mailto: links fail

[Jason]

Whenever I click a "mailto:" link on a web page, up pops a window from
Internet Explorer (even though I'm using Firefox!?) that says "Could not
perform this operation because the default mail client is not properly
installed."

What is causing this? And why is IE reporting a problem if I'm running
Firefox?

Jason

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Verify/Reset your default mail application in Windows and/or verify the
default application linked to the mailto protocol. How depends on your
version of Windows but the Control Panel is the place to be.

If the mailto protocol is linked to IE, getting the error from IE makes
perfect sense.

 

[Jason]

Verify/Reset your default mail application in Windows and/or verify the
default application linked to the mailto protocol. How depends on your
version of Windows but the Control Panel is the place to be.

Windows is XP Professional.

In the Control Panel Add/Remove/Set Program Access and Defaults, the
choices for default email are "use my current email program" or Outlook
Express. "Use my current.." is checked. Is there another place to change
this?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

You can change it to OE and then when you launch Outlook it will ask if it
can be the default again.
You can also check your maito:// protocol configuration in Control Panel->
Folder Options-> tab File Types...-> in the (None) section.

Does that one have an Outlook icon?

 

[Jason]

You can change it to OE and then when you launch Outlook it will ask if it
can be the default again.
You can also check your maito:// protocol configuration in Control Panel->
Folder Options-> tab File Types...-> in the (None) section.

Does that one have an Outlook icon?

I changed it to OE, but Outlook didn't ask if it should be default. In
Outlook's options, it is indeed checked as the default email program.
File Types in Folder Options also shows that Outlook is the handler for
mailto: protocol. I tried changing those options and changing them back
- I've found that such a move sometimes actually changes things but it
didn't seem to make any difference in this case.

Jason

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Start-> Run; outlook.exe /checkclient

 

[Jason]

I changed it to OE, but Outlook didn't ask if it should be default. In
Outlook's options, it is indeed checked as the default email program.
File Types in Folder Options also shows that Outlook is the handler for
mailto: protocol. I tried changing those options and changing them back
- I've found that such a move sometimes actually changes things but it
didn't seem to make any difference in this case.

Jason

I tried something else that seems to have worked. I edited the Open
action in the Filetypes dialog and unchecked "Use DDE." It works now. It
looked to me as if the DDE section was not properly filled in - there
was no DDE Message present, just the path to Outlook.

Jason

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Good to hear you've got it solved!

 

[John M Baltz]

For me this problem was because the registry permissions for the specific
user were incorrect for "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto". I logged on as an
administrator and added the failing persons's UserID with the permissions set
to the same as those for a working ID, I.E. Full Control.