Now we’ll start building a manual way to change our default SLURL handler.

With REGEDIT still open:

1. Left-click to highlight HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
2. Press Ctrl-F (opens find)
3. Type in secondlife
4. Check Keys, uncheck Values and Data
5. Click Find Next

This should bring you to this:

6. Left-click the >’s to open the tree as shown
7. Left-click command, notice which viewer is your default
8. Right-click on secondlife
9. Select Export
10. Name the file using the viewer name (e.g, Firestorm64)

This gives you a file you can use to restore these settings and again make this your Windows default viewer. To use the file later, with Regedit closed just double click the file, not something to do now.

There are two ways to go from here. Change the registry entry manually to another viewer, typo level risky – not computer destruction stuff, or install the viewer you want for your default viewer and repeat this process, safer. Close Regedit then do the install. After the install repeat these steps to make another ‘restore’ file for this newly installed viewer.

You can do this after each install of a new viewer. That will save a file you can use later.

What you find in the files (they are text files you can edit) is:

Firestorm 64

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife]
"(default)"="URL:Second Life"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\DefaultIcon]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\FirestormOS-Releasex64\\FirestormOS-Releasex64.exe\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,20,\
00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,46,00,69,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,74,00,\
6f,00,72,00,6d,00,4f,00,53,00,2d,00,52,00,65,00,6c,00,65,00,61,00,73,00,65,\
00,78,00,36,00,34,00,5c,00,46,00,69,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,74,00,6f,00,72,00,\
6d,00,4f,00,53,00,2d,00,52,00,65,00,6c,00,65,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,78,00,36,\
00,34,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,2d,00,75,00,72,00,6c,00,20,00,\
22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

The ‘hex’ part translates to:

“C:\Program Files\FirestormOS-Releasex64\FirestormOS-Releasex64.exe” -url “%1”

Second Life

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife]
"(default)"="URL:Second Life"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\DefaultIcon]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\SecondLifeViewer\\SecondLifeViewer.exe\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secondlife\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,20,\
00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,20,00,28,00,78,00,38,00,36,00,29,00,5c,00,\
53,00,65,00,63,00,6f,00,6e,00,64,00,4c,00,69,00,66,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,\
00,77,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,53,00,65,00,63,00,6f,00,6e,00,64,00,4c,00,69,00,\
66,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,\
00,20,00,2d,00,75,00,72,00,6c,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

The ‘hex’ part translates to:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\SecondLifeViewer\SecondLifeViewer.exe” -url “%1”

Once you have saved these files all you need to do to change the default viewer is double click the file for the appropriate viewer. The system will read the changes into the registry. Simple. You’ll get some warning messages. Reassure Windows it is ok to make the changes.

In Windows 10 you do not even have to restart the computer. The change is immediately effective.

Manual Change

Looking at the above information you can see what changes in the registry. You can avoid re-installing a viewer by simply making these changes using REGEDIT.

You do have to get the paths and spelling exactly correct. Failing that, your computer will live but, your SLURL connection to the viewer will break. Just repair the registry entry.

Browser Changes

Once you tell a web browser to remember which viewer to use, you are pretty much stuck with the choice. So, we need to learn to change the protocol handler in the browser or get it to ask us again or use a different viewer.

Chrome

In Chrome type in the URL: chrome://settings/handlers

Or… in the upper right click the 3 vertical dots and select Settings->Privacy-Content Settings->Handlers-Manage handlers…

You can delete the Second Life handler showing in the resulting window. Chrome will ask Windows which app to use for the secondlife: protocol the next time you click an SLURL and it will also ask if it should remember it.

FireFox

In Firefox type in the URL: about:preferences#applications

Or… In the upper right click the 3 horizontal bars icon and select Preferences->Applications. Use search to find secondlife. Make your changes.

You can select Always ask to be asked each time you click a SLURL. Firefox is nice because it will built a collection of your choices. That will allow you pick your viewer. Thoughtful designers.

Other Browsers

Other browsers will have similar processes. You can Google how to change the browsers protocol settings.

Summary

This is probably way more than you wanted to know. Hopefully, it will let you fix any SLURL problems and know how to control this aspect of your computer-viewer symbiosis.