[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

On the computer that has this problem, start Windows Explorer or My
Computer, click on Tools | Folder Options | File Types, scroll down the
list of registered file types until you see the "DAT" file type,
left-click on it once to select it, and click on Advanced. In the list
of Actions, "Open" (not "New") should be the default (indicated by bold
print). If "Open" isn't the default, make it so.

eadgman wrote:
I'm using Word 2002 SP3 to open .DAT files. When the file is opened the
document name displayed on the title bar of the document window is
"Document1".... "Documentn". In the past, the name of the .DAT file would be
displayed.
I have tested this on my other system (Word 2003 SP2) and the document name
appears as expected. Can someone tell me why these would appear as new
documents when I open them?