Windows Mail and Thunderbird conflict

After installing Office 2003 on a Dell 1330 with Vista Home Premium, the
default mail tool changed, of course, from Thunderbird to Outlook. I
uninstalled Outlook, and the default email tool changed to Windows Mail.

I have tried using the Default Programs control panel and other means to
change the default email tool back to Thunderbird, to no avail. Each time it
starts it asks me whether I want Thunderbird to be the default. Each time I
click yes, but the setting doesn't hold.

I have gone through all the usual steps to define Thunderbird as the
default. In Windows Mail, the option to change it so that it is not the
default is mysteriously grayed out.

Any suggestions how to get around this? Windows Mail seems more like a virus
to me than a legitimate piece of software. It doesn't even show up in the
list of Windows services, so I can't even turn it off!

What's so weird about this is that it all worked fine until I installed
Office 2003 ... now, I can't change the default mail tool.

And, yes, I am signed in as admin.

Thanks,
Craig

tengo el ordenador lleno de spywares

It's a failure of Thunderbird to register properly with the OS.
Try uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)


"craighanoch" <craighanoch@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:F83A8896-1BBA-4FEF-B869-A6823B4A60E3@microsoft.com...
> After installing Office 2003 on a Dell 1330 with Vista Home Premium, the
> default mail tool changed, of course, from Thunderbird to Outlook. I
> uninstalled Outlook, and the default email tool changed to Windows Mail.
>
> I have tried using the Default Programs control panel and other means to
> change the default email tool back to Thunderbird, to no avail. Each time it
> starts it asks me whether I want Thunderbird to be the default. Each time I
> click yes, but the setting doesn't hold.
>
> I have gone through all the usual steps to define Thunderbird as the
> default. In Windows Mail, the option to change it so that it is not the
> default is mysteriously grayed out.
>
> Any suggestions how to get around this? Windows Mail seems more like a virus
> to me than a legitimate piece of software. It doesn't even show up in the
> list of Windows services, so I can't even turn it off!
>
> What's so weird about this is that it all worked fine until I installed
> Office 2003 ... now, I can't change the default mail tool.
>
> And, yes, I am signed in as admin.
>
> Thanks,
> Craig
>

many thanks. upgraded to the latest version and that fixed it.

"Gary VanderMolen" wrote:

> It's a failure of Thunderbird to register properly with the OS.
> Try uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird.
>
> --
> Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)
>
>
> "craighanoch" <craighanoch@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:F83A8896-1BBA-4FEF-B869-A6823B4A60E3@microsoft.com...
> > After installing Office 2003 on a Dell 1330 with Vista Home Premium, the
> > default mail tool changed, of course, from Thunderbird to Outlook. I
> > uninstalled Outlook, and the default email tool changed to Windows Mail.
> >
> > I have tried using the Default Programs control panel and other means to
> > change the default email tool back to Thunderbird, to no avail. Each time it
> > starts it asks me whether I want Thunderbird to be the default. Each time I
> > click yes, but the setting doesn't hold.
> >
> > I have gone through all the usual steps to define Thunderbird as the
> > default. In Windows Mail, the option to change it so that it is not the
> > default is mysteriously grayed out.
> >
> > Any suggestions how to get around this? Windows Mail seems more like a virus
> > to me than a legitimate piece of software. It doesn't even show up in the
> > list of Windows services, so I can't even turn it off!
> >
> > What's so weird about this is that it all worked fine until I installed
> > Office 2003 ... now, I can't change the default mail tool.
> >
> > And, yes, I am signed in as admin.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Craig
> >
>
>
>

You're welcome. Thanks for your feedback.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)


"craighanoch" <craighanoch@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:2BA6F515-6C35-4C17-AA4F-8B77E4A69D98@microsoft.com...
> many thanks. upgraded to the latest version and that fixed it.
>
> "Gary VanderMolen" wrote:
>
>> It's a failure of Thunderbird to register properly with the OS.
>> Try uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird.
>>
>> --
>> Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)
>>
>>
>> "craighanoch" <craighanoch@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:F83A8896-1BBA-4FEF-B869-A6823B4A60E3@microsoft.com...
>> > After installing Office 2003 on a Dell 1330 with Vista Home Premium, the
>> > default mail tool changed, of course, from Thunderbird to Outlook. I
>> > uninstalled Outlook, and the default email tool changed to Windows Mail.
>> >
>> > I have tried using the Default Programs control panel and other means to
>> > change the default email tool back to Thunderbird, to no avail. Each time it
>> > starts it asks me whether I want Thunderbird to be the default. Each time I
>> > click yes, but the setting doesn't hold.
>> >
>> > I have gone through all the usual steps to define Thunderbird as the
>> > default. In Windows Mail, the option to change it so that it is not the
>> > default is mysteriously grayed out.
>> >
>> > Any suggestions how to get around this? Windows Mail seems more like a virus
>> > to me than a legitimate piece of software. It doesn't even show up in the
>> > list of Windows services, so I can't even turn it off!
>> >
>> > What's so weird about this is that it all worked fine until I installed
>> > Office 2003 ... now, I can't change the default mail tool.
>> >
>> > And, yes, I am signed in as admin.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Craig
>> >
>>
>>
>>