Why are some filetypes missing from WinXP options menu? .pdf

Answer Best answer as chosen by user webdona

Re: pdf file extension

by Kees_B - 8/1/12 1:48 PM

In Reply to: Why are some filetypes missing from WinXP options menu? .pdf by webdona

Installing any reader (Adobe, Foxit, Nitro, whichever you prefer) should remake it.

This isn't an answer, of course, to your "why is it missing" question. It's only an answer to your not (yet) asked question "how do I get it back".

Kees

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Answer Best answer as chosen by user webdona

If the PDF file format is not ...

by Edward ODaniel - 8/1/12 10:12 PM

In Reply to: Why are some filetypes missing from WinXP options menu? .pdf by webdona

associated with an application such as Acrobat or FoxIt you will not have any default icon other than the windows generic default.

You can see the file acssociations by opening a command prompt and typing ASSOC then pressing the enter/return key. If it scrolls through too fast you can the laypout properties of the command window by changing the screen buffer height to something like 300. Scroll through the list to see what it is associated with. (It will say something like .pdf=FoxitReader.Document or .pdf=Acrobat.)

You can then make use of the command prompt again to see if the association is broken or to repair it with this command (change the command to reflect what you discover in the previous step) FTYPE Acrobat which should point you to the application executable needed (something such as the example below in italics) which offers up the proper icon.
C:\ftype acrobat
acrobat="C:\Adobe\Acrobat9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" /u "%1"
If that path is incorrect you can correct it. (ASSOC /? and FTYPE /? shows you how to use the commands)

This assumes you do have a pdf reader installed.

Of course, as previously noted simply installing or re-installing a pdf reader takes care of the associations as the installation re-writes the pertinent registry keys that the FTYPE and ASSOC commands also read or edit.