FAQ

Frequently asked questions for self help.

Please take a quick look at common questions (and answers) in the default list. If you can't find what you're looking for, start off by selecting your Ability Office version and then narrow it down by entering search text and/or category.

Knowledge base article 116

File Association trouble-shooter

If several versions of Ability are installed over a period of time, Windows can get confused about file associations and related icons. Typical problems are:

The fix below is written for Ability Write 4 but could equally apply to other Ability applications (or any non-Ability application as well):

Step 1 - remove existing association

  1. Select Start/My Documents
  2. Select Tools/Folder Options
  3. In the View tab ensure the "Hide extensions for known file types" is cleared
  4. In the File Types tab, click on AWW (or the "problem" file type) and click Delete

Step 2 - fix the registry

Please ensure care is taken when editing the registry.

  1. Select Start/Run, type REGEDIT and click OK
  2. Browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications
  3. Select Abwrite.exe (or the application causing the problem)
  4. Press the Delete key
  5. Exit REGEDIT

Step 3 - make new association

  1. Select Start/My Documents
  2. Right-click over the problem file type (e.g. .aww or .doc)
  3. Select Open With and then Choose program
  4. Check the "Always use selected program" box
  5. Click Browse and browse into c:\program files\ability office 4
  6. Click on "abwrite.exe" and OK

All should work normally.