Windows 10: Locate link browser

After I upgraded to Windows 10 I am unable to click on any link in Outlook 2003. I get a popup that says "Locate link browser". I searched for a solution and read that I needed to associate it with IExplore.exe. After doing that, now whenever I click a link it opens IExplore to my home page. Can anyone tell me how I can resolve this error and get it to go to the URL rather than just opening IExplore?

Instructions I found were these but don't seem to apply to Windows 10:

• On the desktop, double-click My Computer.
• On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the File Types tab.
• In the Registered File Types list, click URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol, click Advanced, and then click Edit.
• In the Actions box, type open.
• In the Application used to perform action box, locate Internet Explorer (Iexplore.exe), and then click Open.
• In the Application box, type IExplore, and then click OK.

:)

 

error - locate link browser

did not help, how can I get back my windows 7

 

error - locate link browser

Hi Jack,

Thank you for the reply. Sorry to know that the issue persists.

I do appreciate your efforts and time.

How are you trying to access emails, by using a browser or an app?

Try to set the default programs for your emails and check.

• Go to Start > Settings > System.
• Choose Default apps, under Email, select the default app.
• You can also change the default browser.

Hope this helps in resolving the issue. If the issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.

 

Officially only outlook 2007 and above is compatible with windows 10, I suppose outlook 2003 should run though as long as it's compatiblity mode could be adjusted.

When you say you click a link, are you talking about inside of outlook 2003 or the shortcut for outlook 2003?

TC

 

I am talking about within an email when I am emailed any link.

 

update - thanks to tcman50

I upgraded my Office to 2010 and problem is resolved! *Smile I never even considered upgrading, so thanks very much for your reply! I suppose I was long overdue anyway... lol

 

I upgraded from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro, with Outlook 2003 already installed in my computer before the upgrade. I too got the “Locate link browser” pop-up when I tried to open a link in an email. As far as I can tell, the only good solution is to upgrade to a later version of Outlook. At this point I have a choice to make: (1) upgrade Outlook 2003 alone, or (2) upgrade all of Office 2003. Keep in mind that when you buy now Office (and presumably any individual Office program), the program(s) can be installed on only one computer, and they cannot be transferred to another computer unless your current computer dies while it is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

So far, I have not had trouble with any other Office 2003 program running under Windows 10, but I don’t want to rush to buy anything until I get more experience with all my Office programs. I found that if I am desperate, there is a way I can open a link in an email using Outlook 2003. You can do this by opening the email and with the cursor anywhere in the message, right-click and select Edit Message. At this point you will still see the email. Next, right-click on the link you want to open and select Properties. A hyperlink window will open, and you will see the URL of the web page you want to open. You can copy and paste the URL into your browser and open the web page.

I am going to limp along like this for a while. If I find that all the other Office 2003 programs work alright under Windows 10 (I saw a suggestion on the internet that this is the case.), I will upgrade Outlook only.

I hope this helps.

 

Steps causing the issue:
1. I installed Office Pro 2003 (and SP3) on Windows10.
2. I had the issue that web links in Outlook did not open, giving with dialogue: 'Locate Link Browser', so I gave the location of IExplore.exe in this dialogue.

Now all outlook web links open to my explorer home page and not to the target of the link. <-- THIS IS THE ISSUE to be solved.

Solution:
Outlook is trying to open HTML using a specific CommandID called 'IE.Protocol' which was not present in the registry on my machine.
In the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell] registry key there are various commands for opening HTML files. On my machine I added the 'opennew' command which includes the IE.Protocol CommandID using the registry entries below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\opennew]
@="&Open"
"MUIVerb"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-5731"
"CommandId"="IE.Protocol"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\opennew\command]
@=""C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe" %1"
"DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}"


Note:
You can also delete the 'InternetBrowserPath' string value from the registry key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Preferences]
This registry string value is created and set when you answer the 'Locate Link Browser' dialogue and it is unnecessary if the link can be made correctly via the IE.Protocol method which the solution above fixed on my machine.

 

In the Locate Link Browser dialog box point it to iexplore.exe and press OK. You can find it in the following locations:

• Windows 32-bit:
  C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer
• Windows 64-bit
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer

Once this is done, links will open correctly.

If it continues to happen, make sure Internet Explorer is set as the default browser. Left click Start button. Select Settings, then System, then Default apps. For Web browser make sure Internet Explorer is selected. (To change, click on current default browser and select Internet Explorer from Choose an app popup.)

Alternatively, or to make sure IE opens all its default file types and protocols, Right click Start button. Select Control Panel. Click Default Programs, then select Set your default programs. When they load select Internet Explorer. Click Set this program as default.

 

This absolutely worked like a charm without a reboot. I too had set IE as default and pointed the Locate Link Browser Dialogue to IE. This, as was mentioned by other posters, allowed IE to open but only to the homepage. Bucket's fix allowed IE to go to the actual link instead of the homepage.
For the less technical of you folks out there.
1. Backup the registry! You could hose yer machine! Regedit>File>Export Make sure all Hives are selected to export.
2. Select and Copy Bucket's solution. Include the "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" part.
3. On the Desktop, Right Click and choose New>Text Document.
4. If you can't see the file extension( the .txt at the end of the file), open File Explorer, Click on View at the top and put a checkmark in File Name Extensions. IMO it is a good idea to leave this checked as viral attachments often disguise themselves with fake icons.i.e. you have what looks like a .pdf attachment but it actually has the .exe extension.You would never see this .exe otherwise
5. Open the .txt document you created and paste in Bucket's solution.Save.
6.Rename the file to have a .reg extension instead of the .txt extension. Windows will question your decision. Assure it that's what you want to do.
7. Double-click the file you created (that now appears as a bunch of green cubes) and allow the entries to be imported into your registry. Windows will prompt...you confirm and you are done.

Thanks a lot for the solution Bucket..yer good people.

 

Tater

I have a stupid question which makes me ask myself if I should be trying this. Where do I save the .reg file? I have followed the instructions with out results.

Thanks in advance

 

It worked for me too! I found out the Internet Explorer must be open first. If so it works like it should.

 

Thanks to Bucket and Tater. Worked like a champ. Just 1 slight twist to Tater's instructions. When I went to paste Bucket's update into my new text file it tried to use my word processing editor (I use Open Office) and that file didn't work to update the registry. Then I used the "open with" option and used Wordpad to do the paste everything worked and it solved my problem.

 

Just Shift-click on the link in the email. (Hold down the Shift key and while holding it then click on the link.) That worked for me. None of the other suggestions worked for me.

 

Interesting.
Something new to learn.
Thanks.