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I am interested in setting a standard executable file, such as notepad.exe, as the default Web Browser in Windows XP, SP3. By being the default browser, I mean that the icon of the executable file is listed at the top of the start menu and is associated with .html, .htm, etc files.

I attempted to follow the instructions listed here without any success. Any suggestions?

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The default web browser? Notepad isn't a web browser at all, so I don't know how it could be the default for your operating system. – joshhunt Oct 17 '09 at 0:14
I realize notepad isn't a browser and can't load webpages, I was just interested in a way to make windows treat it as the default browser. – the3seashells Oct 17 '09 at 1:23
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Set this using regedit.exe:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command

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Yes! Thank you so much. You have no idea how much time I have spent trying to do this, only to find that it's a single line in the registry. Hah! Thanks again. – the3seashells Oct 17 '09 at 1:14
You're welcome, glad to help. :) – Kev Oct 17 '09 at 14:20
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The trouble is that Notepad has no concept of connecting to a web server and downloading the page. You'd need an '' application which would purport be the default browser, which would download the re invisible quested file locally and then open it as plain text in Notepad. The app could have whatever icon you like.

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