frustrated -- XP will NOT remember default browser

B

Bob Sabiston

I have a problem on my pc where links in emails and links in dialogs etc all
fail to open up a browser window. From the web it seems that the problem is
that IE is not my default browser.

However, it IS my default browser, XP just doesn't seem to fully realize it.
When I start IE, it always says "IE is NOT your default browser, would you
like to make it so?" I can click YES, but it does not matter. It asks me
again the next time I start IE.

I tried setting this in IE, I tried "Set Program Access and Defaults" from
the START menu. I tried downloading Safari and Firefox and making THEM the
default browser. Same problem. No matter what browser I set as default,
when I start up that browser it still says "browser xxx is not the default.
would you like to make it?".

How can I fix this? I have one particular piece of software that needs to
activate by me clicking on a link in its dialog box, and since my links are
broken I cannot activate this software. Plus, it would be nice to have
email links work.

please help!
Thanks
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Bob Sabiston said:
I have a problem on my pc where links in emails and links in dialogs etc
all fail to open up a browser window. From the web it seems that the
problem is that IE is not my default browser.

However, it IS my default browser, XP just doesn't seem to fully realize
it. When I start IE, it always says "IE is NOT your default browser, would
you like to make it so?" I can click YES, but it does not matter. It
asks me again the next time I start IE.

I tried setting this in IE, I tried "Set Program Access and Defaults" from
the START menu. I tried downloading Safari and Firefox and making THEM
the default browser. Same problem. No matter what browser I set as
default, when I start up that browser it still says "browser xxx is not
the default. would you like to make it?".

How can I fix this? I have one particular piece of software that needs to
activate by me clicking on a link in its dialog box, and since my links
are broken I cannot activate this software. Plus, it would be nice to
have email links work.

please help!
Thanks
Click to expand...

This can happen if the registry permissions for this key are
set incorrectly:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet
 
B

Bob Sabiston

How do I check and/or change that? I just ran a script to reset all my
registry permissions to default, but it didn't change anything.
Thanks
Bob
 
P

PA Bear

IE version?
--
IE-specific newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
 
B

Bob Sabiston

Version 7 service pack 2 I think.

I've tried messing around with permissions in the registry also at this
point, it still doesn't work.

In IE, under tools/advanced, you know how you can "set IE as default
browser"? I click that and it says "IE is now your default browser". But
as soon as I close that dialog, open it again, and it says "IE is NOT your
default browser". WTF!

Thanks to anyone who can help me resolve this.
Bob
 
P

PA Bear

1. Does this behavior persist if you start IE7 in No Add-ons mode?

To start IE7 in No Add-ons mode:

Right-click on the blue IE desktop icon and select Start without Add-ons; or

Start > (All) Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Internet Explorer (No
add-ons).

More:

Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer’s (No Add-ons) Mode:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx

2. Does the problem persist if you Reset IE7 Settings (RIES)?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737 <= Read before using!

3. If you uninstall (a) IE7 (which automatically returns you to IE6), (b)
all toolbars and (c) all third-party Windows Themes (including Window
Blinds) and don't reinstall IE7, does this behavior persist?

Uninstalling IE7
http://www.ie-vista.com/kbase2.html

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 7:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177

IE7 (Un)Installation and Anti-Malware Applications:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/11/IE7-Installation-and-Anti_2D00_Malware-Applications.aspx
 
L

llort

Bob said:
I have a problem on my pc where links in emails and links in dialogs etc all
fail to open up a browser window. From the web it seems that the problem is
that IE is not my default browser.

However, it IS my default browser, XP just doesn't seem to fully realize it.
When I start IE, it always says "IE is NOT your default browser, would you
like to make it so?" I can click YES, but it does not matter. It asks me
again the next time I start IE.

I tried setting this in IE, I tried "Set Program Access and Defaults" from
the START menu. I tried downloading Safari and Firefox and making THEM the
default browser. Same problem. No matter what browser I set as default,
when I start up that browser it still says "browser xxx is not the default.
would you like to make it?".

How can I fix this? I have one particular piece of software that needs to
activate by me clicking on a link in its dialog box, and since my links are
broken I cannot activate this software. Plus, it would be nice to have
email links work.

please help!
Thanks
Click to expand...

Install the much superior Firefox, set it as default and see if that helps.

Llort
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

1. Click Start / run / regedit.exe {OK}
2. Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet
3. Right-click StartMenuInternet, then left-click Permissions.
4. Left-click your logon name and report the permissions you see.
 
H

HeyBub

llort said:
Install the much superior Firefox, set it as default and see if that
helps.
Click to expand...

Warning: Firefox will give your cat warts. If you don't have a cat, you'll
probably be okay.
 
B

Bob Sabiston

yes, it does the same thing

PA Bear said:
1. Does this behavior persist if you start IE7 in No Add-ons mode?

To start IE7 in No Add-ons mode:

Right-click on the blue IE desktop icon and select Start without Add-ons;
or

Start > (All) Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Internet Explorer
(No add-ons).

More:

Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer’s (No Add-ons) Mode:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx

2. Does the problem persist if you Reset IE7 Settings (RIES)?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737 <= Read before using!

3. If you uninstall (a) IE7 (which automatically returns you to IE6), (b)
all toolbars and (c) all third-party Windows Themes (including Window
Blinds) and don't reinstall IE7, does this behavior persist?

Uninstalling IE7
http://www.ie-vista.com/kbase2.html

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 7:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177

IE7 (Un)Installation and Anti-Malware Applications:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/11/IE7-Installation-and-Anti_2D00_Malware-Applications.aspx
Click to expand...
 
B

Bob Sabiston

Well, my name is not in there. There is :
Administrators
CREATOR OWNER
Power Users
SYSTEM
Users

All except CREATOR Owner have "Full Control" and "Read" checked.
CREATOR OWNER only has "special permissions" checked. Pwer Users also has
this checked in addition to the first two.

Is that correct? I tried changing those earler, in fact I might have enable
the permissions on "Users", I don't remember.
But it will not let me change CREATOR OWNER's permissions. As soon as I
click "Apply", they uncheck themselves.

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
P

PA Bear

If the problem persists after IE7 is uninstalled and you're running IE6,
Internet Explorer isn't the issue.

One or more options/settings in an ever-growing number of third-party
applications may be disallowing the changes to make IE the default from
"sticking". These include but are not limited to Ad-aware's Ad-Watch, Spybot
Tea Timer, SpywareBlaster, SpySweeper, Spyware Doctor, Norton AntiVirus,
McAfee VirusScan and/or Antispyware, and Zone Alarm (Free and Pro).
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Make it manually "iexplore.exe" (without the double quotes),
log off & on again and see what happens.
 
B

Bob Sabiston

Oh, it is already IEXPLORE.EXE. I thought your were asking about
permissions. Nevertheless when I run Internet Explorer it says it is not
the default browser.
 
B

Bob Sabiston

Well, I only installed IE 7 yesterday to see if it would fix the problem.
I started out with IE6 and it was doing the same thing. I believe it is a
disk permissions/account sort of problem, but so far I have been unable to
fix it.

Is there any easy way to make a brand-new account on this machine and
transfer all of the items and settings from my old account to the new?
Maybe that would fix it.

Thanks
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

It seems we're talking about two different things. I told you how
to set the default browser. You're concerned about the prompt
for the default browser. You should really find out what your
default browser is, regardless of the warning. Do this:

- Click Start / run / www.google.com {OK}

Which browser do you get?
 
B

Bob Sabiston

What I am talking about here is not your typical "how do I set my default
browser question". Yes -- my default browser for all intents and purposes
is IE. When I type www.google.com into Start->Run, Explorer starts up.
However it also gives me the prompt that says "IE is not your default
browser". There is something wrong in my system in that ALTHOUGH explorer
is the default browser, it doesn't seem to fully know that.

That problem is preventing email links from opening Explorer, which isn't a
big deal, but I also am trying to activate some software which uses a
challenge/response key system, and its activation dialog is not able to open
the appropriate page in my "Default" browser, since the system apparently is
screwed up somehow.

You know how in Explorer you can open the Tools->Internet Options->Programs
window, and there's a "Default web browser" section? There's a Make Default
button. If I click that, the text changes from "Internet Explorer is not
your default browser" to "Internet Explorer is your default browser". If I
click Apply, then close the dialog and immediatly reopen it, it is changed
back to "Internet Explorer is NOT your default browser".

Do you understand the problem I'm having now? Somehow my machine, via
permissions or some other problem, is not correctly acknowledging that
Explorer (or ANY browser, it does the same thing if I try to make FireFox or
Safari my default) is my default browser. It is not letting me have any
default browser, in essence, and so I cannot open email links or HTML dialog
links.

Thanks though
 

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