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General discussion

Problem with firefox as default

by cozzielex Jan 31, 2010 7:46PM PST

Firefox is my default browser (v3.6) (confirmed in the browser itself and in 'Set program access defaults)
If I try to create a hyperlink in any MS Office document I just get an error message saying 'an error occurred whilst browsing files'.
If I change and set IE as the default browser it works ok. I don't want IE as my default browser and it's a pain to keep having to re-set the default.
Does anyone know a solution to this?
Thanks

Discussion is locked

5 Posts
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Tell us a bit more...
by John.Wilkinson Feb 2, 2010 2:52AM PST

Specifically:
1.) Operating system.
2.) Version of Microsoft Office.
3.) Version of Internet Explorer.

In short, Office does not verify the validity of URLs inserted as hyperlinks, nor does it even communicate with your default browser, whatever it may be, unless you attempt to open the link from within Office. Thus, my first suggestion would be to perform a repair installation of Office, which should resolve the apparent glitch. On the other hand, if it fails wen following hyperlinks, you may also want to uninstall and reinstall Firefox, as a corrupt installation can cause such default browser integration woes.

John

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re; problem with firefox
by cozzielex Feb 2, 2010 12:27PM PST

My OS is Windows XP Home SP3. Firefox 3.6, & IE8.
If I uninstall & re-install is ther any way to keep my favourites etc?
Thank you for your time

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re above
by cozzielex Feb 2, 2010 12:28PM PST

Sorry, I forgot to include I'm running Office 2007

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Yes...
by John.Wilkinson Feb 3, 2010 2:36AM PST

Uninstalling Firefox does not remove your bookmarks (favorites) unless you check the box to delete your profile information. You can also go Bookmarks->Organize Bookmarks->Import and Backup->Backup to create a backup for later use, just in case.

Proceed with the reinstalls of Firefox, and Office, and let us know how it goes.

John

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Problem resolved
by cozzielex Feb 3, 2010 4:14AM PST

John,
thanks for your help on this; it took me 2 days but finally a got a workaround. I downloaded a small programme called DefaultBrowser for windows (http://windowsxp.mvps.org/defaultbrowser.htm). There is a part of that programme designed to set a browser OTHER than IE,FF, Opera etc as default and when I applied that it resolved my problem. How that came about is a mystery but in this case ignorance really is bliss!
Once again thanks for your help.
Peter

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