API to find default email

Hi all,
New to this forum and looks like a great place to hang out.
Is there an API that I can use to search the registry and find the path to a users default email program(exe) without knowing which program is being used such as Netscape, Outlook, Eudora etc. I know how to get mailto to work but I need my program to be able to read and send mail. I tried using mapi to set this up but had problems with Norton antivirus throwing up errors and shutting me down (even when Norton was turned off) I need the path so I can just use Shell to run it
Thanks