What to Do When Hyperlinks are Not Working in Outlook Express
- By Jules Peters
- Published 10/30/2008
- Information Technology
- Unrated
Outlook Express is included with Windows XP, so many people use it for e-mail correspondence or even as a news reader. If you receive e-mails with hyperlinks in Outlook Express, they are shown in blue by default and are underlined. Clicking a hyperlink in an e-mail in Outlook Express will open up your default internet browser and show the location the link is pointing to.
You might run into an Outlook Express problem where the hyperlinks in the e-mail messages do not work anymore. If you then click the link in the e-mail message nothing happens. Most likely this is not an Outlook Express error, but can actually be a configuration problem related to files types in the Windows Explorer.
Windows uses file association to decide on the application that has to be used to open a file of a certain type. If this file type association fails, Windows will not be able to open the file.
In the case of hyperlinks in Outlook Express, the URL association is not working.
To solve this error, try these steps:
1. Open up the Control Panel from the Start menu.
2. Select Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
3. Now select the Set Program Access and Defaults in the left-hand side of the window.
4
. Next, select Custom and then select Internet Explorer as the default web browser.
5. Click OK. If this does not help, continue with the next steps.
6. Open up the Windows Explorer.
7. In the Tools menu, select Folder Options.
8. In the Folder Options dialog box, select the File Types tab.
9. In the Registered file types list, look up the Extension 'URL'.
10. In the Details for 'URL' extension group, make sure that 'Opens with:' is followed by your default browser, e.g. 'Internet Explorer'. If not, click the Change button and select the internet application in the Open With dialog box. If this does not fix the problem, continue with the following.
11. Click the Advanced button.
12. In the Edit File Type dialog box that appears, select the open entry under Actions.
13. Next, check if your settings match the following. If not, change them accordingly.
Action: open
Application used: rundll32.exe ieframe.dll,OpenURL %l
Use DDE
14. Click OK twice and then click Close.
After these changes, you should again be able to open the hyperlinks from e-mails in Outlook Express.
Always make sure you only open hyperlinks that you know can be trusted, as URL's in e-mails are often used to direct people to malicious websites!
You might run into an Outlook Express problem where the hyperlinks in the e-mail messages do not work anymore. If you then click the link in the e-mail message nothing happens. Most likely this is not an Outlook Express error, but can actually be a configuration problem related to files types in the Windows Explorer.
Windows uses file association to decide on the application that has to be used to open a file of a certain type. If this file type association fails, Windows will not be able to open the file.
In the case of hyperlinks in Outlook Express, the URL association is not working.
To solve this error, try these steps:
1. Open up the Control Panel from the Start menu.
2. Select Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
3. Now select the Set Program Access and Defaults in the left-hand side of the window.
4
5. Click OK. If this does not help, continue with the next steps.
6. Open up the Windows Explorer.
7. In the Tools menu, select Folder Options.
8. In the Folder Options dialog box, select the File Types tab.
9. In the Registered file types list, look up the Extension 'URL'.
10. In the Details for 'URL' extension group, make sure that 'Opens with:' is followed by your default browser, e.g. 'Internet Explorer'. If not, click the Change button and select the internet application in the Open With dialog box. If this does not fix the problem, continue with the following.
11. Click the Advanced button.
12. In the Edit File Type dialog box that appears, select the open entry under Actions.
13. Next, check if your settings match the following. If not, change them accordingly.
Action: open
Application used: rundll32.exe ieframe.dll,OpenURL %l
Use DDE
14. Click OK twice and then click Close.
After these changes, you should again be able to open the hyperlinks from e-mails in Outlook Express.
Always make sure you only open hyperlinks that you know can be trusted, as URL's in e-mails are often used to direct people to malicious websites!
Jules Peters
PCauthorities.com is a tech-related site dedicated to providing solutions to your every day computing problems. For more free Outlook Express troubleshooting tips n' tweaks, check out what our professional IT bloggers have in store for you at www.PCauthorities.com.
View all articles by Jules Peters