[Solved] Windows 11 "Protects" MS from other products

[BobK]

[SOLVED] Windows 11 "Protects" MS from other products

I'm finally moving from Win7 to Win11, But MS is not only keeping anybrowser out, it seems to be keeping AOO out too.

When I installed AOO, it worked. It even asked If I *REALLY* want to change the ASSOC & FTYPE to point to AOO rather than the
installed MS OO (which costs a bit more than AOO). Upon completion, i tested a pair of XLS & CSV files and found they still went
to MS OO !!
The ASSOC & FTYPE still point to MsOO. I reran the AOO installer hoping the 'repair' function would fix this, but no - the same results
occur.

I can force feed the correct values to bypass Ms OO as I use command line offten rather than FILE Ex, But I'd like to know what to put
in ASSOC & FTYPE.. Or, should I uninstall Ms OO (which I will once I get AOO working correctly)

BohK.
As Keme explained, I uninstalled both Microsoft 365 (the name of their office product) AND AOO, shutdown, rebooted and re-installed AOO
and alls working the way I expected. Wonder if that'll also work on Chrome with Edge uninstalled?

[Hagar Delest]

Try this one, it should still apply: [Tutorial] Setting the default program to open files.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the *EDIT button if your issue has been fixed.

[keme]

I have found that in the newest incarnations of Win10, file type associations are sometimes overridden by factory installed "click-to-run" applications (typically MS Office). The solution I have found is to uninstall those rogue apps. If you have Teams installed, also uninstall the "Teams Machine-Wide installer". Reboot immediately after uninstall. Then proceed to check/set file type associations. With any luck, Win11 behaves similarly...

Strangely, in Win10 v.20H2 the click-to-run apps even override a subsequently installed Microsoft 365 Enterprise (fully licensed), so it looks like a bug rather than some MS marketing ploy.

If you still want to have Word, Powerpoint etc. available for previewing your files, you can install them from the Microsoft Store without licensing. You may then need to reset file type associations again, but I have found that it works nicely after first removing the factory installed click-to-run stuff.

[BobK]

Hagar: Thanks, but Windows 11 is different than Win10 described in that tutorial.
As I implied, I'd read enough complaints about 10 and decided to stay on my old win 7 while MS tried to untangle the mess they made of Win10, so I have no experience with it.
My new computer was delivered with Win 11 & I figured I have to byte the bullet. I'm an old-timer and still use a "super-DOS' (Take Command) that works better from the command line. I'm also seeing that Assoc & Ftype don't work the way they did in XP to Win7

On this Win11 it's presenting me with a list of "valid programs" that are on my system, and though "OpenOffice 4" exists in my "Program Files (x86)", ( I did install it) Win11 is not showing it, so I can't set anything in Default apps to OO.

Keme: Thank, this sounds like the path that should work. I'd not run into this "existing programs protecting themselves from being overrided". Even my favorite text editor doesn't get the MS Anointment!

As I don't consider this issue "solved" yet, I'll not mark my post such until I get AOO working,

Bob

[Hagar Delest]

Thanks for the follow-up, as soon as someone provide some screenshots, we will update the tutorial.

[RoryOF]

Many users on Forum, irked by Windows, have moved to linux distros.

[keme]

...
As Keme explained, I uninstalled both Microsoft 365 (the name of their office product) AND AOO, shutdown, rebooted and re-installed AOO
and alls working the way I expected. Wonder if that'll also work on Chrome with Edge uninstalled?

Good to hear that the detour was a fruitful one.

As for Edge, I suspect that you can't competely uninstall it. Still worth a try.

On Win10 I can set default browser to any one I prefer, just have to insist when the settings app whines about it. Still, when desktop search is redirected to web results, I get Edge and Bing. Perhaps Win11 goes a step further on this path. I'll cross that bridge when I encounter it...

[Hagar Delest]

On my Windows 10 machine, as soon as I launch Edge, it becomes the default web browser, I've to set it back to the one I want. Not sure if it's a company setting or if it's a Windows thing.