Why do files not open from Windows Explorer? 2

[OfficeAnimal]

When I double click on files in Windows Explorer the appropriate software tries to start then fails with some version of communication error. i.e. I cannot double-click on a DOTX file and have Word open it.

Would someone please tell me why not?

Thanks

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

The best place to look is in the windows event logs. Some more information about the issue would be useful.

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[goombawaho]

fails with some version of communication error.

Why didn't you post the EXACT error and/or a screen shot? Don't be stingy with the information. What apps/file types are affected? When did it start?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[rclarke250]

well assuming you can start the appropriate application without clicking on a files type, i.e. word and it starts okay, I would check to make sure something didn't hijack your associations for files, or check default programs. both are in control panel/default program. I would also run some malware and virus scanners.

 

[OfficeAnimal]

hairlessupportmonkey and goombawaho : I'll catch some details next time it happens.

rclarke250: I checked associations. All seems to be in order. My antivirus is Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 and I check regularly with MalwareBytes. All seems to be clean.

Thanks folks

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[OfficeAnimal]

Back again goombawaho

I didn't get specific before because the choice is expansive. You can download screen catches here. These shots are this morning's harvest. Some are Word. Some are IE11. _Loading_Problems_6 is Autodesk Inventor. You will have to rename the file without the DOT KAY GEE BEE bit. My website doesn't like ZIP files so I send them through the KGB to keep their identity secret .

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[Diancecht]

Network shares involved?

Cheers,
Dian

 

[goombawaho]

People should be cautious about downloading a zip file and then un-zipping it on their machine even in the context of helping someone on a tech site. I'm one of them, but I did it anyway.

Here's my best guess due to the varying types of errors. RUN A MEMORY TEST!!!!! I predict some bad memory.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[OfficeAnimal]

Thanks for having some faith in my website goombawaho, but I don't know an alternative if I wish to insert images in a Tek-Tips posting. I am asked for a URL - what else can I do?

I ran Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool - standard test, 2 passes. No report. All the information it provided was:

"Hardware problems were detected. To identify and repair these problems, you will need to contact the computer manufacturer."

My machine is past its warranty date and I suspect that the bloke who put it together knows perilous little more than I do. Where do I go from here?

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[cdogg]

Download Memtest86+ which you can get here. This will allow you to run a reliable test outside of Windows.

Also, go into your BIOS settings and check to see if there is a Diagnostics menu that allows you to run a hard drive test. If not, then find out the hard drive manufacturer and visit their site. They will likely have a free diagnostic tool you can download. This will tell you with a high probability if the hard drive is bad.

I didn't review the images, but it sounds like one of the two is your problem.



-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[OfficeAnimal]

Thanks cdogg but that URL gets me an ISO file with a README about creating a CD.
What am I supposed to do with that?

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[strongm]

>What am I supposed to do with that?

It 'will allow you to run a reliable test outside of Windows'

As it says on the page: Image for creating bootable CD

SO you burn the ISO to a CD, and then boot from it.

Most PCs for the last good few years have come with software that allows you to burn a CD (including Windows itself ...)

 

[OfficeAnimal]

Okay - I did that strongm.

The executable was supposed to be v5.1.0 but turned out to be v4.3.7. It went to work merrily and was continuing to work merrily two and a half hours later. It showed no signs of slowing down (or should that be speeding up) so I went to another site and downloaded what was supposed to be v5.1.0 from there but it, too, turned out to be v4.3.7 so I used that for another try. I had found a manual (for v5.1.0. You don't get time to select from the 'splash' screen in v4.3.7 so I used the configure option while it was running and asked to parallel CPUs testing all memory for a single iteration. An hour later it was merrily going round for the third time.

Unfortunately I have work to do with my machine and I cannot wait for an undefined period so I had to stop. Unless someone can tell me how to get something useful out of this beastie in a defined timespan I'll put it on when I go to be and see if it comes up with something in the morning.

Incidentally, the guide tells me that only the Pro version gives a report, so what is the purpose of me using what I have? It indicates it is finding errors (different numbers of errors for each test each time) but that will be no use if I don't know what the errors are.

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[xwb]

Just as a matter of interest in your original question. If you type

assoc .dotx

from a cmd prompt, does it tell you something like Word.Template.12?

 

[OfficeAnimal]

Hi xwb

I get

.dotx=Word.Template.12

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[goombawaho]

Why don't you try to burn the Ultimate Boot CD which contains MemTest86+ We need a reliabl3 mem test to be completed.
Link
Two thirds down the page where it says MIRROR SITES.

Or you could pull half of your memory if you have two sticks and try each separately.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[OfficeAnimal]

Well, that's different goombawaho

I ran Memtest86 v5 and it seemed to be making a lot more sense. Mind you, that wouldn't be hard. Consider this contribution from passmark.com who distribute Memtest:

"The older V4 would run forever, unless you stop it. Generally a few hours is enough. ... You can write log files to the disk (in V5) and it boots quicker. If you don't (or can't) write a report to disk then you just have to rely on the on screen results."

However, the run with v5 took more than half an hour for one sequence, and I find that it defaults to four iterations. I'll set it to that after work tonight. In the meantime, what little I did glean from the iteration with v5 is that it spotted 100+ errors with the common factor being a memory address 2306.8 and Err. Bit 00000080 if that is any help. There were some other errors noted but usually only once each.

Cheers

"Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion."
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

reseat the RAM

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[goombawaho]

So, unless re-seating the RAM helps (doubt it very much), that is your problem as I had predicted. Run MEMTEST with only half of your memory to see which stick is the problem UNLESS you only have one stick, in which case replace all memory.

You only need to run it for about 5 minutes if you start getting errors. A full test is not needed. The errors normally start popping pretty quickly with RAM that is erf'd.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[cdogg]

I agree with Goom. Reseating the RAM isn't going to do anything here. If you have more than one stick, run the test on each on individually to find out which one is bad or replace both to save time. And as he said, a full test isn't needed. Once you see a few errors, it's likely the memory being tested is the problem.

One thing to keep in mind is that the CPU's cache could also be the culprit when you see errors in MemTest86. If replacing the memory doesn't solve it, the CPU is the next step.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.