Obtain user's default browser.

[J-Deezy]

Been a while since I posted anything here, thought I'd share a little snippet I wrote up the other day for someone. Just a really simple way to determine the user's default web browser (Chrome, Firefox...etc)

Private Function getDefaultBrowser() As String
    Dim retVal As String = String.Empty
    Using baseKey As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey = My.Computer.Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Software\Clients\StartmenuInternet")
         Dim baseName As String = baseKey.GetValue("").ToString
         Dim subKey As String = "SOFTWARE\" & IIf(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE") = "AMD64", "Wow6432Node\", "") & "Clients\StartMenuInternet\" & baseName
         Using browserKey As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey = My.Computer.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(subKey)
              retVal = browserKey.GetValue("").ToString
         End Using
     End Using
     Return retVal
End Function

A basic walkthrough of the function for those interested:

Firstly, the function opens the registry key @ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Sofware\Clients\StartmenuInternet

The default value at this registry key is the executable name of your default browser (IEXPLORE9.EXE, FIREFOX.EXE, Chrome.exe...etc), these names aren't overly helpful as it's not the actual browser's "name". However, they do help out, so we will store this in the "baseName" variable for later use.

The next step is to build our next registry location. Due to the difference in registry keys on a 32 bit vs 36 bit system the ternary "IIf" operator was used here to apply the "Wow6432Node" if necessary (64 bit systems). The StartMenuInternet key contains multiple sub keys, one for each browser you have installed, coincidentally the subkey names correspond to the value stored in baseName, so we use that variable to open the "default browser's" folder.

This is the moneymaker, the default value at this key is the actual name of the browser, so we just assign retVal the default key value and call it quits.

Return retVal <- self explanatory, return the value we found.

(Not yet tested on a 32 bit system so if someone finds an error please point it out)

Example of basic use:

MessageBox.Show(String.Concat("Your default browser is: ", getDefaultBrowser(), "."), "Your default browser")

Cheers,
Jason.

[J-Deezy]

No-one going to critique any of the code? Damn.

[q_t_m]

I just stumbled across your post, figured I'd reply.

From
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...=vs.85%29.aspx
-------------------------------------------------
Registering for the Start Menu Internet Link

Being registered as the default Start menu Internet application is not the same as being registered as the default web browser. The default web browser is used for launching arbitrary URLs from anywhere in the system. The Start menu Internet application merely controls the program that is started when the user clicks the Internet icon on the Start menu.

Any web browser application can register to appear as an Internet client on the Start menu. This visibility, coupled with proper registration for an application's file and protocol types, gives an application default browser status.
------------------------------------------------

HKCU\Software\Clients\ doesn't exist in Win7 by default, because while IE is the default browser, there is no longer the "Start | Internet" option.

If you set Firefox as the default, FF creates the key (assuming it's a legacy function). If you change the default back to IE, then IE does change the StartMenuInternet\Default value (probably just to undo changes made by FF).

In either case, there's no HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Clients\ key on a Win7 x64 system. There is HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Clients by default, but that doesn't get changed when a user changes their default browser.

So the code won't work on Win7 x64. It will only detect FF as default on Win7 x32, and IE only if they've switched back from IE. And only if they set the default browser through the browser interface; if they set the default browser by changing the file association, then the MenuStartInternet is not going to change.

Cheers!

[J-Deezy]

I just stumbled across your post, figured I'd reply.

From
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...=vs.85%29.aspx
-------------------------------------------------
Registering for the Start Menu Internet Link

Being registered as the default Start menu Internet application is not the same as being registered as the default web browser. The default web browser is used for launching arbitrary URLs from anywhere in the system. The Start menu Internet application merely controls the program that is started when the user clicks the Internet icon on the Start menu.

Any web browser application can register to appear as an Internet client on the Start menu. This visibility, coupled with proper registration for an application's file and protocol types, gives an application default browser status.
------------------------------------------------

HKCU\Software\Clients\ doesn't exist in Win7 by default, because while IE is the default browser, there is no longer the "Start | Internet" option.

If you set Firefox as the default, FF creates the key (assuming it's a legacy function). If you change the default back to IE, then IE does change the StartMenuInternet\Default value (probably just to undo changes made by FF).

In either case, there's no HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Clients\ key on a Win7 x64 system. There is HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Clients by default, but that doesn't get changed when a user changes their default browser.

So the code won't work on Win7 x64. It will only detect FF as default on Win7 x32, and IE only if they've switched back from IE. And only if they set the default browser through the browser interface; if they set the default browser by changing the file association, then the MenuStartInternet is not going to change.

Cheers!

Alright, I use windows Vista and did some checking by changing my default browser from IE to FF to Chrome to Safari and back to IE and this snippet worked fine in most cases, guess it doesn't work on Win7, shame.