Can't remove Instant Viewer as default program for gif files

[coffent]

I recently installed Corel Paintshop PhotoPro X3. I find now that when I double-click a gif file (and I think some other types) it is opened with Corel Instant Viewer rather than Microsoft Office 2010. I want Office to be the default viewer, so from Windows Explorer I right-clicked the gif file, selected "Open with..." then "Select default program", then Microsoft Office 2010, and checked "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file", finally "OK". The file then opened with Office. However the next time I double-clicked the same file, it opened once more with Corel Instant Viewer.

The procedure I followed has worked in other cases, so I don't understand why it doesn't work now. Is there any way of preventing Corel Instant Viewer from being the default viewer short of uninstalling it? Thanks.

[Kathy_9]

This is an old thread but it may help you. http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=38885

[coffent]

Thanks for the link, which I followed. I tried Control Panel as suggested by LeviFiction, but - strangely - neither Microsoft Office nor any Corel program is listed under available programs. I had been following exactly the 5-step Corel instructions as noted also by LeviFiction. The problem comes with the last statement there, "Next time you double-click a photo in Windows Explorer, the photo will open in the default program." It doesn't - it still opens with Corel Instant Viewer.

I also followed WarningU2's link to Doug Knox's fix. However it was written for Windows XP and I didn't want to risk trying it on my Windows 7 system.

However, I did finally succeed in banishing Corel Instant Viewer. What worked for me was to go to Control Panel and select not "Set your default programs" as LeviFiction suggested but rather "Associate a file type or protocol with a program". There I found that .gif* files (whatever that means) were associated with Microsoft Office 2010, but that .gif files were still associated with Corel Instant Viewer! I changed the latter to Microsoft Office 2010, and now (finally) it seems to have worked.

I completely agree with dlk's comment in your link re "misbehaving programs". Some amplification: Until recently, I'd been using a 1997 graphics program called Micrografx Designer, part of a Micrografx Graphics Suite which included Picture Publisher. I was reluctant to leave it as I'd mastered its learning curve. One of the reasons for finally abandoning it was that Picture Publisher persisted in making itself the default viewer for graphics files such as gif. According to Wikipedia, "Micrografx was acquired by Corel in 2001 and the Micrografx graphics line was integrated into the Corel portfolio."

Apparently one of the features Corel integrated was this penchant for making itself the default viewer for graphics files without the user's knowledge or consent, and then making it difficult to change. It appears they haven't altered their approach.