[wpkg-users] firefox deployment does not work

[Pete Boyd]

On 14/02/14 10:16, Roland Köhler wrote:
> unfortunately i still cannot figure out, how to make firefox my default
> browser.

It used to be that you could use this:

"%PROGRAMFILES%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -silent -setDefaultBrowser

And whether you ran it as an administrator or not it would change it
per-machine or per-user.

I found since Firefox ESR 17 that Firefox was prompting people on each
run to be the default browser and that the above had no effect.

Instead I fixed it using this in the logon script:

"%PROGRAMFILES%\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe" /SetAsDefaultAppUser

Now that I consider it again I think I would have been better using
'SetAsDefaultAppGlobal' as an admin.

Here's some notes I have lying around that I gleaned from somewhere some
time back:

Being a default browser is actually a bit more than just being a default
browser. There are different protocol associations (http:, https:, ftp:)
and file type associations (.htm, .html, .shtml, .xht, .xhtml ).
Associations are in registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes and
HKCU\Software\Classes which render into HKCR root hive so that current
user information is applied over local machine information. This means
that there can be a default browser setting on computer level but users
can have their own default browser settings which override computer
settings. Browsers in general check if they own the http protocol
association HKCR\http\shell\open\command, but if they are asked to set
themselves as a default browser they apply changes to all those
protocols and file types. If user doesn't have admin rights the changes
will go under HKCU\Software\Classes.

(Well, actually in Windows XP there is also a "default browser" in
'Start Menu| Internet' which is controlled using
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\ registry key. It is nice to
have this in line with associations but that's soon legacy stuff anyways.)
Dave's solution to run command PATH_TO_FIREFOX\uninstall\helper.exe
/SetAsDefaultAppGlobal will try to set the default browser under
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes and requires admin powers. Command
PATH_TO_FIREFOX\uninstall\helper.exe /SetAsDefaultAppUser does this
under HKCU\Software\Classes. This the same as user clicking 'Firefox |
Options | Advaced | "Make Firefox the default browser"' button.

Of course you can also write all the protocol and file type registration
settings into registry using a script or Group Policy Preferences. We
have put the registry settings into our home-made Firefox ESR msi-package.

If you set one browser, say Firefox, to be the default browser then you
probably want to disable default browser checks in other browsers, say
Internet Explorer. IE's check is controlled at least by
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Internet Explorer\Main\Check_Associations
(REG_SZ) registry value. I'm not sure if there is HKLM setting.

Pete Boyd

Open Plan IT - http://openplanit.co.uk
The Golden Ear - http://thegoldenear.org