checking the registry for an installed web browser

[jt007]

I want my program to check if a machine has an installed browser and, if so, launch it and direct it to a particular URL. I have discovered how to check registry keys, but I am not sure WHICH registry keys hold the necessary information. Can anyone help?

 

[Alt255]

No need to inspect the registry. Use ShellExecute to open the URL with the default browser.[tt]

Private Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" _
Alias "ShellExecuteA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, _
ByVal lpOperation As String, ByVal lpFile As String, _
ByVal lpParameters As String, _
ByVal lpDirectory As String, _
ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long

Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1

Private Sub Form_Load()
ShellExecute Me.hwnd, vbNullString, _
"

http://www.tel-tips.com",

vbNullString, _
"C:\", SW_SHOWNORMAL
End Sub
[/tt]

Alt255@Vorpalcom.Intranets.com​

 

[jt007]

Thanks, but I was aware of this method. The thing is, I want to also make an email facility and hence check for an email program. I don't want to rely on the fact that a machine has email software installed - I'd like to check for it so I can make custom error messages if one is not present. Is this possible with the strategy given. If not, is there a way to check the registry?

Thanks for the help given so far, btw.

 

[wanmaster]

I think..
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\*

For example:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\iexplore.exe
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\netscape.exe

Remedy