URGENT BUG Registry Classes Root htmlfile, .htm, .html, etc STILL point to IE in 21H2 and Win11

[lforbes]

Hi,
We support 80,000 workstations that have been upgraded to 21H2. Users are getting errors when opening Outlook or Word links that the .htm and .html files from HKEY Classes Root are still trying to open in Internet Explorer?

Same with Windows 11

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

Your organization's policies are preventing us from completing this action for you. For more info, please contact your help desk.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/troubleshoot/message-body/hyperlinks-not-working-in-outlook

Even if the USER default Apps is set to "Edge" For every protocol, the Default computer ones have not been switched over and therefore IE is still trying to be used?

This is a SERIOUS bug with IE being deprecated in a few weeks.  We can do a reg hack pref but not sure even how to do the Edge equivalent settings.
This is in Windows 11 TOO? Windows 11 still defaults htmlfile to IE? Come on?

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile]
@="HTML Document"
"AppUserModelID"="Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default"
"EditFlags"=dword:00200000
"FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\ieframe.dll,-912"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\CLSID]
@="{25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE,-17"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\ScriptHostEncode]
@="{0CF774D0-F077-11D1-B1BC-00C04F86C324}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell]
@="open"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,43,00,6f,00,6d,00,6d,00,6f,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,\
6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4d,\
00,69,00,63,00,72,00,6f,00,73,00,6f,00,66,00,74,00,20,00,53,00,68,00,61,00,\
72,00,65,00,64,00,5c,00,4f,00,66,00,66,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,31,00,36,00,5c,\
00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,67,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office16\\msohtmed.exe\" %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\open]
@="Open in S&ame Window"
"MUIVerb"="@C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\ieframe.dll,-5732"
"CommandId"="IE.File"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE\" %1"
"DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\print]
@="&Print"
"MUIVerb"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,43,00,6f,00,6d,00,6d,00,6f,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,\
6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4d,\
00,69,00,63,00,72,00,6f,00,73,00,6f,00,66,00,74,00,20,00,53,00,68,00,61,00,\
72,00,65,00,64,00,5c,00,4f,00,66,00,66,00,69,00,63,00,65,00,31,00,36,00,5c,\
00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,67,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,35,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\print\command]
@="\"C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\rundll32.exe\" \"C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\mshtml.dll\",PrintHTML \"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\printto\command]
@="\"C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\rundll32.exe\" \"C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\mshtml.dll\",PrintHTML \"%1\" \"%2\" \"%3\" \"%4\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http]
@="URL:http"
"AppUserModelID"="Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default"
"EditFlags"=dword:00200002
"FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-903"
"Source Filter"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\url.dll,0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\Extensions]
".ASF"="{187463A0-5BB7-11D3-ACBE-0080C75E246E}"
".WM"="{187463A0-5BB7-11D3-ACBE-0080C75E246E}"
".WMA"="{187463A0-5BB7-11D3-ACBE-0080C75E246E}"
".WMV"="{187463A0-5BB7-11D3-ACBE-0080C75E246E}"
".OGA"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
".OGG"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
".OGV"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
".SPX"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
".WEBA"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
".WEBM"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell]
@="open"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open]
"CommandId"="IE.Protocol"
"DontReturnProcessHandle"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" %1"
"DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https]
@="URL:https"
"AppUserModelID"="Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default"
"EditFlags"=dword:00200002
"FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-904"
"Source Filter"="{E436EBB6-524F-11CE-9F53-0020AF0BA770}"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\url.dll,0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell]
@="open"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open]
"CommandId"="IE.Protocol"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\https\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" %1"
"DelegateExecute"="{17FE9752-0B5A-4665-84CD-569794602F5C}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm]
@="htmlfile"
"Content Type"="text/html"
"PerceivedType"="text"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm\OpenWithProgids]
"AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9"=hex(0):
"ChromeHTML"=""
"IE.AssocFile.HTM"=""
"MSEdgeHTM"=""
"VisualStudio.htm.10.0"=""
"VisualStudio.htm.32580117"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm\PersistentHandler]
@="{eec97550-47a9-11cf-b952-00aa0051fe20}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html]
@="htmlfile"
"Content Type"="text/html"
"PerceivedType"="text"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html\OpenWithProgids]
"AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9"=hex(0):
"ChromeHTML"=""
"IE.AssocFile.HTM"=""
"MSEdgeHTM"=""
"VisualStudio.html.10.0"=""
"VisualStudio.html.32580117"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html\PersistentHandler]
@="{eec97550-47a9-11cf-b952-00aa0051fe20}"

[#2]

Just to clarify, have any policies been applied to those machines to set the default browser? If there was in the past, for example to set them to IE, then you would need to update those policies to set it to Edge: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-default-browser.

[#3]

Hi,
I have faced exactly the same problem. I found that it comes once uninstalled / disabled via features the IE. And actually it does not matter even you have set Edge as default browser before that.
As the fact I was reverted back to IE temporary, until it will be fixed by MS and the issue has been resolved So, it really seams that many other things in windows still pointing to IE, you might see it in registry, like:

"CommandId"="IE.Protocol"

"CommandId"="IE.File"

[#4]

@josh_bodner 
Setting the Default Browser to IE is irrelevant. These Registry keys are the default on Windows 11 out of the box. IE is still the COMPUTER default for htm and html files.

Default Browser can be over written by an XML but that enforces Edge as the default.

As I said all the user Defaults are already set to Edge. It is the Computer registry that is the problem.

[#5]

Ah, out of the box is a different story. I thought you only meant on upgrade, which is a different although still relevant issue, since IE could in theory have still been present on the machines that were being upgraded. Out of the box, IE should be gone though, so I'll definitely ask about that.

[#6]

To fix it.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html
Look at the Default value where it says htmlfile just change to MSEdgeHTM for both .htm and .html and it will work then.

[#7]

@josh_bodner

Look at the Default value in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html on a Windows 11 computer fresh build.

It says htmlfile too.

Definitely a bug.

We have also disabled IE with policy so it opens Edge if you click iexplore.exe but that doesn't fix this.

[#8]

This fixed for me, at least for Excel where I was encountering it after IE was disabled. Thanks.

I'm wondering though, wouldn't a deeper fix be to change `HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile` itself instead? Maybe that's not possible/feasible. I sure don't know what a better value than `AppUserModelID: Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default` would be anyway.