Do not make Firefox default browser during installation

[sfichtner]

I have the same problem just like jpa. I'm hoping for a fix soon so I can deploy 3.0.10. The users have tolerated this issue for a long while and I'd like to finally fix it for them.

Steve

[dmc]

I'm sure someone has already mentioned this in the past, but the installation appears to work fine as far as the default browser is concerned.
The problem pops up for me (and others with non-english language versions of MS Windows) when I upgrade from an older version of Firefox.

The upgrade process first uninstalls the old version of Firefox.

A custom action in the deinstallation sets IE as the default browser using "C:\Program files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" in the registry keys [HKCR\HTTP\shell\open\command\(Default)], [HKCR\HTTPS\shell\open\command\(Default)], [HKCR\FTP\shell\open\command\(Default)], and [HKCR\gopher\shell\open\command\(Default)]

This works fine for english language versions of Windows, but causes problems on localized versions where the value of the ProgramFilesDir key at [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion] is not necessarily "C:\Program files".

As a result of having no valid values for these entries, neither browser is set as the default browser.

I hope this makes the problem a little clearer.

[Inexor]

I think you are on to something. I found that if I manually uninstalled FF and set IE as the default browser (if it wasn't already) and then rolled out FF with the appropriate settings and tweaks, it left the default browser setting alone.

There must be something about the uninstall during an upgrade that isn't working correctly. I don't know if I can use this information to my advantage. It's tricky to get FF completely uninstalled on everyone's computer and set IE as the default without touching every computer.

Maybe Draconpern will know what this all means.

[ef2007]

When redeploying FF CE I can confirm, on my non-english windows boxes, that those registry keys are set exactly as dmc wrote: as reported at http://forums.frontmotion.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=657, on each machine I had to interactively set FF as the default browser, then open IE and set it as the default one. This way, default browser and file associations/shortcut links/icons were restored back to IE. Obviously, it's not a practical solution, expecially if settings are corrupted again each time newer versions of FF CE are deployed.
DraconPern, if possible, please fix this "internazionalization" bug, using something like %programfiles% instead of "c:\program files".

Edoardo

[Inexor]

It's not just non-English installations with this problem. We have this problem and our builds are English and we have C:\Program Files.

It must have something to do with the upgrade process.

[jpa]

As I stated earlier the English builds get the end of the string wrong triggering the IE warning that it's not the default browser. In either case the registry key isn't what IE expects so it complains.

[dgalanter]

Some of my Firefox installs want to uninstall with helper.exe. Is there a way to craft a silent uninstall for this?

[dgalanter]

As I stated earlier the English builds get the end of the string wrong triggering the IE warning that it's not the default browser. In either case the registry key isn't what IE expects so it complains.

Can I just run a reghack to change that key after doing the install?

[jpa]

Can I just run a reghack to change that key after doing the install?

Yes. That would work. It would be nice if the real problem could be addressed but DraconPern controls that code.

[dgalanter]

Can I just run a reghack to change that key after doing the install?

Yes. That would work. It would be nice if the real problem could be addressed but DraconPern controls that code.

Does anyone have the exact hack to run?

[Inexor]

DraconPern, I can't tell if you are monitoring this thread or not. Are we helping you figure this problem out or not? I really, really want to use this method to maintain my users installations but this just kills me every time.

Thanks.

[jpa]

Are we helping you figure this problem out or not?.

It seems my past posts haven't really helped the situation much. Hopefully this time I've got the problem truly figured out.

Install Firefox MSI with InstallLevel=3
Uninstall Firefox
Both Firefox and IE think they're not the default browser
Run the REG file below and IE is now the default browser

There are at least two problems with the uninstall routine in the Firefox MSI.

Problem 1: HKCR\ftp\shell\open\command(Default) is set to ""C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome" when it should be ""C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" %1"

But this isn't enough because of...

Problem 2: The uninstall routine is adding an extra nul to the registry keys so they're not equal.
So instead of the Default REG_SZ for HKCR\.htm being "68 00 74 00 6D 00 6C 00 66 00 69 00 6C 00 65 00 00 00" it's set to "68 00 74 00 6D 00 6C 00 66 00 69 00 6C 00 65 00 00 00 00 00"

So when you import the registry below the two problems are fixed. I've removed other registry keys from the REG file that also had extra NUL data but wasn't causing IE to think it wasn't default.

At this point I think I've really and truly found the problem. At least the problem for English installs of Firefox. If you apply the registry entries below it should work. Sorry for all the previous semi-useless posts. Problem 2 was really throwing me off as you can't see the problem in the Registry without using the Modify Binary Data view.

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm]
@="htmlfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html]
@="htmlfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE\" %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="\"%1\",,-1,0,,,,"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ftp\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HTTP\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE\" -nohome"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HTTP\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="\"%1\",,-1,0,,,,"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HTTP\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HTTP\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE\" -nohome"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="\"%1\",,-1,0,,,,"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet]
@="IEXPLORE.EXE"

[Inexor]

That's excellent, jpa! Now, DraconPern, can you take this research and solve the problem in the installer?

[ef2007]

That's excellent, jpa! Now, DraconPern, can you take this research and solve the problem in the installer?

Possibly, using something like %programfiles% instead of "c:\Program Files", otherwise it will corrupt non-english OSes.

[dmc]

I thought I'd just share my quick fix to this problem until a solution is provided.
I run the installation as always, knowing that my registry will be a mess afterwards.
After this I run the following:

c:\windows\system32\shmgrate.exe OCInstallReinstallIE

IE is set as the default browser, and my problems are solved