File association woes as a limited workstation user

I get a call that a new user cannot open tif or jpg file. When they go to Windows Explorer the file association is greyed out. I do a Google search and turn up a registry value of  hklm\software\microsoft\currentversion\policies\explorer add dword NoFileAssociate with a value of 0. Or if this is missing it is the same as a 0. Well I searched and searched for other answers as this key did not help. The searches also suggested the HKCU but I would get an error when trying to create a new dword when logged in as a workstation user.  I tossed out a white flag. Merv Potter saw the flag. He said it was a power user issue. Well I created a new user on my XP laptop as a limited user. I could not do that file association task. I made the new user a local Power User and he could. I logged on to the workstation in that domain. I made Domain Users Power Users of that workstation. That fixed the problem. Well actualy it did not as that level is a bit higher than I would like but so it goes until someone tells me a better solution.