Thought it might be something like that - thanks.

As soon as I test it I'll give you the points

<<Dim registryKey As RegistryKey>>  - Type 'RegistryKey' is unknown to vb.net 05 express
<<registryKey = Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(key, False)>>  - Name 'registry' is not declared

Thanks

I did a google on it and found that out too just earlier

The suggested method doesn't really work a lot of the time. My default browser is Firefox, but html files are for some reason associated with IE.

If you just need to find *a* browser, it will work fine. If you want to find the default browser it will give erroneous results for a lot of people.

Perhaps a better way to do it is as follows:

Private Function GetDefaultBrowserPath() As String
    Dim StartMenuInternetKey As RegistryKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet", False)
    Dim InternetProgram As String = StartMenuInternetKey.GetValue(Nothing)
    Return StartMenuInternetKey.OpenSubKey(InternetProgram + "\shell\open\command", False).GetValue(Nothing, Nothing)
End Function

This will get the Browser that is pinned to the top of most peoples Start Menu. I think it's probably Windows XP only though.

I extended my code a bit to handle both when a user specifies their own default browser (instead of using the system default) and to fall back to getting the browser from the HTML extension if there is a problem (usually because they are using Windows 98/2000).

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets the path to the default browser from the registry.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <returns>The path to the default browser. null (Nothing in VB) if not set.</returns>
    Function GetDefaultBrowserPath() As String
        Dim startMenuInternetSubKey As String = "Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet"

        ' Find the key in the registry that contains the relevent default browser information.
        ' This is either in the current user if they have a different one to the local machine, otherwise
        ' in local machine.
        Dim startMenuInternetKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(startMenuInternetSubKey, False)
        ' If the current user does not have a default browser set, use the default browser for the local machine.
        If startMenuInternetKey Is Nothing Then
            startMenuInternetKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(startMenuInternetSubKey, False)
        End If

        ' Get the name of the default clients subkey and get the shell open command. This may be null if, for some
        ' strange reason, it does not exist.
        Dim defaultBrowser As Object = startMenuInternetKey.GetValue(Nothing, Nothing)

        ' Handle null cases (this is odd and shouldn't really happen. But theoretically it might.
        If defaultBrowser Is Nothing Then
            Return GetDefaultBrowserPathFromHtmlExtension()
        End If

        Dim defaultBrowserPath As Object = startMenuInternetKey.OpenSubKey(String.Format("{0}\shell\open\command", defaultBrowser), False).GetValue(Nothing, Nothing)

        ' Handle null cases when casting and returning.
        If defaultBrowserPath Is Nothing Then
            Return GetDefaultBrowserPathFromHtmlExtension()
        End If

        Return defaultBrowserPath
    End Function

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets the path to the browser associated with html files.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <returns>The path to the browser associated with html files. null (Nothing in VB) if not set.</returns>
    ''' <remarks>Often used as a fallback for GetDefaultBrowserPath.</remarks>
    Function GetDefaultBrowserPathFromHtmlExtension()
        ' Used as a fall back method if the normal GetDefaultBrowserPath fails.
        ' Often this is because they are using Windows 98/2000.

        ' Open the registry key that has the command to open the program associated with html files.
        Dim htmlShellOpenKey As RegistryKey = Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey("htmlfile\shell\opennew\command")

        ' If for some reason this key doesn't exist, return null.
        If htmlShellOpenKey == Nothing Then
            Return Nothing
        End If

        Return htmlShellOpenKey.GetValue(Nothing, Nothing)
    End Function

Thanks for that effort (expecially after the Q was PAQed) - much appreciated.

One small note regarding  >>I think it's probably Windows XP only though.<<
This program will be run on Vista only - there will be no need to run it on XP or any other OS.

I'll wait for your reply before trying out your second idea.  :)

I'm happy to reopen this Q to include you in a split as well (after increasing points) so please treat this as if it's still open.

Ryan

Hi - I have found a much better solution for tis question (for future readers). (The points are still yours for helping out).

The following opens the website in the default browser:

Process.Start("http://www.website.com")


Ryan R

with 19298082

 If htmlShellOpenKey == Nothing Then
            Return Nothing
        End If

gives me an error in vb 2012, doesn't like the ==

papaaT555