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RobertTheGrey
Asked: 2009-05-14 23:00:32 +0800 CST

What is the registry setting required to set Internet Explorer as the default browser?

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I guess the title of the question speaks for itself, but ideally we'd like to set registry keys rather than run some kind of tool. That way we can make a script for it.

Does anyone know the registry settings that need to change to set IE as the default browser

internet-explorer windows-registry

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    In Windows XP

    For HTTP: 

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command

    The format is like this: 

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\[prot]\shell\open\command

    where [prot] is the protocol (HTTP, FTP..)

    In Windows Vista

    For HTTP:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http

    The format is like this:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\[prot]

    where [prot] is the protocol (HTTP, FTP..)

    For more in depth info see this link.

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  2. From what I've heard, there are a fair number of places you need to change in order to cover all the various ways of launching a browser.

    I suggest you:

    • Make a different browser the default (possibly several, one after another, to try to cover all bases - they may well get it wrong)
    • Start RegMon
    • Make Internet Explorer the default (e.g. in Default Programs, or just by launching it if it offers)
    • Stop RegMon and find out all the "writes" that have been logged. They probably won't all be relevant, but it should be easy to work out which ones are.

    That way you know you'll be covering the registry changes that IE itself would make. Repeat on different platforms to cover differences there.

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  3. You can add below two lines in a bat file

    reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main" /f /v "Check_Associations" /d "yes" /t REG_SZ

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice" /f /v "ProgId" /d "IE.HTTP" /t REG_SZ

    After running the bat, reboot/log off and log back since above two command lines are meant to change registry values..

    Aditinal details can be found here

    (Fixed)-Cant set Internet Explorer as the Default Browser ! http://www.windowstechinfo.com/2016/03/fixed-cant-set-internet-explorer-as-the-default-browser.html

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  4. This is an old thread, but was giving me trouble on some Windows 7 devices.

    Here is a working GPO for Windows 7 devices.
    Thanks to Aravinda above for getting me pointed in the right direction.

    User Configuration/Preferences/Registry

    Right Click and select New Registry Item

    Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER

    Key Path: Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice

    Value name: ProgID

    Value Type: REG_SZ

    Value Data: IE.HTTP

    Do this a second time, but change the key path to:

    Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoice

    Change Value Data to: IE.HTTPS

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  5. I tried all the above and also other web sites. Nothing worked. I found the answer quite by accident. I’ve spent many hours and days trying to figure this out.

    Go to Default Programs on the Start - hit Program Access. Then to Choose Default. Use Current Web Browser.

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