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Windows Q&A
by By James Smith— NOCCC , james@reflexive.net - April 17, 2001 at 14:29:43:
Q: How would I go about de-selecting Netscape Navigator as my designated browser and select Internet Explorer in its place? –Bob G.Q: I don’t think I HAVE a “designated browser.” In fact, I’m still not aware that I NEED one. Why would one NEED one? Or why should one HAVE one? I can think of no good reason. –Bruce S.
A: No matter which browser is your “designated” or “default” browser, you can still use any browser at any time. Just double click the icon for any browser and start surfing.
However, it can be useful to specify your default browser to setup file associations. For example, if you have an HTML file on your hard dive and you double click on it, your “default” browser will automatically be launched and will open the HTML file. HTML files on your hard drive are getting more and more common these days because many software packages include read me, help, or documentation files in HTML format.
Similarly, if you have a shortcut to a web site and you double click it from your desktop or Start menu, your default browser will open that web site. Once again, this scenario of clicking on a web shortcut from your desktop or Start menu is becoming more common these days because many software packages install in your start menu a shortcut to a technical support web site in addition to installing a shortcut to launch the program.
Lastly, many software packages will have menu items or buttons in a dialogs to take you to a web site. Once again, it is your default web browser which becomes activated to open this web site. For example, in the Help menu of Microsoft Word, there is an item called “Office on the web.” Selecting this item will launch Netscape Navigator to open the web site if you have Netscape specified as your default browser.
Usually if you open a browser that is not your default browser, it will ask you if you would like to make it the default. However, this constant asking can be disabled by the user. To get Internet Explorer to be the default browser you can follow these steps (assuming you already have IE installed). Click the Windows “Start” button and select “Settings”, then “Control Panel”. Double click on the “Internet Options” icon then select the “Programs” tab. Check the box at the bottom on the dialog that says, “Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser”
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