Thanks, all.

Killing the Preview action, as Richard suggests, sounds promising, although I would like to keep it as an option, just not have it as the default action.

However, it turns out that harrytb's suggestion works after all, even though I assumed it wouldn't be needed since PaintShop Pro is already the default program for opening GIFS and JPEGs, etc.

Apparently that doesn't matter, since Preview is the "always open with" action by default in Windows XP, despite the file associations grabbed by PSP. (This would be the case no matter what your image editor, such as PhotoShop.)

So just follow Harry's suggestion. Right click on a GIF or JPG, choose Open With, click Choose Program, choose your image editor from the list (you shouldn't need to browse to the program file if it's already associated with the image type), and then click "always use the selected program to open this kind of file".

Now Preview is no longer the default action, it's no longer in boldface on the right-click context menu, but it is available should you want to right-click on an image and get a preview of an image without opening it with your image editor.

The other image editors are also still available with the Open With menu choice, too, if you right-click on the image.

Again, thanks to this group for helping me solve a vexing issue, and I look forward to further participation.