Help MS Office 2010 Professional - Word - Default Program

Background: I have been using windows since 3.11 when I was in second grade and we got rid of our DOS box. I consider myself a proficient user to highly proficient user, having built 4 of my own machines. I have installed Office 2010 Professional and the program works.

Setup: Lenovo ideapad y500 purchased January 2013 with Windows 8

Problem: Windows will not allow me to set Word 2010 as my default program for opening .docx or other valid formats. I can open the documents from within the program, just not by default.

Steps Taken:
1) Right-click file > choose default program > Word 2010 not available > browse for and specify location > set program to default. Result = System Message "This app can't run on your pc."
2) Consulted Microsoft support site to search for solution. Same result.
3) Contacted Microsoft support hotline to request help with issue. Was informed that, because I didn't fully understand the intricacies of this new operating system within 90 days, and I can't make two Microsoft products work properly together, I will need to pay $150 for support. They used more tact, but that's the gist. I can visit any Microsoft store to get free support, the nearest being 150 miles away.

Desired Resolution: One of you fine people have seen this before and know how to set that default application. All of you who read this are also annoyed with Microsoft's awful customer service. Microsoft replaces my OS with Windows 7, which I loved. I probably won't get that last one, but a man can dream.

Thank you to all who took the time to read this. Double thanks for those who respond. Infinite thanks to the one who can fix this headache.

Hi tmf,

What happens if you try the following...? :

• First locate WinWord.exe on your disk; probably something like C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
  
  The "Program Files" bit might be "Program Files (x86)"
  
  
• Follow the steps in this tutorial. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...associate-file-type-protocol-windows-8-a.html
  
  
• In step 3 of the tutorial - can you take a look up and down the list; are *any* file types associated with Microsoft Word?
  
  
• At step 5 in the tutorial, select the option to "look for another app on this PC" and navigate to WinWord.exe in the path you found in step (a) above.
  
  
• If you get the same error you mentioned in your post, post a screenshot of the error:
  http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2598-screenshots-files-upload-post-eight-forums.html
  
  

Apologies if you've done all of this already!

David,

Thank you for such a speedy reply! I tried doing that, but to no avail. There are some file types, like .docm that are associated with Word (desktop), but .doc and .docx are associated with Microsoft Word component (what comes in when I choose the location of word 2010). Here is a screenshot of the error.



Trevor

Hmm I don't know I'm afraid. What stage was it at when you got that error?

What happens if you click on a document with a .docm extension (copy a .doc or .docx to .docm if you don't have one)?

Also, going back to that Tutorial, in the screen that comes up in step 2, if you click "Set your Default Programs" are there any varieties of Word that come up? Could you post a screenshot of that?

However I don't like the look of the "This app can't run on your PC" error; it suggests something is wrong with the way Word is installed; however I don't know how to fix it.