I finally felt forced to find a faster alternative to the bloatware that Firefox has become and K-Meleon seems to (almost) fit the bill.

The "almost" in my case refers to the difficulty in setting K-Meleon as my default browser. I'm so frustrated & disappointed.

http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/wiki/FAQ#defaultbrowser solved most of the problems but it's already too difficult for most people and I can't recommend it for this reason alone.

Anyway, I have a lingering problem: Programs that want to open a webpage after installation are still calling Firefox. Does anyone know what's going on and what I have to change to fix this?

OS is Windows XP.

Almost your FAQ link this other can help you.

And ever remember to use Preferences (F2) -> "Set As Default Browser..."

K-Meleon in Spanish
The worst day of my life.
I feel like a GIF archive.

Thanks for your quick reply but it does not seem to address the problem I described.

Preferences (F2) -> "Set As Default Browser..." did not work. It simply repeats the installation process which fails to set K-Meleon as default browser for links (which is why the FAQ was needed).

It may also be worth pointing out that un-checking "Use DDE" does not seem to stick.

I suspect that programs that attempt to open a webpage are using a particular method that is not equivalent to clicking on a link.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2009 11:10PM by melonhead.

What are the programs with this problem; open Firefox instead K-Meleon?

K-Meleon in Spanish
The worst day of my life.
I feel like a GIF archive.

Install also uses SetDefault.exe.

It is probably a registry issue.
desga2 needs to know the programs or protocols that do not work.

If browser protocols are not transfered it sometimes helps to make IE protocol handler and then use SetDefault.exe. I do not know for other protocols.

OK, here's what I've done to reproduce the problem:

1. Set IE8 my default browser
2. Verified that links are opening with IE8
3. Set K-Meleon as default browser (from Preferences)
4. Verified that although K-Meleon show as default browser at top of Start menu it does NOT open links - IE still does this
5. Applied modifications to the URL:HTTP and URL:HTTPS file types as per the FAQ
6. Verified that K-Meleon DOES now open links
7. Installed StrokeIt_0.9.6-Personal.exe which, at the end of its installation, now opens IE8

So you can see that this program is getting the default browser from some residual setting not modified by K-Meleon or myself when attempting to make it the default browser.

Update: Now it's working.

I checked the registry [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open] and there, still, was IE.

I reapplied the file type settings, double-checked the registry (IE was gone), reinstalled StrokeIt and it opened K-Meleon as expected.

So,.... the main question I really wanted to ask is why can't K-Meleon do this itself like all the other browsers?

Don't know what operating system you are using, but I am using XP PRO SP3.

I use SetBrowser 1.4 to change my default browser to whatever.

http://www.pc-tools.net/win32/setbrowser/


When you run Setbrowser, pick Netscape (this is a good oldware app), then use it to browser to your K-Meleon location and click on K-meleon.exe. This will change your default settings to K-Meleon instead of whatever you were using before. You can use this utility to change to FireFox if you wanted or IE... Nothing there for Opera as far as I can see.

Hope this helps.

N

I hate software that automatically sets itself as default.
I never used this option even with software which only offers the option to be set as default.
Using W2K I never had to edit/add or change any MIME type in my browsers be it K-Meleon or Opera.
All associations of MIME types I make are on the OS level and they apply to all applications making use of those MIME types.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2009 04:46PM by Yogi.

Quote
melonhead
So,.... the main question I really wanted to ask is why can't K-Meleon do this itself like all the other browsers?

Well, can't remember whether it worked for me or not, but sure agree that a program shouldn't need fiddling to be set as default for its filetypes. Certainly not automatic, sure, but as a user option, as offered in KM.
(Just as a sidenote, I too love nirsoft's easy File Types Manager )

Hey ndebord, I didn't think it was necessary to spec the OS since KM only runs under Windows. Sorry. It's WinXP SP3.

Also, I know of setbrowser but why should we need it for KM when none of the other browsers do? I didn't see anywhere the KM requires setbrowser and have you read the warnings on its webpage? I think that would put most people off.

Yap, I also like Nirsoft programs.

IMHO K-Meleon or any program not able to get protocols (&/or grab mimetypes) is a sign of registry wear (not working like just after OS install).

You can use helpers or set manually but next WinOS setup has come closer



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2009 10:01PM by guenter.

Hello Yogi

KM provides the option to be default browser as a checkbox during install although you are correct it is indeed checked by default and probably shouldn't be.

I agree with you but I personally feel that installation should finish with a bold dialog that says "Do you want K-Meleon to be your default browser?" and that's what it should do if you click "Yes" - but that aside, with the box checked it doesn't end up being properly configured as the default browser and this is my complaint.

The "Set As Default Browser" button under Preferences would also confuse most people because it doesn't simply do that - it takes you through a long & unexpected series of steps and it still doesn't work: You have to set the open actions for http & https manually and this is something that most ordinary users are not used to doing...

they have to first discover the problem, then find that FAQ and then change settings that most people are not used to changing. Even I screwed it up several times (see above) and I thought I knew what I was doing!

Are you with me?

"Set As Default Browser" should do what it says. It should change the same settings that Firefox, IE etc all change when they are set to be the default browser.

Thanks siria - you understand the point I'm trying to make.

Quote
melonhead
Hey ndebord, I didn't think it was necessary to spec the OS since KM only runs under Windows. Sorry. It's WinXP SP3.

Also, I know of setbrowser but why should we need it for KM when none of the other browsers do? I didn't see anywhere the KM requires setbrowser and have you read the warnings on its webpage? I think that would put most people off.

melonhead,

There are minor differences between W98se and XP and who knows? Perhaps Wine and Linux!

<VBG>

As for the warnings, shrug, a nice touch, but the program works quite well with all the gecko browsers that I've tried it with... in windows, of course!

N

@melonhead

I got your point perfectly. I hope you did mine as well

If checked and OKed at the end of the install - some users would miss it and we had a FAQ.

p.s. AFIRemeber correctly it was like that & a FAQ when I was a new user



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2009 02:57AM by guenter.