How to set the browser I have developed as the default browser? - vb.net

Question

I'm working on a Web Browser in VB.NET and I want to set the option of making it the default browser. Any help? Tks

Answer 1

See Becoming the Default Browser in MSDN's default programs API docs

Answer 2

Here is how to do it in VB6, needs to be converted
Const REG_SZ As Long = 1
Const HKEY_CURRENT_USER = &H80000001
Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Const KEY_SET_VALUE = &H2
Const KEY_ALL_ACCESS = &H3F
Const REG_OPTION_NON_VOLATILE = 0
Const HWND_BROADCAST = &HFFFF
Const WM_SETTINGCHANGE = &H1A
Private Declare Function RegCloseKey Lib "advapi32.dll" _
(ByVal hKey As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function RegCreateKeyEx Lib "advapi32.dll" _
Alias "RegCreateKeyExA" (ByVal hKey As Long, _
ByVal lpSubKey As String, ByVal Reserved As Long, _
ByVal lpClass As String, ByVal dwOptions As Long, _
ByVal samDesired As Long, ByVal lpSecurityAttributes As Long, _
phkResult As Long, lpdwDisposition As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function RegOpenKeyEx Lib "advapi32.dll" _
Alias "RegOpenKeyExA" (ByVal hKey As Long, _
ByVal lpSubKey As String, ByVal ulOptions As Long, _
ByVal samDesired As Long, phkResult As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function RegSetValueExString Lib "advapi32.dll" _
Alias "RegSetValueExA" (ByVal hKey As Long, _
ByVal lpValueName As String, ByVal Reserved As Long, _
ByVal dwType As Long, ByVal lpValue As String, _
ByVal cbData As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" _
Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, _
ByVal wParam As Long, lparam As String) As Long
Public Function SetClient(iClient As Integer, sDisplayName As String, _
sClientCommandLine As String, sClientResourceDLL As String, _
iLocalization As Integer, bGlobalClient As Boolean, _
Optional sCLParameters As String, Optional bMakeDefault As Boolean) As Integer
' iClient - 1 for internet browser, 2 for e-mail client
' sDisplayName - the name to be displayed on the menu for the client
' sClientCommandLine - the path and filename of the e-mail client
'
' The next two parameters are included for localization of the client.
' For backwards compatibility with applications that do not support localized
' strings, the name of the application in the installed language should be set
' as the Default value for the key.
' sClientResourceDLL - provides a path to an EXE or DLL containing the
' localized strings for the client.
' iLocalization - a string resource ID within the DLL whose value is
' to be displayed to the user allowing the same registration to
' be used for multiple languages. For each language, provide a
' different Resource DLL, and the dynamic loading of the string
' from the DLL results in the correct strings being displayed, depending
' on the language.
'
' bGlobalClient - sets the value for either all users (True) or the
' current user (False)
' sCLParameters - additional parameters on the command line to be passed to the
' browser or e-mail client.
' bMakeDefault - (Optional) set the browser or e-mail application as the default
Dim iStatus As Integer
Dim hHandle As Long
Dim hGRegKey As String
Dim hLRegKey As String
Dim sCommand As String
Dim sKey As String
Dim sAll As String
Dim sRoot As String
Dim hKey As Long
Dim sLoc As String
hGRegKey = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
hLRegKey = HKEY_CURRENT_USER
If iClient = 1 Then
sRoot = "Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet"
Else
sRoot = "Software\Clients\Mail"
End If
' Create and null terminate needed strings
sCommand = "shell\open\command"
sKey = sRoot & "\" & sDisplayName
sAll = sKey & "\" & sCommand
sLoc = "#" & sClientResourceDLL & "," & iLocalization & Chr$(0)
sClientLocation = """" & sClientCommandLine & """" & _
IIf(sCLParameters <> "", " ", "") & Trim(sCLParameters) & Chr$(0)
sDisplayName = sDisplayName & Chr$(0)
' Create a registry key for the new client
iStatus = RegCreateKeyEx(hGRegKey, sKey, 0&, vbNullString, _
REG_OPTION_NON_VOLATILE, KEY_ALL_ACCESS, 0&, hNewKey, lRetVal)
iStatus = RegCreateKeyEx(hGRegKey, sAll, 0&, vbNullString, _
REG_OPTION_NON_VOLATILE, KEY_ALL_ACCESS, 0&, hNewKey, lRetVal)
If iStatus = ERROR_NONE Then
iStatus = RegOpenKeyEx(hGRegKey, sAll, 0, KEY_SET_VALUE, hKey)
iStatus = RegSetValueExString(hKey, "", 0&, REG_SZ, sClientLocation, _
Len(sClientLocation))
iStatus = RegCloseKey(hKey)
iStatus = RegOpenKeyEx(hGRegKey, sKey, 0, KEY_SET_VALUE, hKey)
iStatus = RegSetValueExString(hKey, "", 0&, REG_SZ, sDisplayName, _
Len(sDisplayName))
' Add the localization string
iStatus = RegSetValueExString(hKey, "LocalizedString", 0&, REG_SZ, _
sLoc, Len(sLoc))
iStatus = RegCloseKey(hKey)
Else
SetClient = iStatus
Exit Function
End If
' Sets browser as local or global default if specified
If bMakeDefault Then
If bGlobalClient Then
iStatus = RegOpenKeyEx(hGRegKey, sRoot, 0, KEY_SET_VALUE, hKey)
iStatus = RegSetValueExString(hKey, "", 0&, REG_SZ, sDisplayName, _
Len(sDisplayName))
iStatus = RegCloseKey(hKey)
Else
iStatus = RegCreateKeyEx(hLRegKey, sRoot, 0&, vbNullString, _
REG_OPTION_NON_VOLATILE, KEY_ALL_ACCESS, 0&, hNewKey, lRetVal)
iStatus = RegSetValueExString(hNewKey, "", 0&, REG_SZ, _
sDisplayName, Len(sDisplayName))
iStatus = RegCloseKey(hNewKey)
End If
UpdateMenus
End If
End Function
Private Sub UpdateMenus()
' Refresh the menu choices with the updated client
Dim iRetVal As Integer
iRetVal = SendMessage(HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SETTINGCHANGE, 0, _
"SOFTWARE\Clients\mail")
iRetVal = SendMessage(HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SETTINGCHANGE, 0, _
"SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet")
End Sub
From Microsoft