Outlook 2000 To Prompt For Default Control

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rishi Chopra
  • Start date Start date
R

Rishi Chopra

How can I get Outlook 2000 to prompt me upon startup to register
itself as the default mail handler for the system? My OS is win2k.
 
To set it as default handler might be the strange way XP does, as they are
similar in some ways. In control panel, select Internet Options and go to
Programs tab. Select Outlook from the E-mail drop down list.

Hope this works. Please post back either way.
Good Luck
 
Even when I do this, the 'mailto' function on my system does not work.
Shouldn't Outlook prompt me and ask whether it should be the default
mail handler for the system?
 
Can anyone tell me how to get Outlook to prompt to be the default mail
handler for the system on startup please?
 
What happens when you do what?
i.e. if you attempt to email from within another program, what happens? Does
Netscape, Eudora or something else come up as the default mail handler? Or,
do you mean the "Send To" function is not working? (nothing happens?).
Please describe IN DETAIL what EXACTLY is happening. Down Home and the rest
of us are trying to help you fix a problem you have not described. To answer
your question PRECISELY "Can anyone tell me how to get Outlook to prompt to
be the default mail handler for the system ...?", the answer is: Maybe,
based on the information you provide.
 
Some more info:

Thunderbird currently handles my 'mailto:' broswser links, and is the
default mail handler for my Win2k account.

What I'd like to have is a system where the mail program simply asks
"Should I register myself as the default handler" upon invocation;
this would be the same functionality that I'm currently able to get
from both of my browsers (e.g. Firefox/IE).

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a setting in Outlook 2000
to register the program as the default mail handler. I've looked
through all the menus, and still cannot find any such option (the
option is under 'Options->General->"Use Mozilla Thunderbird as the
default mail application' in Thunderbird). While prompting would be
best, I'd settle for an option to set Outlook as the default mail
handler within Outlook; so far, I've found no such thing.

Ideally both programs (Thunderbird and Outlook) should prompt on
startup, just like the browswers. When I visit the menu under
'Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs->Set Program Access And Defaults'
both browsers are there, but neither mail client is (all I see is
"Outlook Express".)

Can someone (1) double-check their menu to see which mail clients are
in the "Set Program Access And Defaults" menu mentioned above and (2)
suggest where whithin Outlook 2000 I can specify that Outlook be the
default mail handler for the system?
 
Rishi,

This will get you your prompt. If you are familiar with the registry:
1. Exit Outlook.
2. Click Start, click Run.
3. Type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Options\General
5. Double click "Check Default Client "
6. Change the value under Check Default Client to 1
7. Click OK and then exit the registry.

Otherwise, copy this [everything between, but not including, the X's] to a
text file and rename to default.reg, (exit Outlook), then right click the
file and select merge, then yes.
X
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Options\General]
"Check Default Client"=dword:00000001

X
 
Down Home,

After following your suggestion, Outlook prompts as desired.

While I'm surprised that the registry value changed and cannot begin
to imagine how such a change would take place, I'm glad the system is
now exhibiting the desired behaviour; I also hope registry "changes"
like this do not happen in the future.
 
Actually, Rishi, this is by design. What I gave you overrides the design.
The reason for this design is that Outlook was designed for use as a
business email program, part of the MS Office family of products. Businesses
do NOT want their employees/users changing company software and procedures.
That is the job of the Managers and Administrators. Outlook Express, part of
the Internet Explorer family, was designed with the single user in mind and
has a "Prompt" option. Even though MS Office has evolved as a common program
for the single user, the bulk, BY FAR, of users remain businesses.

Hope this helps clarify what you may think was a registry error.
 
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