Whats the Point ? what do you want to open this file with

I am a long time trying to get an answer to this question.
Every time I start my laptop I am presented with a list of programs, which asks, what do you want to open this file with
IT NEVER LETS YOU KNOW WHAT FILE IT IS.
How are you supposed to know what to pick?. Any other other system at least tells you. but I feel it is too much to ask the end-user to hazard a guess, it really is like what you would expect in a competition.

And I can't believe no one has not seen this before. so my question is what do I do @@@?
I am not into checking all the files to possibly find it, Isn't that meant to be handled by the program itself

I look forward with interest to an answer

Thank you

I'd hazard a guess. Open it with notepad, if that looks like junk then try photos or vlc. Often it is obvious from notepad even if it doesn't work. You can then do 'Save-As' and see where it is saving it to.

You can find out what the file is (you can use ProcExp to see what files it has open for example) but guessing might be quicker.

You can also use autoruns to see what is running at start and try to find it from the other side (what program is trying to open a file).

But, yes, a photo of the message would help clear things up.

juan2go said:

I am a long time trying to get an answer to this question.
Every time I start my laptop I am presented with a list of programs, which asks, what do you want to open this file with
IT NEVER LETS YOU KNOW WHAT FILE IT IS.
How are you supposed to know what to pick?. Any other other system at least tells you. but I feel it is too much to ask the end-user to hazard a guess, it really is like what you would expect in a competition.

And I can't believe no one has not seen this before. so my question is what do I do @@@?
I am not into checking all the files to possibly find it, Isn't that meant to be handled by the program itself

I look forward with interest to an answer

Thank you

Maybe those who created this feature will supply a simple logical answer. Like show what file the system is looking to open
Is that too much to expect...So until that happens you have to grope around in the dark.?? and hope and pray you will be successful, and that's every time the system asks. I hope those who can fix this illogical clitch see this. I raise the issue also for all those who have the same situation. Seems to me a line of code is missing
That you for attempting to resolve it for me. I appreciate that you have given your input

juan2go said:

Maybe those who created this feature will supply a simple logical answer. Like show what file the system is looking to open

Sure they could. If you know who wrote this you could ask them. That is why I suggested autoruns so you can see what is running at startup. This isn't a Windows process so you need to find what it is.

juan2go said:

So until that happens you have to grope around in the dark.??t

Yep. The easiest thing to do would be to guess. It is probably a text file, a photo or video so try opening it with simple programs like notepad, photos, vlc etc

If it doesn't work then it is possible to see what file it is tring to open but it isn't easy.

juan2go said:

Every time I start my laptop I am presented with a list of programs, which asks, what do you want to open this file with
IT NEVER LETS YOU KNOW WHAT FILE IT IS.
How are you supposed to know what to pick?.

You're supposed to know because normally you've chosen to click on a file in File Explorer or the desktop to trigger that message.

The key phrase here is "...Every time I start my laptop..." so the solution is to look at all the possible places that could be running a file at start up in order to find out what it is. There are many possibilities, so use Autoruns to list them all and track down this rogue file. Once identified you can either choose the right app to open it or, more likely, remove it from start up as it's not needed.

Autoruns for Windows - Windows Sysinternals | Microsoft Docs