Brendan Tompkins [MVP]

Blog First. Ask Questions Later.

Just when I thought I was out, IE pulls me back in

I've been doing an experiment to see if I can use Firefox as my browser, instead of IE. Seems like it should be a pretty simple thing to do. A couple of global settings here and there, and every time I encounter an internet resource of some type, Firefox should pop up, right? Isn't that how it should work? Well, it doesn't work. It's turned out to be nearly impossible for me keep IE from popping up, or to keep from having to launch IE for one thing or another.

Has anyone out there managed to become IE Free?

Published Feb 10 2005, 10:59 AM by Brendan Tompkins

Comments

ben said:

I switched my default browser to firefox, and I havent had much problems, IE hardly ever pops , in fact I can't recall the last time that it did. I also made IE NOT check to see if its the default browser, although I cant imagine that makes a difference

# February 15, 2005 1:04 PM

Brendan Tompkins said:

Just as an example, when I CTRL-F5 in VS.NET to build and debug, up pops IE. Can't find the setting to disable this.

# February 15, 2005 1:09 PM

Charles Fisher said:

No IE popups here (except with Windows Update and MSN messenger).

In VS.NET, you have to right-click on a file, select "Browse With...", and add an entry for Firefox. After that, you can set it as the default so anytime you debug or view in a browser, it pops up in Firefox. :)

Like Ben, Firefox is my default browser. Just to be safe, I installed the "View in IE" extension just in case I have no choice but to view pages/sites in IE (i.e., online banking).

# February 16, 2005 8:15 AM

Brendan Tompkins said:

You sure about that Charles? I can't seem to get the ALT-F5 to pop up FF. Could just be that I'm in too much of a hurry to figure it out, but I haven't been able to so far...

# February 16, 2005 8:20 AM

Charles Fisher said:

Absolutely positive... just did it.

Try this:

1) Right-click on webform and select "Browse With..."

2) Click "Add" button.

3) Click "Browse" and browse to the Firefox executable. Change the friendly name if you like. Click "OK" when you're done.

4) The item you added should now be in the list. Click it once. Then click "Set As Default"

5) Your item should now look like "Firefox (Default)".

6) Click "Close."

Everything should be good from there. I just reset everything on mine and I can flop back and forth between firefox and IE (after changing the default browser accordingly - step 4).

# February 16, 2005 8:30 AM

Charles Fisher said:

If you have any problems, hit me up on Messenger. :)

# February 16, 2005 8:33 AM

Brendan Tompkins said:

Charles, have you done this, then tried CTRL-F5? Try that, and let me know.

# February 16, 2005 1:07 PM

TrackBack said:

# February 17, 2005 6:43 AM

Charles Fisher said:

Brendan,

Yes, I did. I tried it before I posted on 2/16/2005 8:30 AM (one with all the steps). Only thing missing from the steps is to make sure Firefox is the default browser (via Firefox -> Tools -> General) and IE is not default browser (via IE -> Tools -> Internet Options -> Programs).

Also look at Start -> Set Program Access and Defaults. I have Custom selected with "Use my current Web browser" and both IE and firefox enabled. It may be possible your system has "Microsoft" selected which forces everything to use MS software.

I'm running WinXP with SP2.

# February 18, 2005 7:03 AM

Name (required)

Your URL (optional)

Comments (required)

Remember Me?

Enter the numbers above:

Add

About Brendan Tompkins

Brendan has been programming with .NET since the first public beta and is owner and operator of Port Technology Services, a consultancy company providing .NET application development services to the Maritime industry. In July, 2007, he was awarded the Microsoft MVP award for ASP.NET. He's also a proud co-founder of failed .COM startup Intrinsigo, and has had a hand in the failure of numerous other businesses. He currently runs CodeBetter.Com and Devlicio.us, and lives in Norfolk, Virgina with his wife Tiara and son Ian.