internet links not working in Outlook 2010. "General Failure. The URL Was: http://frustration.com, etc. Application not Found"

So, I didn't quite give up and tried one more thing...

With Internet Explorer set as the default browser, I ran procmon while trying to click on a link in Outlook noticed Outlook.exe was trying to open but was not finding CLSID {17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}

I searched the registry for that GUID and the only places I was seeing that GUID appear was in a "DelegateExecute" string under all of the "...\shell\open\command" keys with default pointing to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -nohome

So I went through and manually deleted all occurances of that DelegateExecute string that had the value {17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C} and finally it started working, yay!

Now I finally got Internet Explorer working as my default browser.

gkriggs, you are the man !!

I try all every suggestion in this post and none of them fix my problem.

I almost give up then I found your post about registry key

"DelegateExecute" = {17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}

I went in and delete "DelegateExecute" string in registry below and IE is working as default browser !!!

no "Locate link browser"  pop up any more ( symptoms in KB821692 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821692/en-us )

delete this registry string

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\open\command]

 "DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\opennew\command]

 "DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}"

for those who have "Locate Link browser" pop up , and you already browse it to IE folder path

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" and click OK

outlook will create extra registry string in

change number 11.0 below to your version of outlook  (11.0 = outlook2003)

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Preferences]

 "InternetBrowserPath"="C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

delete this string "InternetBrowserPath" and  "locate link browser" symptom will pop up again.

this is how to reproduce the symptom,  untill you finally fix it by delete those "DelegateExecute" registry string.

I wonder why that GUID {17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C} is even there at first, because it doesn't exist on my other windows7 notebook which doesn't experience this problem.

I have two windows7 notebook and compare all related registry.

Does anyone know which software put this GUID {17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C} into the registry ?

or this GUID belong to which software ?    this must be the root cause.

thank you to gkriggs who found the way to fix this problem and share to us.

Hi,

In dwz post on Jan 5, 2012 listed a registry script with the paths of the "..shell\open\command" keys where it stores information about which browser and how to start that browser when you click on a URL.  For some reason when I switch to Internet Explorer as my default browser it puts in those "DelegateExecute" strings with GUID value "17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C" under those registry keys, but there is no COM library or executable registred under that GUID causing the class not registered error.  It looks like when the "DelegateExecute" string exists it will try and start the browser using a delegate COM library or executable instead of using a shell command.  So I believe when I removed those "DelegateExecute" strings using regedit.exe it stopped trying to use the delegate and instead use the shell command to start Internet Explorer.

You can find a copy of Sysinternals Process Monitor usually refered to as procmon here:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

You can find a YouTube video giving an introduction to procmon here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4kB6v97_M

I originally had Windows 7 SP1 64 bit professional but I upgraded it to Ultimate edition and the problem started occurring after I upgraded to Ultimate edition.

Also, if you haven't already I'd recommend trying some of the other suggestions first to fix the problem such as resetting your browsers default values and making sure your browser is set as the default browser.  Some people recommend you don't manually edit the registry except as a last resort to trying to fix a problem as there is a risk if you make a mistake in the registry sometimes it can really mess up the machine.

Good Luck,

Greg

Hi, gkriggs

you are right about those GUID, I run process monitor as your suggestion and saw what you explain in this post.

seem like , outlook try to use that DelegateExecute registry everytime user click on URL in e-mail.

Does anyone know which software put this GUID {17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C} into the registry ?

or this GUID belong to which software ?

that software must be the cause of this problem  !!!

Try the following:

1. Click Start, Control Panel.
2. In the Search field, type default, then click Set your default programs.
3. Find the browser you prefer to use and click it, then click Choose defaults for this program.
4. Check the boxes next to HTTP and HTTPS, then click Save.