I want to make Hotmail the Firefox default

I want to make Hotmail the Firefox default---I have used this in the past, and it worked. Now, no luck. ANy ideas?

To make Firefox use Hotmail for mailto links, do the following.

1. Type about:config into your location bar and hit enter. If you've never edited used about:config before, you'll see a warning.
2. Click "I'll be careful, I promise!" This will bring you to the about:config window.
3. In the filter field type "gecko". Double click the first entry gecko.handlerService.allowRegisterFromDifferentHost to change the value to true.
4. Copy and paste the text between the following text into the location bar and hit enter: javascript:navigator.registerProtocolHandler('mailto','http://hotmail.msn.com/secure/start?action=compose&to=%s','Hotmail');
5. You will see an information bar drop down at the top of the window. Click "Add Application." You've finished installing the Hotmail protocol now you just need to select it.
6. Go to Firefox>Preferences>Applications, if you are using a Mac, or Tools>Options>Applications, if you are using Windows. Now scroll down the list by content type and find mailto. In the drop-down menu to the right select "Use Hotmail".
7. Next, return to about:config.
8. If the warning comes up again, click "I'll be careful, I promise!"
9. In the filter field type "gecko", and double click the first entry gecko.handlerService.allowRegisterFromDifferentHost to change the value back to false.

There are some additional steps you must take in recent versions of Firefox, took me a while to discover them (Found out by posting on the Firefox/Mozilla forum). Check below for the additional steps you must take.


1) Type about:config into your location bar and hit enter. If you've never edited used about:config before, you'll see a warning.

2) Click "I'll be careful, I promise!" This will bring you to the about:config window.

3) In the filter field type "gecko". Double click the first entry gecko.handlerService.allowRegisterFromDifferentHost to change the value to true.

4) Create a bookmark for any website.

5a) Edit the bookmark you just created and change the Location to javascript:navigator.registerProtocolHandler('mailto','http://hotmail.msn.com/secure/start?action=compose&to=%s','Hotmail');

5b) For people who have configured there Hotmail to use HTTPS, type the following instead.
javascript:navigator.registerProtocolHandler('mailto','https://hotmail.msn.com/secure/start?action=compose&to=%s','Hotmail https');

6) Click the Bookmark you just edited.

7) You will see an information bar drop down at the top of the window. Click "Add Application." You've finished installing the Hotmail protocol now you just need to select it.

8) Go to Firefox>Preferences>Applications, if you are using a Mac, or Tools>Options>Applications, if you are using Windows. Now scroll down the list by content type and find mailto. In the drop-down menu to the right select "Use Hotmail" or "Use Hotmail https" (Whichever is appropriate).

9) Next, return to about:config.

10) If the warning comes up again, click "I'll be careful, I promise!"

11) In the filter field type "gecko", and double click the first entry gecko.handlerService.allowRegisterFromDifferentHost to change the value back to false.



hope this helps :)

The reason for this is because they disabled executing Javascript from the location bar, hence the need for using a bookmark instead.

The revised process worked for me until I tried to actually email a link. Let me hasten to add that I'm on Firefox 17.0 and I migrated my old Hotmail account to the new "Outlook.com" platform - same Hotmail address I've had for years, but the look and feel of the "Outlook" webmail environment is quite different. Anyway, when I try to email a link, I get an error message that reads "Sorry, there seems to be a problem with Outlook right now." My choices are a "Try to return to Outlook" button (which always correctly takes me back to my Inbox - but there is no new message with the link I want to send) or a "Report it to Microsoft" link.

yeah unsure what to do about that. Also it seems Microsoft broke the method I outlined anyways as it loads the Send Message page in Hotmail, fills in the Send To box with the correct email address, then the page finishes loading and the email vanishes from the box... wtf?

So I have to go back to the website I got the email address from and manually copy/paste the email address.

That's what I'm doing, as well. You would think MS would have made an easier way to do this through a setting in Default Programs. :-\