Making Opera the Default Browser

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:09 pm

Way back when I selected Firefox as my default browser when I installed it. Then I decided to try Opera. Since I was happy with Firefox, at the time, I did not select Opera to be my default browser when I installed it.

I do not like the present version of Firefox. It is far too slow and hangs a lot, normally this isn't really an issue because I just launch Opera instead, but if I click on a link in some kind of application (MSN for example), Firefox starts to launch and takes forever.

So, I would like to switch my default browser to Opera.

I have looked at all of Opera's scrolldown menus quite throughly, but I can't seem to find an option to make it my default browser

btw, I have Opera 8.5. I know I could download Opera 9 and that would solve the issue, but I don't want to. 8.5 is very stable, does exactly what I need it to without a deluge of bells and whistles, and I'm concerned about keeping my settings, spellcheck etc. Also, I have heard a lot of reports about Opera 9 being buggy.

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:57 pm

I have Opera 9 but I seldom use it but so far, I have yet to encounter any bugs at all. Anyway, I recall coming across a certain option to prompt you to make Opera your default browser but forgot how to do it. I did a search on the Opera database and this is what I found ([url="http://www.opera.com/support/search/supsearch.dml?index=802"]link[/url]):

Windows

The second time you run Opera, it will start displaying a dialog asking if you want Opera to be your default browser. Even if you have previously cancelled this dialog, you can change the setting by doing the following:

1) Go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Programs
2) Tick the checkbox for "Check if Opera is default browser on startup".
3) Next time you start Opera, answer "Yes" when the dialog asks you if you want Opera to be the default browser on your computer.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Cheers Des!

With the help of a friend on MSN I managed to figure it out

EDIT:
I also just ditched Firefox from my hard drive, though not before grabbing all of my bookmarks there. For some reason I was having trouble importing my Firefox bookmarks into Opera. But [url="http://www.download.com/Bookmark-Exporter/3000-12773_4-10074640.html"]this[/url] handy little program helped out very nicely. It's worth checking out if you are in a similar situation.