The Computer Corner
By Charles Miller

One complaint I hear on a semi-regular basis is that when a user is surfing the internet and clicks on a “mailto” link, this does not work for them. The “mailto” link found on many websites is supposed to start your email program and automatically fill in the email address for you.

Many users who click on these “mailto” links find that their computer starts some program they never use. Being able to click on these “mailto” links to send an email is something that does work, but only when your computer is configured properly.

Microsoft Windows comes out of the box with either Microsoft’s Outlook or Outlook Express configured as the default email program. A lot of users, though, do not use either of these programs, preferring one of the popular browser-based email facilities for free.

The question then is, if you are using one of the free email services such as Hotmail, how can you configure your computer so that these “mailto” links work properly? Unfortunately, the answer is different for each email service. I will give the answers applicable to the big three—Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo.

First, Hotmail: Open “Regedit” and navigate down to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Hotmail.” If you do not know how to open Regedit, suffice it to say you probably should not try this on your own. Create a new REG_SZ value named “posturl” and set its value to “http://www.hotmail.msn.com/secure/start.” The “mailto” links should work fine now.

Next, Gmail: Since this is not a Microsoft product, you will need to install a MAPI (short for Messaging Application Programming Interface) handler compatible with Gmail, and luckily Google makes this available for free. Download and install the free Gmail notifier. Right-click the “Notifier” icon in your system tray, and select “Options” and “Use Gmail for internet mailto: links” then [Okay].


Finally, Yahoo: Again you will need to install a MAPI handler compatible with Yahoo. You may do this by installing “Yahoo! Messenger.” Be sure to install the Browser Services, but you do not need to install anything else except Messenger. If you do not want the instant messenger program on your computer, don’t worry. As soon as you install the Yahoo! Messenger program, you may immediately uninstall it without even running it once. The MAPI handler you want remains.

This is a classic example of why you should not go around installing junk software on your computer. The uninstall procedure for most programs, even from reputable companies such as Yahoo!, simply do not remove everything put there by the install program.

Now for everyone, all together: Whether you have followed the above instructions for Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo, you will need to check your Internet Options to see that your choice is the default program to use. In the Control Panel, double-click on the “Internet Options” icon then on the “Programs” tab. If you do not know how to open the Control Panel then you should not be fooling around in there anyway.

This is the point at which you will see that only one program may be selected as the default program. If you have email accounts with more than one of these services, you will have to choose only one to work with the “mailto” links.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or email FAQ7@SMAguru.com. .