When double clicking a Zip file you see "flashing" that will not stop

If, when you double click a Zip file you see something flashing on your monitor, be assured that this is not a behavior that WinZip itself would cause. We would have to assume that your operating system is Windows Vista. It is also likely that at some previous time, you attempted to open a Zip file, the Open With dialog opened, and you clicked OK without really knowing what was happening. In this situation Vista will offer Internet Explorer as the application to open Zip files in the Open With dialog. It also will have the box to Always use this application... checked. Then, anytime you try to open a Zip file by double clicking, Internet Explorer will try to open it and fail over and over again causing this 'flashing' to occur.

You may be able to fix this using Vista's Default Programs. To do this:

1. From the taskbar, click on the Start button and then click Default Programs (on the right side of the Start menu)
2. Click the hypertext link to Associate a file type or protocol with a program
3. Scroll down to .zip and click it to select it
4. Click Change Program
5. If WinZip appears in the list of Recommended Programs, click it to select it and then click OK
6. If WinZip does not appear at all in this dialog, click Browse, click Computer in the left pane of the dialog that displays, double click Local Disk (C:) in the right pane, double click Program Files, and double click WinZip. Now locate and click winzip32.exe to select it, then click Open. WinZip should now appear in the list of Other Programs. Select it and click OK.

If this does not work, you may need to delete the key responsible for this false association manually. To do this:

1. From the taskbar, click on the Start button
2. In the Start Search field type REGEDIT
3. Press the Enter key on the keyboard
4. Click Continue in the User Account Control dialog
5. Browse to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.zip
   To do this, click the triangle next to each item listed until you get to .zip and then click the triangle next to .zip.
6. Click UserChoice to select it
7. Press the Delete key to delete UserChoice
8. Close the Registry Editor (REGEDIT)