For several weeks now I've been getting an annoying message every time I open an advert from my emails. Lets say I get an advert from Gap, then click on a link in the advert, it opens OK but then when I close it, there is an error message on the screen saying

"General failure. The url was .......... An error occurred in sending the command to the application".

It doesn't seem to be a problem, but it is getting irritating because I have to close the error message manually every time.

Any ideas? I've attached a screenshot.

Attached Images

General failure.jpg (157.4 KB, 9 views)

This is a known bug, and has been for years. It occurs when Firefox is your default browser and some glitch (or program) changes that default. Thankfully, there's a fairly easy fix, though it does involve monkeying around in the Registry.

(Note: These instructions apply to Windows Vista and 7 only.)

1. Click Start, type regedit, and then press Enter.
2. Navigate to the following entry: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxURL\shell\open\ddeexec
3. In the center pane, double-click the Default entry, then remove whatever value is there (it'll probably be a weird string of numbers and commas).
4. Click OK, then exit Regedit.
5. If Outlook and/or Firefox are open, close them, then restart them.