* Change default browser

[hcs]

I am using FH6 on a PC running Win 7. I have been using FH for two years now and have been very satisfied. Last night I added a membership to myheritage, and looked up a few suggested matches. I noticed though that doing so opened the Explorer browser. This is not my preference.

How do I change the browser FH uses for searches from within the program?

[tatewise]

Welcome to the FHUG.

For technical reasons it is not possible to change the FH internal Web Search Window browser.

However, in Tools > Preferences > Internet Data Matches set Location to Display Matches: External Web Browser to use your default browser externally.

[AdrianBruce]

FH is not the only software to have this issue - Ancestry upset a number of people by placing limits on the version of IE used in similar circumstances. It's a subtle point but in these cases the software is not launching a web browser (such as IE or Firefox) - rather it's launching a bit of software to put HTML on the screen where the HTML has already been pulled off the web. The only bit of software that Windows recognises for this purpose of rendering HTML onto the screen is IE. I think Apple's OSX is similarly restricted though obviously the rendering engine is Apple's.

[tatewise]

Yes, Adrian is correct.
In Windows the HTML rendering engine is called the IE Shell.
As Adrian says, it is the only way a Windows program can display HTML pages internally.

The same restriction applies to FH Plugins that display FHUG KB Help pages, or Google Maps, etc.

You should also be aware the the standard IE browser version, and the IE Shell version, are often NOT the same.

The latter version is governed by a Windows Registry setting that FH (and advanced users) can alter.
A side effect is web sites that work well in the IE browser (or other browsers) may not work in the IE Shell, or vice versa.

During FH testing this issue was discussed, and suggestions made for the best IE Shell version, but no conclusion has been reached yet, especially as different variants of Windows support different IE and IE Shell versions.

[migs]

I was searching this very question, and I'm not sure if the answers are actually related to the original OP query.

Opening matches inside FH is fine, it's when a SmartMatch within those takes you to an external website, eg familysearch.org, that the issue arises

Clicking on that link then opens Internet Explorer by default, ignoring the system settings.

I don't use IE, except to check for web design compatibility in my day job, and would prefer if FH and/or the My Heritage website within FH respected the system settings for the default browser.

I believe this is the problem the OP was referring to, and I'm also wondering what the answer is.

Cheers

Paul

[tatewise]

The answer to the original posting is that it is impossible to change the browser used by FH.

The only way any MS Windows program can display HTML pages locally (or in any spawned window) is to use the MS Windows HTML rendering engine called the Internet Explorer Shell.

That is it. There is nothing program developers can do about it unless they write their own HTML rendering engine!

Every MS Windows program has the same restriction, not just FH.