a 1 but it also adds a 0 so it looks like this: 0 0 0 0   10
I can keep adding 1s to get this: 0 0 0 0  11 11 11 11 11 ...

That's all I can do.

hmmm... ok. Leave it the way it is.

Right click on the openwithprogids key and select Permissions.
Click add-advanced-find now
select Everyone from the list. Click ok/apply to back out.
At the main permissions window, click on the new permission (Everyone)
make sure that Full Control and Read in the Allow section is selected
If not, select them. You may have to click advanced, then edit to change them.

apply...back out, and try the registry edit again on openwithprogids. Hopefully, you will be able to make the change.

Nope. Still can't edit it.

Are you admin on this machine? You should be able to edit the registry there. When you open permissions on that key, are they set for full control? You probably have Administrator, User, System, and Restricted. All should be full except for restricted. Wondering if the key (indd_auto_file) should just be deleted, then added in again. The id is a binary value, so it would be:

Right click on openwithprogids
select add
binary value
value name  InDesign.indd
value data   0 0 0 0

If you try this (delete and add), export the key or write down what is there now so you can replicate it if needed.

Yes, this is my home computer. I've got admin rights and they are set to full control.

I've deleted the auto file and created a new one called InDesign.indd but it hasn't appeared to make a difference.

did you do the rest? right click a file..open it...close it and double click it?

Indeed.

Crazy, eh?

Insane... ok amigo, look at this.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.indd

expand each sub key and take a look at the associations. This is almost identical in function to the other keys we playd with. How do they look?

LOL.

OK, for starters I've got INDD in all caps. Dunno if that matters or not. There's just one key in the file. It's just a default string value which appears to be connected to that indd_auto_file that I deleted.

Could we be getting somewhere finally?

not sure if the caps matter.. don't think so, but... it is MICROSOFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok... vented...

what does the key say.. take a pic or something  lol

Here

This is tough. It looks like it is miising the associated shell commands. If you look at another entry in the same subkeys..for example, look at the .doc extension under Hkey_root, you should see an openswithlist, shell, etc. That needs to be created for .indd.

Try using right-click on a file and select browse. Select the program and make sure "always use this program" is checked. Also, open a folder, click Tools-options-File Types, and see what is listed under indd.

helping kids with homework too... lol

@Flubbster: I'm at school now so I won't be able to try out your suggestion till later tonight. Will let you know how it goes.

OK I'm home now and I've had a look but I'm not really sure what to do. There are two sub-folders under my .doc folder. They are OpenWithList and Word.Document.8. I don't see anything about a "shell". I've heard the term before but don't really know what it means (in computer-speak).

I know about the "Always use this program" thing, and it's already selected for InDesign files. In fact, as far as I can tell, everything is set up the way it should be. Tools-Options-File Types says that InDesign opens .indd files ... but in reality, it doesn't. Double-clicking on an .indd file just opens InDesign.

Good Morning... I am at work so I will be off and on. Anyway, back to where we were...

Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.indd
delete this key totally by selecting it and hitting delete

Now, go to the top, to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and right-click on it
Select New-Key and give the key the name of .indd  (just recreating it here, though it will appear at the bottom of the list)
Now close regedit and reopen it. The key you just made (.indd) will be in it's proper place (alphabetical order)

right-click on the new key (.indd) and select New-String Value
Value Name will say (Default)
in Value Data enter:  InDesign.Document  (note the period between the two words)

right-click on the right side empty space and select New-String Value
In the Value Name area, type:  Content Type
In the Value Data area, type:   application/indd  (NOTE: NO PERIOD in indd)

exit regedit
reboot

If this does not work, we may need to go back to square one. By that I mean uninstalling the program, all versions, and then running a good registry cleaner. This will remove all traces of file types, litter left by the uninstallation, etc. Then, reinstall and see what happens. An excellent cleaner is Registry Mechanic, and you can download the last free version of it here:  http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/files/RegCleaner.zip

talk to you soon.

Hi pukunui,

Check this article from Adobe Knowledgebase.

Cannot double-click an InDesign CS2 file in Windows Explorer to open the file (InDesign CS2 on Windows):
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=331819

@Flubbster: Nope, didn't work.

@sramesh2k: All that did was change the file type from "INDD file" to "Adobe InDesign Application". It still only opens InDesign without opening the actual file when I double-click on it.

Sigh ...

I haven't done the uninstall/reinstall. I want to avoid that if I can as I need to use InDesign right now and my laptop is on the fritz, so I can't really afford to do a clean install right now (it took forever the first time). If we exhaust all other possibilities, then I'll try the clean install on the weekend.

OK, now I think we may have found the root of the problem. When I go to the .indd file in File Types, I don't get the "advanced" button. Instead, I get a "restore" button. If I click on it, it makes it so that no program opens the file. The InDesign icon remains though, interestingly enough. If I then go get it to open with InDesign, the "advanced" button changes back to the "restore" button again.

I just tried hitting "restore" again then went into "advanced" and created a new action called "Open" with InDesign.exe as the program. That put InDesign back in the Open With box. However, it still only opens InDesign but not the actual file.

I didn't select "use DDE" when I created the action, but when I went back and checked, it had checked itself. Here's what I can see right now ...

Oh yeah! It's working!!

The %1 was there but it wasn't in quotes, so I put them in and BINGO!!

I just KNEW it would be something stupidly simply like that.

Thanks so much for helping, flubbster (and everyone else)!

ALLRIGHT !!!!!!

Happy for you man. Glad I could help!

You do know the next thing was swinging a live chicken over the pc while chanting "I love Windows..."

lol

Take care pal... been a long road...but we got it.