changed to firefox, yahoo still opens with IE - why?

[jonnyD]

I switched my browser to Firefox from Internet Explorer. I put Firefox as default browser.  When I open Yahoo, however, it still uses IE to open it.  I also read somewhere not to remove IE from programs because it's instrumental somehow in the operation of Windows XP  (I can't find it in programs, so I guess Microsoft doesn't want it to be too easy to uninstall anyway).  How do I switch Yahoo to Firefos?

I use the following Mozilla Firefox version:Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1. Gecko/20071008 Firefox/2.0.0.8. I have Windows XP Pro, SP2, AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 1.99 GHz, 1.5GB Ram

[Deerpark]

How are you opening Yahoo? From a link, a favorite or some kind of program?
You can try this program to make sure Firefox is set as the default browser.
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/defaultbrowser.htm

[jonnyD]

I either use a desktop shortcut or a button on my wireless keyboard.  Even if I open it up from start>all programs it still uses IE>

[patio]

Open Yahoo in Firefox.
Shrink the open window so you can see your desktop in the background.
Hold down the favicon in the url bar with the mouse left button and drag it to the Desktop.
Delete your other shortcut.
Now when you clik the new shortcut it will open Yahoo in Firefox.

To change the hotkey see your keyboard manual but i'm sure it can be done.

p.s. The reason this is happening is the Yahoo software comes bundled with IE so it's not your computer...it's just a matter of changing things to work how YOU want them to not Yahoo or Gates...

[jonnyD]

You know, I went to do that before with Firefox and for some reason, I can't drag the favicon (I couldn't do it in Opera either).  Is there some setting that needs to be adjusted to allow the favicon to be dragged?

[patio]

Are you holding down the left mouse button until it is where you want the shortcut ? ?
This should work in Firefox.

[jonnyD]

Yes, I left-click and hold  on the favicon and then drag to the dektop.  Nada.   

[patio]

Are you logged in as Admin when trying this ? ?
There's no reason it should not work...

[jonnyD]

I've no idea if I'm the admin, but if I open Internet Explorer, I have no problem dragging a favicon to create a shortcut on the dektop.  When I log on (it's a home computer with essentially only me as the user) I don't differentiate users.

[Deerpark]

Sometimes Firefox fails to correctly set it self as the default browser. This has worked for me in the past:
Go to the Control Panel
Select "Add or Remove Programs" and click the button called "Set Program Access and Defaults".
The configuration should be set to "Custom".
Press the down arrow I've circled in the picture below and set Firefox as your default browser.


I don't know if this will fix your favicon dragging problem but it should allow your shortcuts to open in Firefox as they should.

[Broni]

I still don't understand what you mean by:

When I open Yahoo

Yahoo.com web page? From some link, or what?

[patio]

The Yahoo DSL software places a Yahoo shortcut on the desktop that opens IE by default in your Yahoo Home Page.

[Broni]

Oh, OK. Thanks, patio.

In that case, in Firefox, open new tab, and type in:
about:config
In Filter field type in:
browser.link.open_external
If exist, what number do you have in Value column?

[2k_dummy]

Yahoo is built on top of IE. Just like win98 is built on top of dos. Not much you can about it.

[jonnyD]

I've gone into "Set Program Access and Defaults" as Deerpark mentioned.  I select Firefox as browser but IE still opens up Yahoo.  When I go back to "Set Program Access and Defaults" Firefox is no longer chosen, "use my current web browser" is chosen - like IE doesn't want to be changed or something.


I went through the steps that Broni mentioned.  I had a value of 3 - what does that mean?

Based on what 2k_dummy says: "Yahoo is built on top of IE. Just like win98 is built on top of dos. Not much you can about it."
It doesn't seem there's anything I can do about having Firefox as browser to open up onto my Yahoo homepage.

Anyone know how I can fix the dragging favicon problem?  I can't even create a new shortcut on my desktop with Firefox - or is there a different method to create the Firefox shortcut (and thereby create a Yahoo shortcut)?