'Change all' in OS 9

In OS X you can choose which program to open the file type in and then select 'change all'.

How do you do the same thing in OS 9? We have Word docs that won't open in Word - instead you have to start Word and open them manually.

Theoretically, you should be able to change the application by using the File Exchange control panel. Change the application, then click Advanced and change the drop-down menu to Process with Application.

If this doesn't work — and it seldom does for me, because the document's icon and Get Info file coding doesn't change, even after rebuilding the desktop — the easiest alternative is to put an alias of the desired application on the desktop or wherever you want it, then drag the document to the alias. This will open the document in that application.

Mac OS 9 and earlier used type and creator codes to match documents with programs. If you have an unassociated document, it probably doesn't have these codes.

Brown Study said:

Theoretically, you should be able to change the application by using the File Exchange control panel. Change the application, then click Advanced and change the drop-down menu to Process with Application.

Click to expand...

The File Exchange control panel only applies to files you download, or copy from a Windows PC on a network or a Windows (FAT/NTFS) disk. It does not apply to files already on your system; it's just used to "link" new incoming files with their type/creator codes.

For existing files, you'll need to change the creator code for each file. There's a Script for that, and the codes for a Word doc are Type: WDBN and MSWD