19

My default web browser is Opera. This is the desired behavior for general browsing.

However, I would prefer that a URL in a domain opens in Internet Explorer where the content of that domain is more compatible with Internet Explorer than with Opera.

For example, this link:

http://ssrs/Reports

should open in Internet Explorer because the location is in the ssrs domain. In my organization, content in this domain is served by SQL Server Reporting Services, which works well only with Internet Explorer.

This link:

http://fogbugz/default.asp

should open in Internet Explorer because the location is in the fogbugz domain. In my organization, content in this domain is served by FogBugz. Several features of FogBugz are broken or buggy in Opera.

Any other domain should open in Opera.

How do I configure Windows 7 with these rules?

9
  • 2
    Some alternate ways to solve the issue from an older question. Just to note that i can't think of any way to do this offhand, since your browser would need to be aware of other browsers, and quirks mode.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Jul 12, 2012 at 11:04
  • When you want to open them, where are you typing these URLs? Jul 12, 2012 at 11:58
  • I'm not typing them. The links appear in other applications. For example, someone sends me an IM message with a link to FogBugz case. Jul 12, 2012 at 13:36
  • If you'd be willing to switch to FF, it has an extension that will open pages in IE based on url.
    – Paul
    Jul 12, 2012 at 13:40
  • 2
    In particular, I don't want a link typed into the address bar of Opera to open in Internet Explorer. If I type it in Opera, it should open in Opera. If I type it in Internet Explorer, it should open in Internet Explorer. If the URL is found outside of the context of a browser, then the system should decide which browser should handle it. Jul 12, 2012 at 13:55

6 Answers 6

10

Browser Chooser 2 should do everything you need. From the site:

Browser Chooser 2 is a small tool acting as the default browser allowing you to choose what browser or other tool to open any given link in.

However, it can do a lot more. By default it gives a pop-up similar to TurnOut.NET but is far more configurable. It will let you add URLs with wildcards and regular expression matching, and automatically open it in the corresponding browser (see screenshot).

URL Matching Configuration Window

It's a beta release and a little unpolished, but it should fit the bill.

2
  • 2
    Download URL on the website is broken now. Looks unsupported.
    – Shiv
    Jul 16, 2021 at 10:44
  • Browser Chooser 2 can be downloaded from their website: browserchooser2.com Mar 31, 2022 at 21:00
3

There can't be a simple system-wide solution. Here is why:

  • Windows will always recognize your http://ssrs/Reports link as HTTP-protocol and open it with the registered application regardless of the rest of the link.
  • you can associate another browser which windows 7 should use for HTTP-URLs.
    But that won't be conditional since you can only choose one at a time.
  • you can modify this association via regedit.exe to point it to a (portable) software

Your best shot will be to write (or ask a developer for) a short AutoHotKey tool and point your HTTP-protocol to that software via regedit. The link shows the basic steps.
After that your new tool will get every URL as parameter and can choose what to do next

if parameter like http://ssrs/* then 
   open "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
else
   open "C:\Program Files\Opera\opera.exe"
end

My AHK days are long gone.
But maybe another superuser can help you out.

1
  • 5
    Actually your first reason as to why it can't be done is the solution 1.) Get a developer to write a simple app. 2.) Register that app as the handler for all HTTP requests (i.e. make that app the "Default Browser" in Windows). 3.) The app uses a list of regex values from a config file based on URL to decide which browser to open the URL with, including a fallback browser -- so it does that -- and then it closes itself, never to be seen again. 4.) Share that app with the rest of us. :D May 6, 2013 at 18:34
2

For Mac: Choose Wisely

For Windows: TurnOut.NET

9
  • 1
    Unfortunately, these work by setting the browser chooser as default browser, and therefore fail for all links clicked within a browser — only links from other programs are affected.
    – Daniel Beck
    Feb 7, 2013 at 16:09
  • When recommending software or products, please review this meta post on how. Feb 7, 2013 at 16:22
  • @Daniel Beck -- that's not correct -- for example, IE is not my default browser, Chrome is. When I click on a link in IE, guess what? It opens in IE. (I can also reverse this scenario for Chrome, or Firefox -- same repro.) Browsers don't call the "Default Web Browser" app to open hyperlinks; that would be silly. They just follow them. May 6, 2013 at 18:38
  • TurnOut.NET seems like it would almost do the trick -- clearly though it needs some way to be configured with RegExs or at the least hard coded domains to meet the OP's needs. May 6, 2013 at 18:40
  • 1
    @BrainSlugs83 That's exactly the point I was trying to make. Links clicked within a browser are not affected. If the user clicks on a link to http://ssrs/Reports in Opera, it should probably open in Internet Explorer as per the requirements.
    – Daniel Beck
    May 6, 2013 at 19:02
2

Assuming you are in a corporate environment and are willing to use Google Chrome, there is a feature called Legacy Browser Support (LBS).
This uses group policy to force certain URLs to open in an alternate browser (such as IE). This is the LBS extension add-on store home page

There is to much detail to add it all here so here are the linked pages:
Step 1 Read this source information page Legacy Browser Support.
Step 2 Then install from 'Install LBS Chrome extension'
Step 3 Configure which browsers to open with LBS
Step 4 feedback and roll out

This should work regardless of if the user types in the URL or clicks on a link in an email application:

1

I've tried the suggestions and ended up using Browser Tamer. Reasons? Most of the solutions are heavy, some even Electron based (!!!! for system util???? !!!!). Browser Tamer is small and fast, never gets in your way, just like a system util should do.

2
  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Feb 11, 2022 at 10:42
  • This answer does not properly disclosure your affiliation with the application. This is also one of several, duplicate answers, you submitted recommending this application. The proper and accepted process to recommend software, is to do it once, and as appropriate flag questions as duplicates.
    – Ramhound
    Jun 28, 2023 at 13:21
0

Try this, create an shortcut and add the browser you want and then the URL "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" https://...

1
  • This only works for specific sites and requires creating shortcuts for each site desired. It seems OP is asking a slightly different question which the existing answers already allow that desired behavior. That said, I've used this solution myself for a few specific sites in our environment that need a certain browser to work properly, and it works well for that. Jan 9, 2017 at 18:21

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