Troubleshooting: Pencil icon opens unexpected Windows application for HTML editing
Symptom
A developer clicks on the pencil icon to edit HTML, but a different editing application than expected starts. The expected application has appeared in the past, but no longer appears..
Solution
Many Windows applications, as they are installed on a workstation, automatically create associations between various file extension types and the application program.
If you set up open authoring to launch a specific editor, installing a new Windows application on your workstation later may overwrite this setting.
For example, if your workstation has set HotMetalPro as the default editor for HTML files, and you install Microsoft Front Page, the installation process may overwrite all the links to the .htm and .html file types. Later, when you click the open authoring icon, Front Page opens instead of HotMetalPro.
Some applications will overwrite these file type association automatically during installation. Others may present you with an option to use this application as the default editor, at some step of the installation process.
If you don't want your editor associations changed, watch for such prompts when installing new Windows applications.
If an editor association has been changed, you can restore the previous setting. , Follow the instructions in How to specify an HTML editor, XML editor, and Java editor for open authoring.
PDN References
How to specify an HTML editor, XML editor, and Java editor for open authoring