Mailto Handler Not properly established

[Rob]

I recently installed Outlook 2003 (as part of Office SBE 2003) under WinXP Pro (SP1).

Previously, I was running Office97 (which I uninstalled...and went to great lengths, following some MS KB articles, to remove as thoroughly as possible prior to installing SBE 2003).

Somehow, the "mailto" handler didn't get set up properly...whenever I'd click on a "mailto" URL, it would pause a few moments then open up many dozens of IE windows in error.

Looking at the MS KB article 312346 about correcting the "mailto" options was of no use since there was NO "URL:Mailto Protocol" in my Folder Options\File Types\ list.

I performed an Office "Repair" (using the Settings\Add-Remove Programs "Repair Installation" process for Office 2003). This did not fix the problem.

I also ran Outlook Express and told it to make itself the default mail handler. This did not work properly (it acted liked it worked, but still wasn't the default mail handler). Getting into IE Options\Programs and selecting "Microsoft Office Outlook" did not work either.

*** WARNING: messing around in the registry can be deadly to your Windows installation. While the following things worked for me, they might ruin your computer. This is a historical description of what I did and is NOT a recommendation nor process for anyone else to follow. ***

I ended up manually creating a ".aaa" extension under HKCR in the registry and manually adding a "MailTo" entry as well, mirroring the entry for "LDAP" but using the command line from the MS KB article instead (substituting "Office11" for "Office10"). I then tied the ".aaa" extension to the "MailTo" entry. I also copied CLSID of {3050f3DA-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B} as a key under the MailTo entry.

I believe I may have typed "mailto:[email protected]" under "Start\Run"--but I can't remember the exact sequence.

Going into the Folder Options\File Types\ this time, the ".aaa" extension existed and I was able to open it. Clicking "edit", it automatically showed the DDE information--so, apparently, something magically corrected the entry.

Since this worked, I deleted the ".aaa" key (to clean things up).

Now, my "mailto:" URLs work...and it appears properly in the Folder Options\File Types list.

The question is: why did I have to do all this the "hard" way?

 

[Roady]

I believe the URL:mailto filetype is handled by Internet Explorer. A repair
on IE could have solved it as well. Perhaps posting this in an IE newsgroup
will give you the exact answer.

Here is the link for the IE newsgroup
http://communities.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.asp?icp=InternetExplorer

Good Luck!
--
Roady
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-----

I recently installed Outlook 2003 (as part of Office SBE 2003) under WinXP Pro (SP1).

Previously, I was running Office97 (which I uninstalled...and went to

great lengths, following some MS KB articles, to remove as thoroughly as
possible prior to installing SBE 2003).

Somehow, the "mailto" handler didn't get set up properly...whenever I'd

click on a "mailto" URL, it would pause a few moments then open up many
dozens of IE windows in error.

Looking at the MS KB article 312346 about correcting the "mailto" options

was of no use since there was NO "URL:Mailto Protocol" in my Folder
Options\File Types\ list.

I performed an Office "Repair" (using the Settings\Add-Remove Programs

"Repair Installation" process for Office 2003). This did not fix the
problem.

I also ran Outlook Express and told it to make itself the default mail

handler. This did not work properly (it acted liked it worked, but still
wasn't the default mail handler). Getting into IE Options\Programs and
selecting "Microsoft Office Outlook" did not work either.

*** WARNING: messing around in the registry can be deadly to your Windows

installation. While the following things worked for me, they might ruin
your computer. This is a historical description of what I did and is NOT a
recommendation nor process for anyone else to follow. ***

I ended up manually creating a ".aaa" extension under HKCR in the registry

and manually adding a "MailTo" entry as well, mirroring the entry for "LDAP"
but using the command line from the MS KB article instead (substituting
"Office11" for "Office10"). I then tied the ".aaa" extension to the
"MailTo" entry. I also copied CLSID of
{3050f3DA-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B} as a key under the MailTo entry.

I believe I may have typed "mailto:[email protected]" under "Start\Run"--but I

can't remember the exact sequence.

Going into the Folder Options\File Types\ this time, the ".aaa" extension

existed and I was able to open it. Clicking "edit", it automatically showed
the DDE information--so, apparently, something magically corrected the
entry.