Cannot link to installed popmail application

I have a problem with Windows 8.1 that I don’t understand. I have installed Opera Mail as a desktop popmail client. This is the program I want to use and it works fine for sending and receiving email, but I cannot get Windows to recognize it as a default program. It does not appear in the list of default programs under Control Panel and I cannot associate it with the mailto protocol which is what I really want to do. At present, if I click on a mailto: link, it opens the mail app in the metro interface, which I do not want, and tries to create a mail account, which I also do not want. If I try to associate the mailto protocol with anything else, I am only presented with a choice of my browser (which doesn’t do anything) or the app store, which is not what I want.

I would like to get the mailto link to open the compose message tab in Opera Mail. If this is not possible, I would like to understand how it works and how it is supposed to be used. Why are the choices presented to me so limited? How can new programs be added to the association list? In earlier versions of Windows this could be done manually. In 8.1 the options seem to be very restricted. I am not afraid to hack the registry to get it to do what I want, but first I need to know how it works.

 

Hi rikki, Have you tried > Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features > is it shown? Neil.

 

Hi Neil,

Yes, it shows as correctly installed. However, it is not in Program Files, but under the apps folder of my user name. Windows 8.1 seems to do this with a few programs. Don't know what the significance is.

 

I just had a look at the Opera Download site and I get the impression that you must enable Opera as your Default Browser for the Mail client to operate fully.
Have you set Opera as your Default Browser? Neil.

 

Yes, it is set as default.

Edit: I misread your question. Opera browser is not installed. Opera Mail is a standalone program and it is set as default email client.

 

Thanks. This is exactly what I want to do. However, I never see any option to 'look for more apps on this pc'. When I click change program, all I get is a window with the two choices to use my browser or go to the app store. I just checked again and nothing else shows up on the screen. How can I get this to appear?

 

Before you make changes to you registry: 1. BACKUP THE REGISTRY.

 

OK thanks for the info. I will give this a try and report back.

 

Worked like a charm. Thank you sooo much!

 

I followed the link you provided above to Reddit.com and then followed the instructions there. This involved copying some added Registry data into a file and merging it into the Registry. I was also instructed to reinstall Opera Mail under Program Files instead of its default. After doing all this Opera Mail appeared as it should in Default Programs and I was able to associate the Mailto protocol to it. Everything now works as it should.