You receive an error message when you click a hyperlink in Outlook

When you click a hyperlink in Microsoft Outlook, you may receive the following error message:

 After you upgrade to a newer version of Microsoft Internet Explorer the following registry key may either missing or corrupted:  To have us fix this problem for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.



Note This wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

To resolve this issue, import the registry key from another computer.

Note You may be able to resolve the issue by resetting Internet Explorer web settings. To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for your version of Internet Explorer.  

Internet Explorer 6

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the Programs tab, and then click the Reset Web Settings button.
4. Under Internet programs, verify that the correct e-mail program is selected.
5. Click to select the Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser check box.
6. Click Apply, and then click OK.
   
   Note You may receive the following message when Internet Explorer starts:
   Internet Explorer is not currently your default browser. Would you like to make it your default browser?
   If you receive this message, click Yes.

Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset.
4. Click the Programs tab, and then click Set programs.
5. Click Set Default Programs.
6. Click to select Microsoft Outlook, and then click Set this program as default.
7. Click OK, and then close the Default Programs dialog box.
8. In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Programs tab, and then click Make default under Default web browser.
9. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 9

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click the Tools icon and click Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset.
4. Click the Programs tab, and then click Set programs.
5. Click Set your default programs.
6. Click to select Microsoft Outlook, and then click Set this program as default.
7. Click OK, and then close the Default Programs dialog box.
8. In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Programs tab, and then click Make default under Default web browser.
9. Click OK.

Export and import the registry key from another computer

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note Use this method only if the earlier instructions for each browser do not work to resolve this problem.

Export the registry key from another computer

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command
4. Click the Command folder.
5. On the File or Registry menu (depending on your operating system), click Export.
6. Note the location of where the file will be saved. The registry file can be saved directly to the hard drive or floppy disk.
7. Type a unique file name, and then click Save.
8. Exit Registry Editor.

Import the registry key

1. Copy the exported registry key to the desktop on the problem computer.
2. Double-click the .reg file.
   
   You receive the following message:
   Are you sure you want to add the information in drive: location file was copied to\file name.reg to the registry?
3. Click Yes, and then click OK.

Verify if the String (Default) value of the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \.html" key is "htmlfile"

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \.html
4. Verify if the value of the String (Default) is "htmlfile". If it's not "htmlfile", right-click (Default), click Modify, input htmlfile in the Value data box, and then click OK.
5. Exit Registry Editor.