Cannot open file with correct application

I have two versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements on my computer, 7 and 9 (this is OK according to Adobe). I cannot get graphic files to associate with version 9, they always default to 7. When I go to the "open with" dialog I select "browse", go to the folder that holds Elements 9 and select the correct exe file. It still fails to open with the correct version. I even tried renaming the version 7 exe file. Then, the routine above did not add the version 9 exe file to the "open with" list. I'm stumped - can anyone help here?

OS is WinXP Pro SP3.

John