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Cannot open links in Thunderbird to Firefox: Fix

Discussion in 'Firefox, Thunderbird & SeaMonkey' started by artem, 2008/06/17.

  1. 2008/06/17
    artem

    artem Inactive Thread Starter

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    Normally when I click on a Link in Thunderbird Firefox automatically opens and a Tab is created containing the page referenced in the Link. Recently this process failed and I couldn't identify any action on my part that might have caused this problem. After reinstalling TBird and FFox, reviewing my Options settings and several postings on the Net without success I was able to restore this feature with the following steps:

    1. Open INTERNET EXPLORER and make it the DEFAULT BROWSER.
    2. Open THUNDERBIRD and click a Link in a message to ensure that it opens a Tab in IE.
    3. Open FIREFOX and make it the DEFAULT BROWSER (this ofcourse reverses the first step above).
    4. Click a Link in TBird to verify that the link feature is now working properly.

    The link problem in TBird occurs from time to time and can be frustrating to resolve. This fix was applied in Windows XP Home, SP 2.
     
    Last edited: 2008/06/17
  2. 2008/06/17
    Ramona

    Ramona Geek Member Alumni

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    Welcome to the Forum, artem!

    artem,

    Thank you for posting the solution to Thunderbird links not opening! This solution is also in the MozillaZine Knowledge Base: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Default_browser
     

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  4. 2008/06/18
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

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    This is the critical setting. I have not had a single problem since I selected "custom ". Everything else follows from that setting.
     
  5. 2008/06/19
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    Ramona's post originally had a link to a different page, about setting the default email client so that a TB composition window opens from a link in a browser.

    Instead, Artem was talking about opening FF (or a tab if it's already open) from a link in a TB message. This requires that FF be set as the default browser.

    Westside has the right idea, but the logical first step is to check FF's Options to see if it's the default browser. For FF 2.0.x open Options > Main, for FF 3.0 open the Options > Advanced > General tab. In either case click on the "Check Now" button in the System Defaults section to see if it is, in fact, the default browser. Also, it's not a bad idea to check the box in the same section so that FF checks to see if it's the default browser when it starts up.
     
    Last edited: 2008/06/19
  6. 2008/06/19
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

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    I concur with Jim. Sorry that I did expand on what was obvious to me (bad boy!) I have a check mark only for the default browser, so that I know when another browser has stolen default.
    If anyone has FF3.0, and wants to make it default, the location of the check mark is Tools|Options|Advanced|General. FF3.0 has stolen default from 2.0.0.14 with each RC and the final version. Then, they had to pull a fast one, moving the settings.
     
  7. 2008/06/19
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    Good catch, Westside. I've been working with 3.0 and completely forgot to see if the location was the same in 2.0.x. I've edited my previous post accordingly.
     
  8. 2008/06/19
    Ramona

    Ramona Geek Member Alumni

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    Thanks Jim for pointing out my error, and I have changed the link accordingly! :eek::eek::eek:
     
  9. 2008/07/17
    Rudi F

    Rudi F Inactive

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    1. Open INTERNET EXPLORER and make it the DEFAULT BROWSER.
    2. Open THUNDERBIRD and click a Link in a message to ensure that it opens a Tab in IE.
    3. Open FIREFOX and make it the DEFAULT BROWSER (this ofcourse reverses the first step above).
    4. Click a Link in TBird to verify that the link feature is now working properly.

    I tried this fix and it does not work for me. IE opened when it was default but when FF was set to be default, nothing happened. This all started after I installed FF3.0.1. Any other suggestions?
     
  10. 2008/07/17
    Ramona

    Ramona Geek Member Alumni

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    Welcome to the Forum, Rudi F!

    Rudi,

    Clear your Location Bar, then type: about:config
    In the blank "filter" field type: network.protocol-handler

    Check these three settings to ensure the "value" is Firefox

    network.protocol-handler.app.ftp......user set......string........firefox
    network.protocol-handler.app.http.....user set......string.......firefox
    network.protocol-handler.app.https....user set......string.......firefox

    If these settings aren't listed in about:config, then add all three. You can do this by a right click in any blank space,
    Select: New
    Select: String
    Type the preference name, e.g. network.protocol-handler.app.ftp
    Click: OK
    Type the value: Firefox
    Click: OK
    Close Window
    Close Firefox and reopen

    If still no joy, check these file types to ensure Firefox is the application selected to handle the protocols:

    Open Windows Explorer, click on Tools | Folder Options | File Types
    Scroll down to: (NONE) URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol
    Scroll down to: (NONE) URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy
    Is Firefox the application to handle these protocols?
     
  11. 2008/07/18
    Rudi F

    Rudi F Inactive

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    Cannot open links in Thunderbird to Firefox:

    Thanks for that, I will check that...Meanwhile i found that i made the mistake of only setting the default in FF3. but FF2 was not set as the default browser. When i fixed that, the new message is FF3 profile busy use another profile (FF2). When i select that the email links bring up FF2 and all is fine. Or is it really?
     
  12. 2008/07/18
    Ramona

    Ramona Geek Member Alumni

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    Rudi,

    No, your suspicion is correct, all isn't fine. If you want Firefox 3.01 to be your default browser, then don't select Firefox 2.0.0.xx as your default browser.

    Are you using separate Profiles for Fx 3.01, and 2.0.0.xx?

    The "Profile in use error" has several causes, but a good fix is to edit your profiles.ini
    file to establish the default browser. The profiles.ini file is found here: C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

    First: Make a backup copy of the profiles.ini files
    Next: Open profiles.ini in WordPad
    Your file should be similar to this one:

    Code:
    [General]
    StartWithLastProfile=1
    
    [Profile0]
    Name=ramona
    IsRelative=1
    Path=Profiles/xxxxxxxx.ramona
    
    [Profile1]
    Name=test301  (profile#2)
    IsRelative=1
    Path=Profiles/xxxxxxxx.test301 
    Default=1
     
  13. 2008/07/19
    Rudi F

    Rudi F Inactive

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    Yes, I do have 2 profiles. Will follow your suggestion and again, thanks a lot.
    Rudi
     
  14. 2008/07/19
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

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    I, just, came through a long battle with Flock1.2.4. I don't recall if it did this all the time in the past, but did not make much of the fact that default to 2.0.0.16 was reset. I had not looked to what, as I got plenty of incorrect info at another newsgroup. The correct answer was that the default was reset on installing Flock, but not to itself, but rather to IE7. I don't remember of a single final version, in long time which has done that, so I am done with Flock, which had a few desirable features, not found in FF. I am not sold, yet, on FF3.x. So, I will stay with FF2.0.0.16 (different profiles, of course).
    Having Safari3.1.2, I found a handy way to reset the defaults, without opening Firefox, or IE, or anything else. Go to the Safari preferences|general. Defaults are listed, and it is possible to change default to the browser. I think that it is neat.
     

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