Firefox default browser & Vista

[Dave88]

I have installed Vista Home Premium on a notebook and installed Firefox 2.0.0.1 when I ran Firefox I let it say okay be the default browser however nothing happens, the prompt vanishes but IE is still the default browser.

So I right clicked the Firefox icon and selected run as administrator & then said okay again to the be default browser and this time it worked. Obviously Firefox doesn't work quite right with the new account system, also the icon for urls in Explorer did not change either and stayed the IE icon instead of the Firefox icon so another possible bug there.

[theGuy82]

I also have Vista. I have the same type of problem. When I open Firefox, it always prompts me if I want to make it my default browser. I say yes and when I open it up again, it prompts me again.

[Dave88]

I also have Vista. I have the same type of problem. When I open Firefox, it always prompts me if I want to make it my default browser. I say yes and when I open it up again, it prompts me again.

The temporary fix is in my post maybe I didn't make it too clear, right click the Firefox icon on your desktop or browse to the Firefox folder & do it from there, a menu will popup select "Run As Administrator" and Firefox will load, say yes to be the default browser and you will get a UAC warning which you say allow and once done Firefox will be set as the default browser (with no more prompts). After that you can run Firefox as normal without having to use the admin mode.

The url icons in Windows for me at least are still using the IE icons but when you open a link it will load Firefox so if that happens to you too it is just another bug.

[william.gunn]

I also have Vista. I have the same type of problem. When I open Firefox, it always prompts me if I want to make it my default browser. I say yes and when I open it up again, it prompts me again.

The temporary fix is in my post maybe I didn't make it too clear, right click the Firefox icon on your desktop or browse to the Firefox folder & do it from there, a menu will popup select "Run As Administrator" and Firefox will load, say yes to be the default browser and you will get a UAC warning which you say allow and once done Firefox will be set as the default browser (with no more prompts). After that you can run Firefox as normal without having to use the admin mode.

The url icons in Windows for me at least are still using the IE icons but when you open a link it will load Firefox so if that happens to you too it is just another bug.

The "Run as Administrator" thing doesn't do anything for me. I'm jumping up and down doing the gottapee dance waiting for 2.0.0.2 to come out, which is supposed to fix this.

On another note, why does IE integration into everything and inability to set non-microsoft programs as default give me this strong sense of <i>deja vu</i>?

[elchanman]

http://garychan.net/2007/02/09/how-to-s ... ows-vista/

[william.gunn]

Well, after running Windows update and rebooting 4 times(I don't know why they couldn't just give me every update at once), I now have Firefox 2.0.0.1 as my default.

[elchanman]

william, that is crazy.

What version of Vista are you running? I'm running Business.

Maybe this bug depends on the version of Vista?

[OPaul]

http://garychan.net/2007/02/09/how-to-set-firefox-as-the-default-browser-in-windows-vista/

Thanks, that worked for me.

[bergie]

http://garychan.net/2007/02/09/how-to-set-firefox-as-the-default-browser-in-windows-vista/

Thanks, that worked for me.

Come on Guys--we all know what crap Microsoft puts out. Why are you sounding so surprised? I'd place my bet on the Mozilla folks getting the Vista problems ironed out. I certainly wouldn't place my bet on Microsoft.

[coryking]

Let me add my biggest set of roll eyes. I swear there is some kind of "brain virus" that infects certain kinds of tech people and disables their ability to think. Shame on Microsoft for making it easy to change for users to change their default applications thus making it even easier for Firefox to be the default web browser! Yeah! Screw those bastards in Redmond!

The reason Firefox does has this bug is because Microsoft made it easy for users to change the default web browser, music player, or whatever. You can control which application gets to load a media type right off the start menu. No more of the "Winamp Agents", "Quicktime Agents" or whatever running in the background. The nightly build linked to above correctly hooks into this new system and after installing, Firefox is now my default browser as it should be.

Oddly, the stable build of Thunderbird hooked into this just fine... It set itself as the default over outlook express right away.

PS: Runnin' Vista Ultimate

[schapel]

You're right, Microsoft isn't to blame for everything. <a href="http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/qa/archives/2007/02/candidate_builds_for_windows_f.html">This is a problem in Firefox that is fixed in the second release candidate of 2.0.0.2</a>, and of course also the latest nightly builds of Firefox 2 as you already mentioned.

[marciak]

Just to clarify, Firefox 2.0.0.1 did not have the fixes to support setting Firefox as the default browser. The upcoming 2.0.0.2 release will have that support, as well as other OS integration work that had to be done to make Firefox run smoothly in Vista. The latest candidate build is here: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/f ... idates/rc2.

Thunderbird default browser support should be included in the upcoming Thunderbird 2 release. There are several bugs filed to cover this work, including https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=354895 and https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=354897.

Anyone in the forums interested in testing Firefox and Thunderbird on Vista, please shoot me an email at marcia@mozilla.org and I will add you to our QA testing list. It would be very helpful to have forum members testing as Vista has not been rolled out widely enough to have large numbers of eyes on the builds. Thanks in advance for your help.