09 December 2011

Google Chrome: Application not found/Missing from Default Programs

With Google Chrome as my default browser my Windows internet shortcuts weren't working, instead they would bring up an error message: "Application not found". Not helpful.

I went to check Chrome was set as the default in Control Panel\Programs\Default Programs\Set Default Programs and it wasn't even listed. I checked the registry settings and they were as they should be. Then I remembered that when I recently re-installed my system I had an issue with installing Chrome via the usual method, it appeared to run but there were no entries in the Start menu and nothing in Program Files. I had to download the Google Chrome offline installer which ran fine.

When I checked in Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features There were two Chromes listed: one with a Chrome icon and the other with a Windows default "I don't know what the icon for this is so I'll just give it this square" icon. Sure enough when I uninstalled the one without the proper icon everything worked fine.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you.

    I had the exact same problem and I had no idea the cause and how to fix it until I stumbled here.

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  2. Excellent, worked for me as well after quite a bit of faffing about.

    ReplyDelete