Trouble opening Visual Studio solution files

Background

Having set the Visual Studio application to “Run as administrator” I could no longer open solution files (.sln) from Explorer.

Problem

By default the solution file is opened by the Visual Studio Version Selector.

Solution

One alternative

Google results gave me one alternative to set the Visual Studio application as the default application.

Right click solution file – Properties… – Change…

Since I run dual versions of Visual Studio (2005 and 2008), because of having multiple customers and projects, this isn’t really a solid solution.

Better alternative

The best alternative for me was to set the Version Selector application to run as administrator.

Locate the .exe file.

[Program Files Folder]\Common Files\microsoft shared\MSEnv

Right click – Properties… – [Compatibility Tab] – Tick the checkbox “Run this program as an administrator”

My System

Windows Vista 64 bit

Visual Studio 2005 & 2008