How to change associations in embedded IE 11?

[jchd]

Short version: I need to find the setting in IE so that a given PDF viewer is invoked when IE launches a .pdf file.

Actual situation: I use a proprietary software X which gives access to various professionnal documents on request. It's payware ($ by the clock use) and I can't give more details beyond that it seems to be a .net thing. Some documents are pictures (JPG, BMP), others PDFs.

I'm normally using an old version of PDF-Xchange Viewer (Tracker software) which is just fast and rich enough for my (heavy) daily use. The software X in question uses IE to display documents in an embedded control. For some dumb reason I finally agreed to upgrade to the latest PDFXchangeViewer, which worked but proved very cumbersome to use in this context. I desinstalled it but now the embedded IE has lost the association for PDF documents and doesn't display them anymore.

I've tried to reinstall both X and the old PDF viewer but that doesn't restore the association inside the embedded IE. Hence I need to find where in IE (or registry) this association is set for IE use so I can reset the setting to point to the good old PDF viewer (or at least ONE viewer!). Note that the "normal" association, that is launching a .pdf from file explorer, works fine, meaning there is another setting for IE. Also if I run IE by itself and navigate to a page where there is a link to a .pdf, then it works fine as well and invokes the correct viewer. The only problem is with embedded IE launching a .pdf

[Danp2]

What OS? Any recent updates applied?

Have you tried contacting the software vendor to see if they have a solution / recommended fix?

[jchd]

Sorry I should have mentionned that: Win10 pro X64 latest update (21H1, build 19043.1165). The issue arose only after having installed a new version of pdf viewer (I should never have done that), realized it worked but won't fit my needs and uninstalled it.

The vendor won't provide support, not even in nicest wet dreams. They only provide invoices!

 

[TheXman]

Maybe this may help or at least point you in the right direction:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/registry-settings-for-pdf-default-program-for-ie/7e035bcd-ba78-40f7-9501-4b2314d15766

Here's a related link from the vendor's KB:

https://www.tracker-software.com/knowledgebase/502-How-do-I-set-per-user-preferences-to-make-PDF-files-display-in-IE-using-a-Group-Policy

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by TheXman
Added link to vendor's KB article

[jchd]

Oh thanks, that looks right on spot. I now need to find the CLSID for PDFXChange Viewer not PDFXChange Editor (which is what I uninstalled due to hard to work with).

[mLipok]

Can you check my recent version of Acrobat Viewer UDF ?

currently it use embended shell to navigate to pdf file.

I'm curious how it will work in your case.

Edit:

Take a look also here

Edit 2:

And here

 

Remarks:

I hope this two links can be related to yours case. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by mLipok

[jchd]

  On 8/25/2021 at 9:38 PM, TheXman said:

Here's a related link from the vendor's KB:

Expand  

I found it as well but this is for the newer Edit version, not Viewer. I sent help request to their support and waiting for an answer.

[jchd]

Thanks guys, the Tracker support helped solve the issue.

[Gianni]

how?
if you don't mind ...

[jchd]

That needed these settings in the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/pdf]
@="PDFXCviewIEPlugin.CoPDFXCviewIEPlugin.1"
"CLSID"="{C5D07EB6-BBCE-4DAE-ACBB-D13A8D28CB1F}"
"Extension"=".pdf"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\MIMEAssociations\application/pdf\UserChoice]
"Progid"="PDFXCviewIEPlugin.CoPDFXCviewIEPlugin.1"