check the default browser

[[gja]]

Hi there,
how will i check a default browser?

i will open a site and i will opened it in IE only.so, i need to check first if the default browser is IE.if not,then i will open it in IE..if IE is not available then i will show a message that IE is not installed in your computer..

also,if IE is already opened then i will launch the website on the next tab in IE browser...

i used process.start("iexplorer.exe",website) and it will create new instance of IE everytime i open a site..

thank you..

[ForumAccount]

Well when you start a website you are using "http". So how does Windows know what program to associate with this class? If you navigate in your registry to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command

You will see the default command line that is run, along with which program will run it. For me I get:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -requestPending -osint -url "%1"

So... Firefox is going to handle my requests for http. You can use the managed registry classes that the .NET framework provides to check these settings.

[[gja]]

Well when you start a website you are using "http". So how does Windows know what program to associate with this class? If you navigate in your registry to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command

hi, i cannot see "http" under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT in my registry..

[weirddemon]

hi, i cannot see "http" under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT in my registry..

Try:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice

Under that key, you should see a value name Progid. If IE is set to default, you should see IE.HTTP in it. I only tested it on IE9, but I can't imagine there's a difference in older versions of IE.

[[gja]]

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice

hello,i cannot see "Associations" under Shell folder..its BagMRU and Bags folders under a shell folder.

[weirddemon]

hello,i cannot see "Associations" under Shell folder..its BagMRU and Bags folders under a shell folder.

What OS are you using?

Also, you can use ProcMon to latch onto the iexpore.exe process and see what key it is writing to when it sets the default.

Instead of just taking our suggestions and saying, "it doesn't work" you need to do some leg work on your own.

[kareninstructor]

The following additions to My.Computer should assist (not tested under Windows 7)

InternetExplorerInstalled()
Determines if Internet Explorer is installed

InternetExplorerRunCommand()
Returns the run command for Internet Explorer

InternetExplorerExecutable()
Path and file name for MS-Internet Explorer

DefaultWebBrowser
Get the default web browser


Example

Console.WriteLine("Default browser [{0}]", My.Computer.DefaultWebBrowser)
If My.Computer.InternetExplorerInstalled Then
    Console.WriteLine("IE executable [{0}]", My.Computer.InternetExplorerExecutable)
    Console.WriteLine("Run command [{0}]", My.Computer.InternetExplorerRunCommand(False))
Else
    Console.WriteLine("Microsoft Internet Explorer not installed")
End If

Output for my computer

Default browser ["C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"]
IE executable [C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE]
[C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe ]
["C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" %1]

Add the attached file to your project

[[gja]]

Hello kevin,thank you for your reply.

i used your class like this..

 Try
            If My.Computer.InternetExplorerInstalled Then
                System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(My.Computer.InternetExplorerExecutable, TextBox1.Text.Trim)
            Else
                MessageBox.Show("Microsoft Internet Explorer not installed")
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "System Message", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Warning)
        End Try

do you have any advice, if internet explorer is already opened it will not create new instance of it,rather, it will add new tab on existing IE instance?..

[kareninstructor]

Hello kevin,thank you for your reply.

i used your class like this..

 Try
            If My.Computer.InternetExplorerInstalled Then
                System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(My.Computer.InternetExplorerExecutable, TextBox1.Text.Trim)
            Else
                MessageBox.Show("Microsoft Internet Explorer not installed")
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "System Message", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Warning)
        End Try

do you have any advice, if internet explorer is already opened it will not create new instance of it,rather, it will add new tab on existing IE instance?..

See comments within the code below.

        If My.Computer.InternetExplorerInstalled Then
            If My.Computer.IsInternetExplorerRunning Then
                ' starting a page should open in the current instance of IE
            Else
                ' new instance of IE will be started
            End If
        Else
            MessageBox.Show("Microsoft Internet Explorer not installed")
        End If

Place the following code in the code module I uploaded

        Public Function IsInternetExplorerRunning() As Boolean

            Dim query = (From p In System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses() _
                         Where p.ProcessName = "iexplore").FirstOrDefault

            If query IsNot Nothing Then
                Return True
            Else
                Return False
            End If
        End Function

[[gja]]

Hi kevin.

this is what i have now..

 Try
            If My.Computer.InternetExplorerInstalled Then
                If My.Computer.IsInternetExplorerRunning Then
                    ' starting a page should open in the current instance of IE
                    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(TextBox1.Text.Trim)
                Else
                    ' new instance of IE will be started
                    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(My.Computer.InternetExplorerExecutable, TextBox1.Text.Trim)
                End If
            Else
                MessageBox.Show("Microsoft Internet Explorer not installed")
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "System Message", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Warning)
        End Try

i dont know how to open another site in a new tab...highlighted text above work only if IE is my default browser but my default browser is FF...

[kareninstructor]

Hi kevin.

this is what i have now..

 Try
            If My.Computer.InternetExplorerInstalled Then
                If My.Computer.IsInternetExplorerRunning Then
                    ' starting a page should open in the current instance of IE
                    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(TextBox1.Text.Trim)
                Else
                    ' new instance of IE will be started
                    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(My.Computer.InternetExplorerExecutable, TextBox1.Text.Trim)
                End If
            Else
                MessageBox.Show("Microsoft Internet Explorer not installed")
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "System Message", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Warning)
        End Try

i dont know how to open another site in a new tab...highlighted text above work only if IE is my default browser but my default browser is FF...

Since I do not have FF I do not have an answer for you.

[Anri]

Hi. I'm usually a new member here. I know there is a way to get if Firefox is your default browser or other browsers..

Its not http for getting the default browser. but it's the ".htm" extension you should check.

How did I find out?
I've tested changing "FirefoxHTML" into another string that is not for firefox then I started running firefox.
When it opens, it says that firefox is not your default browser.


So here is the code that I wrote:

    Public Function GetDefaultBrowser() As String
        Dim GetLink As String = My.Computer.Registry.GetValue("HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm", "", "")
        'Gets the default value of the .htm extension for locating the default browser's parameter

        Dim Result As String = My.Computer.Registry.GetValue("HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\" + GetLink + "\shell\open\command", "", "")
        'Gets the shell command of the default browser to be returned.
        Return Result.ToString
    End Function

So if your default browser is firefox, then it will appear the code below

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -requestPending -osint -url "%1"

If you want to browse something, then just replace "%1" to the web you like.

Example:

        Dim WebLocation As String = GetDefaultBrowser.Replace("%1", "vbforums.com")
        Shell(WebLocation)
        'Replace vbforums.com to any location in the web to be launched by the default browser.

I hope this helped you [gja].