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brandonm4313373
brandonm4313373
Participant
February 19, 2020
Answered

Microsoft edge changes my default settings

  • February 19, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 4844 views

Microsoft Edge randomly changes itself to the default pdf reader.  I have reset the default over and over again.  Anyone else having this problem?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Dov Isaacs

Yes, complain loudly and directly to Microsoft. They have code in Windows that attempts to take over file type ownership and give it to their own “preferred” applications. The same file type hijacking stupidity occurs with .TIF, .JPG, .PNG, .MP3, etc. files. Nothing that Adobe can do about it. We've complained numerous times to Microsoft, but …

 

2 replies

ls_rbls
Community Expert
ls_rblsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 19, 2020

++Adding to the thread

 

You didn't mention which version of Windows10 are you using.

 

If you have version 1909 which is latest update, disregard my suggestion.

 

If you haven't upgraded yet, this upgrade is still free to get, there is no need to pay 99 dollars at BestBuy, specially if your version was a forced upgrade from Windows 8 or earlier.

 

There are a few .Net redistributables in this update that addresses fixes for a few things.

 

Try updating to version 1909 and retry defaulting your PDF viewer again.

 

On the other hand, you can disable MS Edge and install the new MS Edge, which is Chrome based and doesn't depend on Internet Explorer 11 Internet Zones and Trust Managers (which Acrobat and Reader, and the old MS Edge browser directly  depend on).

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Legend
February 20, 2020

Microsoft's hijacking of PDF files is not only unethical, but could also be a violation of US anti-trust/unfair trade practices. IIRC, didn't the FTC slap MS with a lawsuit in the early 1990s for simimlar practices?

 

At that time, competing programs couldn't function correctly on Windows, crashing and unusable when used by the general population. Was due to some hidden encoding "hooks" MS put into the Windows OS that crashed everyone else's software. Programs like WordPerfect (the then market-leading word processor) and Lotus (the marketing leading spreadsheet) were wiped out and MS's Excel and Word took over our desktops. Same with PostScript fonts: they wouldn't work on Windows because of a near-hidden setting burried a dozen levels deep into Windows' options settings.

 

I think this PDF hijacking is similar:  MS is ignoring the customer's preference settings and instead opening PDFs in its own program, Edge, rather than Acrobat or any other brand of PDF reading software.

 

It's a big problem for accessibililty users; They lose all ability to read and access the PDF file in Edge because Edge isn't fully accessible.

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
ls_rbls
Community Expert
ls_rblsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 21, 2020

Yup! Just like they've been  doing in the linux world too for the past 15 years.

 

Now mostly every popular linux distribution out there has to fall in-line with Microsoft's  development cycle style (not to mention the growing backdoors at the kernel level and rootkits with each stupid upgrade).

 

Why??????     

 

Every cloud storage service out there that has their own PDF viewers and handlers are doing similar practices.

 

Prime examples,   Dropbox and GoogleDrive; once the shared PDF opens in your default mobile browser, for example, just a fraction of a second later,  a message appear to download their app or to continue to their website; it won't open natively in the Adobe Reader app automatically.

 

For the average residential-market users, they fall prey and end up paying for this service instead of just opting to manually download each time and opening in Acrobat Reader.    Why?????

 

But these are unchartered waters and I may even start to sound really stupid here.

 

 

By the way good computer history there Bevi.

 

This should  remind us of what happened to AT&T back in the early 80's with the breakup of the Bell System into the "Baby Bells".  

 

Not too far, the apples that fell from that tree,  are now our favorite  CableTV and Internet Service Providers, and probably our favorite cell-phone carriers too.

 

Would DOCSIS 3.0  and version 3.1, which controls our Cable Modems, be  also  considered an in-breeded product  from all of this trade practices too?

 

Hmmmm... Client-side IP addressing v.s. Server-Side IP Addressing.  Which brings me back to AT&T again and their current deregulation campaign https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/atts-deregulation-campaign/

 

Dov Isaacs
Dov IsaacsCorrect answer
Legend
February 19, 2020

Yes, complain loudly and directly to Microsoft. They have code in Windows that attempts to take over file type ownership and give it to their own “preferred” applications. The same file type hijacking stupidity occurs with .TIF, .JPG, .PNG, .MP3, etc. files. Nothing that Adobe can do about it. We've complained numerous times to Microsoft, but …

 

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
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