.bin files

I have a macbook running Tiger. I've tried to download AIM - it saves as a .bin file. When I click the download button, it offers to open it with "Stuffit Expander"- yet when the download is complete, it just tries to open with QuickTime, which of course tells me that it isn't a movie file. How do I open this file? Thanks.

Welcome to Mac-Forums, ComeOnDieYoung.

Right-click on the .bin file and choose Get Info from the contextual menu. If it's the same as what I have here in OS X 10.4.x Tiger, in the Get Info window there should be a Open with: section. In that drop down menu, choose Stuffit Expander from the list. Click on the Change All... button so that other files with the same .bin extension get opened by Stuffit.

Everything should now be ok for you.

This is an easy fix luckily, just right-click on the download and choose "Get Info" ... then in the window that appears look to the "Open With" section.

You might need to click the small black triangle to the left to expand the window. Next choose the Application you want, which in this case is Stuffit. Lastly click the "Change All" button to apply this to all files with the .bin extension.

You're done!

Thanks, but you see, the problem is that Stuffit isn't in the drop-down menu. In fact, according to Spotlight, it doesn't seem to be anywhere on my whole computer... I don't know what I did to get rid of it, but is there some way to get it back?

Never mind, I just downloaded it from download.com and reinstalled it. Thanks for your help, though.