I use Thunderbird as my e-mail client and often receive messages with embedded http links.

I used to be able to click on the link and it would automatically open in Firefox,

but over the last few days this function has stopped working.

I have to manually copy and paste the link to Firefox, which is very irritating

Any ideas?

Thanks

Make sure that only one browser is set to check if it is the default.

In Firefox: click "Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General / System Defaults -> (checkmark) Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup -> Check Now".

If the above setting doesn't work, try setting another browser as the default browser, then set Firefox as the default.

Note: If you have the ThunderBrowse add-on for Thunderbird installed and want to open a link in the default browser, click on the ThunderBrowse button in the status bar (or disable/uninstall that add-on). Thunderbird will use the default browser if the button has a red line through it. Additionally, you can also right click anywhere in the page or on a link and choose the "Visit in Browser" menu item. ThunderBrowse will launch the link in an external browser.

Other suggestions are listed below:

Force Firefox to make itself the default

If Firefox already thinks that it is default, exit Firefox completely, go to "Start Menu -> Run" and enter this into the text box:

firefox.exe -silent -setDefaultBrowser

Using Set Program Access and Computer Defaults

You can set the default browser using the feature.

On Windows Vista and Windows 7: Click "Start -> Default Programs -> Set Program Access and Computer Defaults -> Custom"

You will see Internet Explorer and other installed browsers listed under "Choose a default Web browser" . Select "Mozilla Firefox" (in some cases, "Mozilla Firefox" may not be listed; to add it back, reinstall Firefox).

Using a third-party utility

A third-party utility to set the default browser will save you a lot of manual work by automating the steps for you. The freeware utilities DefaultBrowser and SetBrowser will work for Firefox as well as other installed browsers.

View http://kb.mozillazin...Default_browser for other options and operating systems.

Thanks, a reboot seems to have cured the problem.

Strange all the same.