Robert Aldwinckle wrote:

I have seen various "fixes" for this but none have worked so far. I
made sure IE7 is the default browser and I checked that the "URL" file
association points to IE7 (at least the newer browser icon). I even
deleted the "URL" file type and reset the association from scratch. I
also tried Start + Run + "regsvr32 urlmon.dll," which did enable OE
links for a few browser sessions, but the problem returned and the fix
couldn't be repeated.

Wrong fix for your problem. It's not the URL extension that you want
to repair (which allow Favorites and other Internet shortcuts to run),
it's the extension (NONE) FileType: URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol
settings which need to be checked.

Simplest action I know of for resetting them: Run... (e.g. press Win-R)
and enter:

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

When I ran that command I got the error: "DllInstall in shdocvw.dll
failed. Return code was: 0x80004005"

In Folder Options + File Types, this was listed for opening "(NONE)
FileType: URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol" in the Advanced section:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome

On a hunch, plus research, I removed the "-nohome" switch and links in
OE6 finally worked, but with a catch. They opened in a new tab by
default, but after I closed IE7, it asked me (upon reloading) to make
it the default browser. When I did that, the links didn't work again
and the "-nohome" switch appeared as before. Removing "-nohome" once
again and ignoring the default browser request restored OE6 link
functionality.

I must be on to something, but there has to be a cleaner method! A
Microsoft article says that the "-nohome" switch "Starts Internet
Explorer without its home page." I'm thinking this may be a bug with
IE7 tabs. Maybe the browser gets confused when it's asked to open a new
tab that's supposed to be blank?

Brad

wrote in message
ups.com...

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

When I ran that command I got the error: "DllInstall in shdocvw.dll
failed. Return code was: 0x80004005"


That's not good. It suggests your install is bad somehow.
shdocvw.dll is the main application module for IE
so I think you're lucky you're not seeing any worse symptoms
than this. I suppose it could also happen if you don't have
sufficient authority to run that command or if other things are
running which would inhibit it from completing. In which case
you could trying rebooting in safe mode, logging in as Administrator
and then retrying the command. Etc.

Instead of just trying to uninstall and reinstall more carefully,
you might get some clues about the specific reason for that code
by running DependencyWalker and using its Profiler command
to execute regsvr32.exe with those operands. E.g. it might show
you something like a missing module just before the failing call.
Other diagnostics which could be useful and could be run concurrently
are FileMon and RegMon. E.g. the latter might show that there
is a permissions problem with some keys in the registry.



In Folder Options + File Types, this was listed for opening "(NONE)
FileType: URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol" in the Advanced section:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome


That's what mine looks like.



On a hunch, plus research, I removed the "-nohome" switch and links in
OE6 finally worked, but with a catch. They opened in a new tab by
default, but after I closed IE7, it asked me (upon reloading) to make
it the default browser.


Do you have another browser installed?
Perhaps you should try uninstalling it?


When I did that, the links didn't work again
and the "-nohome" switch appeared as before. Removing "-nohome" once
again and ignoring the default browser request restored OE6 link
functionality.

I must be on to something, but there has to be a cleaner method! A
Microsoft article says that the "-nohome" switch "Starts Internet
Explorer without its home page."


So, what is your Home page? Try about:Blank only?


I'm thinking this may be a bug with IE7 tabs.
Maybe the browser gets confused when it's asked to open a new
tab that's supposed to be blank?


about:Blank? My guess is a majority of people use that for their Home page.

I think the problem is in your installation or configuration.

Do you have Office installed too? I think that some Office users
have seen the same symptom before.


HTH

Robert
---

Robert Aldwinckle wrote:

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

When I ran that command I got the error: "DllInstall in shdocvw.dll
failed. Return code was: 0x80004005"

That's not good. It suggests your install is bad somehow.
shdocvw.dll is the main application module for IE
so I think you're lucky you're not seeing any worse symptoms
than this. I suppose it could also happen if you don't have
sufficient authority to run that command or if other things are
running which would inhibit it from completing. In which case
you could trying rebooting in safe mode, logging in as Administrator
and then retrying the command. Etc.

I've done at least 2 "clean" installs of IE7 (official version) but
I'll have to look into that. I was hoping that MS updates might fix it
eventually.

On a hunch, plus research, I removed the "-nohome" switch and links in
OE6 finally worked, but with a catch. They opened in a new tab by
default, but after I closed IE7, it asked me (upon reloading) to make
it the default browser.

Do you have another browser installed?
Perhaps you should try uninstalling it?

I have both Firefox and Opera, but ideally their existence shouldn't
matter. I'll probably end up uninstalling them fairly soon.

I must be on to something, but there has to be a cleaner method! A
Microsoft article says that the "-nohome" switch "Starts Internet
Explorer without its home page."

So, what is your Home page? Try about:Blank only?

I prefer it to be Google, which also opens in each new tab. How many
people really like a blank slate?

I think the problem is in your installation or configuration.

Do you have Office installed too? I think that some Office users
have seen the same symptom before.

Not MS Office, but OpenOffice.org 2.0. I'll read up on possible
conflicts. Thanks for the ideas.

Brad