Cannot get Metro/Modern UI/whatever apps to follow web links


Recommended Posts

This has been a recurring problem for me. I had an install of Windows 8 RTM that this happened to. Then I reinstalled Windows 8 with the upgrade key, post-RTM, which fixed it, but only for a few days and then it started happening again. It's really, really starting to **** me off.

Here's the deal. If there is a web link in a metro app, when you click on it, nothing happens. At all. It doesn't make any attempt to launch a web browser of any sort, regardless of whether IE is default or not. Now, for the most part, I couldn't give a ****, because this was mostly used to link to an app's website. I rarely used it. However, now that Pin Steam is out, it is completely useless to me because Steam launches game via web links now and when I click on any game in my library guess what happens? Absolutely nothing. GRR!

So, I do not want to reinstall Windows from scratch again, or reset/refresh my PC, or anything that will cause me to have to reinstall everything. Does anybody know of a way to fix this? Surely I cannot be the only one to have experienced this issue. Thanks in advance to anybody who can help.

  • Like 1

I don't have an answer for you, just wanted to let you know I have the same problem, and many do. If you search the web a few have some solutions that I wouldn't recommend.

This is only a problem on the desktop, does not happen on the Surface. Microsoft knows this is a problem and is silent. If I come across a reasonable fix I'll post it.

I managed to download and install the "Retail" not the RTM and I can open Windows Store and every metro app related links just fine. I don't know why you're having the issue but I did hear that the RTM does have a few bugs and that may be the problem.

I managed to download and install the "Retail" not the RTM and I can open Windows Store and every metro app related links just fine. I don't know why you're having the issue but I did hear that the RTM does have a few bugs and that may be the problem.

RTM is the retail build.

This has been a recurring problem for me. I had an install of Windows 8 RTM that this happened to. Then I reinstalled Windows 8 with the upgrade key, post-RTM, which fixed it, but only for a few days and then it started happening again. It's really, really starting to **** me off.

Here's the deal. If there is a web link in a metro app, when you click on it, nothing happens. At all. It doesn't make any attempt to launch a web browser of any sort, regardless of whether IE is default or not. Now, for the most part, I couldn't give a ****, because this was mostly used to link to an app's website. I rarely used it. However, now that Pin Steam is out, it is completely useless to me because Steam launches game via web links now and when I click on any game in my library guess what happens? Absolutely nothing. GRR!

So, I do not want to reinstall Windows from scratch again, or reset/refresh my PC, or anything that will cause me to have to reinstall everything. Does anybody know of a way to fix this? Surely I cannot be the only one to have experienced this issue. Thanks in advance to anybody who can help.

I had a similar... actually the same problem, and just got used to copying the URL and pasting it myself into the browser

But coming to think of it, I wonder if Metro URLs only work if a Metro browser is set as default, I had normal desktop firefox as mine so never tried it before reinstalling 7

Well, when it worked, it would launch in a metro browser if one was default, or go to the desktop and use a regular browser if a non-metro browser was default. Now it just does jack ****.

Well, when it worked, it would launch in a metro browser if one was default, or go to the desktop and use a regular browser if a non-metro browser was default. Now it just does jack ****.

Yea that was basically my experience with 8, and the reason why I reinstalled 7, weird unexplainable bugs

This is the only bug I have ever experienced in Windows 8, and it's only irritating me because Pin Steam doesn't work, so I'm not ready to give up on 8 yet.

Maybe try sfc /scannow in elevated CMD, if there is any issue with system files that should repair them

If you have any other browsers installed, try uninstalling them and setting IE10 as default for testing (If you're using FF, grab MozBackup and create a backup before uninstalling, then once you're done you can reinstall FF and restore the backup and be exactly where you were before uninstalling it)

For the Stream issue try the suggestions in this article (particularly the section about the registry):

https://support.stea...=2087-MZES-9065

Try using the "Default Programs -> Set Default Programs" applet in the Control Panel to unset and then reset the default handlers (use Internet Explorer as the default at this point).

And check in the "Default Programs -> Associate a File Type or Protocol with a program" applet that the HTTP protocol (protocols are at the botom of the list) is both in there as is and assigned correctly (should have "URL: HyperText Transfer Protocol" for it's description).

Also make another user account and see if the issue persists in there.

I'm pretty sure if I made another user it would work for that user. I had other metro app-related issues in the CP and RP that making another issue fixed for that user. The core of the OS is solid and stable, but the new start screen and all of its apps are incredibly buggy. It should be noted when I said I had only experienced this one bug with Windows 8, I actually meant that Windows itself doesn't have any issues, it's the new metro apps that do. By this criteria I could have said I have seen no bugs at all, so yeah, if the start screen is what you define Windows 8 as then I have seen many bugs, actually. Most of them are related to specific apps, though, like the POS music app, and not the OS itself. I rarely use the start screen or any metro apps at all, so I'm sure there are probably more issues I haven't discovered yet.

I've already tried changing defaults and that didn't do anything. Since I'm impatient I just went ahead and reinstalled Windows again. If anybody has a known working solution to this I'd still love to hear it, because I'm pretty confident that eventually this will happen again, unless Microsoft releases another update to prevent it from happening. I'm looking for actual solutions that are known to work here, not suggestions on how I might troubleshoot it. The sfc /scannow is something I did not actually think to try, but I don't have much confidence that it would have helped any.

Thanks for trying, everybody. I'll keep an eye on this in case somebody does figure out how to fix it without nuking their system.

I do have a suspect for causality. I installed vmware player and it no longer works again. I installed other things too, like Office 2013, but vmware creates virtual network adapters so it's the most likely culprit. Since it's all still fresh I'm going to try a system restore to 2 hours ago to see if that fixes it again. Then I guess I'm going to try to figure out how to get elementary linux to work in hyper-v.

Ok, it is not vmware. I hadn't had too many things installed when it started happening. At this point I have it narrowed down to 2 possible culprits: microangelo on display, or the firefox maintenance service. Firefox, installed without the service, didn't mess it up. I may experiment later to see for certain, but for now I will refrain from installing either of those things and hopefully it won't break again. In the meantime I will continue to create a restore point prior to installing each of my programs.

Ok, well, I never got around to testing whether the firefox maintenance service was the issue, because now it's broken again and the only thing I've done is installed some windows updates. I guess it's just something inherent in Windows 8 and I'll have to wait for MS to fix it. I did get to enjoy Pin Steam for a few minutes yesterday. Oh well.

Ok, well, I never got around to testing whether the firefox maintenance service was the issue, because now it's broken again and the only thing I've done is installed some windows updates. I guess it's just something inherent in Windows 8 and I'll have to wait for MS to fix it. I did get to enjoy Pin Steam for a few minutes yesterday. Oh well.

I feel your pain. I haven't given up on 8, but I have given up on trying to fix/workaround these irritating bugs that are all Metro related.

Here is the most common fix for this. Edit your registry at your own risk.

Open your registry and delete the following key and then reboot:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CSLID

No one knows what specific entries cause the problem but Microangelo OnDisplay does create an entry FWIW. I think many legacy apps may cause this problem. This should not harm your system as software will recreate the keys if needed. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE CURRENT USER HIVE and not LOCAL MACHINE.

Here is the most common fix for this. Edit your registry at your own risk.

Open your registry and delete the following key and then reboot:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CSLID

No one knows what specific entries cause the problem but Microangelo OnDisplay does create an entry FWIW. I think many legacy apps may cause this problem. This should not harm your system as software will recreate the keys if needed. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE CURRENT USER HIVE and not LOCAL MACHINE.

Which moron suggested that?! You just deleted COM objects registration info for the current user.

Which moron suggested that?! You just deleted COM objects registration info for the current user.

1) It works.

2) Edit the registry at your own risk. If the app is worth it's salt, it will reload from HKLM or recreate.

Those keys are created through regsvr32 or manually via the installation. There are no rules saying that the keys under that tree should be cloned into HKLM, heck, it doesn't even matter because they won't be recreated unless you manually re-register the component or reinstall the program. It may work for this problem, sure, but it's the wrong solution. You are solving one problem by probably creating another.

1) It works.

2) Edit the registry at your own risk. If the app is worth it's salt, it will reload from HKLM or recreate.

Anything is possible. The two I had were recreated and problem solved. I would say, go for it on Windows 8 without hesitation at this point.

You can back it up, yada yada, restore each key to see which one breaks Metro links. It may not even be a key, it could be legacy installs corrupt it. That's an individual call. It'll be a long wait for MS to fix this issue and most likely worth it. For this user, who has reinstalled everything anyway, I would highly recommend deleting the user key and fixing this problem and reinstalling anything that appears to have an issue though I doubt anything will.

Yeah, I'll probably try that in the morning (I'm off to work soon). I'll just back up that reg key first so I can re-add it if it causes any other issues. Thanks.

Edit: Nevermind, I went ahead and did it since it only takes a few moments. It appears to have worked. I'll key that regkey backup just in case I need it down the road, but for now it appears to be fine. I guess I'll find out down the road if it caused any issues. Thanks dude!

  • 1 month later...
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Motrix Next 3.9.6 by Razvan Serea Motrix Next is a modern, open-source cross-platform download manager built as the official next-generation successor to the original Motrix project. It has been completely rewritten using Tauri 2, Vue 3, TypeScript, and Rust, while still relying on the powerful Aria2 download engine for high-speed multi-protocol transfers. The app supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, BitTorrent, ED2K and magnet links, offering advanced features like multi-connection acceleration, task scheduling, bandwidth control, and batch download management. With a significantly reduced install size (around 20MB), it focuses on being lightweight, fast, and resource-efficient compared to traditional Electron-based download tools. Designed for Windows, macOS, and Linux, Motrix Next delivers a clean, modern UI inspired by Material Design 3 principles, with smooth animations and a minimal workflow. It improves usability through better download organization, system tray integration, and enhanced torrent handling including selective file downloads and tracker management. Motrix Next features: Multi-protocol downloads — HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, Magnet, .torrent, ED2K, and Metalink tasks BitTorrent — Selective file download, DHT, peer exchange, encryption controls, metadata caching, GeoIP peer flags, and tracker probing Browser extension integration — Embedded Extension API with independent authentication, download confirmation, smart auto-submit, filename hints, referer/cookie forwarding, and real-time controls (Chrome Web Store · Edge Add-ons) Safe filename handling — Content-Disposition, RFC 2047, non-UTF-8, percent-encoded, and extensionless URL resolution with path traversal sanitization Download organization — Favorite and recent folders, optional file-type categorization, stale-record cleanup, and completed history backed by SQLite Concurrent downloads — Independent controls for active tasks, HTTP connections per server, segments per file, and BT peer limits Speed control — Global and per-task upload/download limits with day-of-week and time-of-day scheduling System integration — Tray operation, optional tray speed display, macOS Dock badge/progress, protocol handlers for magnet://, thunder://, and motrixnext:// Lightweight mode — Destroys the WebView on minimize-to-tray while Rust keeps the engine, task monitor, notifications, history, and extension routing alive Notifications and power options — Native task start/complete/failure notifications, keep-awake during downloads, and optional shutdown after completion Network controls — Scoped proxy support for downloads, app updates, and tracker updates, plus system proxy detection Auto-update channels — Stable, Beta, and Latest Across Channels policies with separate download and install phases Diagnostics — Structured logs, exportable diagnostic ZIPs, database integrity checks, automatic DB rebuild, and Linux GPU rendering fallback Personalization — Light/dark/system theme, 10 color schemes, 26 languages, and first-launch system language detection Motrix Next 3.9.6 changelog: New Features Clipboard management — App-owned copy actions no longer trigger the Add Task auto-detect popup. aria2 input compatibility — Multi-line aria2-style task input is supported for URLs with per-task options such as out=. BitTorrent IPv6 DHT — Added IPv6 DHT support and related configuration. File category URL patterns — File category rules can match URL patterns with validation and localized hints. Task status tags — Added clearer waiting and sharing states for task cards. Download event bridge — Added an aria2 WebSocket event bridge for faster download notifications. Improvements Improved task list transitions and preserved task state during tab switches. Kept RPC origin access enabled for local integrations. Restored AppImage stripping in release builds after beta validation. Added localized preference guidance across supported languages. Download: Motrix Next 64-bit | ARM64 | macOS ~20.0 MB (Open Source) Links: Website | macOS / Linux | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Segra 1.6.2 by Razvan Serea Segra is a free, open-source OBS-powered game recorder offering fast gameplay capture, instant clips, AI highlights, deep game integration, and seamless uploads—perfect for gamers, streamers, and content creators. Lightweight, fast, zero bloat. Segra key features: Automatic Game Recording: Begin capturing gameplay the moment your game launches, with zero manual setup. Instant Clipping: Save important moments instantly using a customizable hotkey—perfect for highlights, montages, or quick shares. Segra AI Highlights: Let Segra automatically detect kills, assists, deaths, and key events to generate polished highlight reels without manual editing. Gameplay Uploads: Upload recordings and clips directly to Segra.tv for fast sharing and cloud access. Deep Game Integration: Enjoy advanced game-data tracking across hundreds of supported titles, enabling smart highlight generation and stat-informed clipping. High-Performance Capture: Record up to 4K at 144 FPS using OBS-powered technology with minimal performance impact, supporting NVENC, AMD VCE, and custom quality controls. Segra Editor: Edit recordings easily with timeline controls, segment management, and event-based navigation to build the perfect clip. Customization Options: Adjust hotkeys, output formats, storage paths, codecs, capture quality, and performance settings for a tailored recording experience. Segra 1.6.2 changelog: UI: Improved the transition from the loading skeleton to the real content card. Security: Added Segra.dll code signing and automatic VirusTotal upload. Settings: Fixed the settings header to highlight Account when scrolled to the top. Recording: Updated OBSKit.NET to 1.4.1. Download: Segra 1.6.2 | 74.5 MB (Open Source) View: Segra Homepage | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Hey Google, these are the Gemini features I want in 2026 by Aditya Tiwari Google Gemini has been around for over three years. The AI chatbot started its journey back in 2023 (as Bard) when ChatGPT was already a talk of the town. However, it quickly attracted criticism after misrepresenting facts about the James Webb Space Telescope. The search giant spent a year fine-tuning Bard before rebranding the chatbot and its underlying generative AI model to Gemini, drawing inspiration from NASA's first human spaceflight program. Note that Bard was initially powered by LaMDA and PaLM 2; Google has since added several new features and integrations to Gemini. That said, there is scope for improvement and a gap for new features. I have been using Gemini for a while now and have realized that the chatbot lacks several features, making it harder for me to research across topics. These are mostly function-over-form updates that can improve the overall experience. Delete individual messages from a conversation Image via DepositPhotos.com One good thing about Gemini is that it can maintain context throughout the conversation. But things might get chaotic when you want to ask a related question, but don't want it to be part of your conversation in the long run. You can't ask that related question in a fresh chat because Gemini will lose the active conversation context of what you're trying to research. If Google allowed you to delete individual question/answer pairs, you could simply ask about a sub-topic and remove it from the conversation to create a smooth flow of important stuff. Offline mode Image via DepositPhotos.com A big pain of using Gemini daily is that everything loads from the cloud. It takes time for your chats to appear, and you can't view your conversation history while offline. To get a better idea, you can open the Gemini app and see how it looks without an internet connection. While Gemini models run in the cloud, it wouldn't hurt if Google could store chats (at least the text part) on the device so we can refer to them when offline. Google can also offer a lightweight version of its AI model to help with basic drafting, summarization, and other tasks. It has the Gemini Nano model, which can perform on-device processing on Google Pixel, Samsung, and some other Android brands, but it's a system feature and not related to the cloud-based Gemini app. Make temporary chats permanent I can't thank Google enough for taking the time and effort to add incognito mode or temporary chat mode to the Gemini app. It lets you have conversations without worrying that the topics will end up in your chat history or used for model training (at least on paper). Google claims that it doesn't use your temporary chats to "personalize your Gemini experience or train Google’s AI models." However, the data is stored "up to 72 hours to respond to you and to process any feedback you choose to provide." That said, I often start researching something in a temporary chat, only to realize the chatbot's answer is good enough to refer to later. Sadly, Gemini doesn't have an option to make such temporary chats permanent. In other words, I won't be able to follow up on it if I close the temporary chat. I'm left with alternatives like copying the answers into notes or another app. My digital life will get a lot better if Gemini gets a button to make temporary chats permanent. Collapse answers for a cleaner view You're heavily invested in your research game and suddenly feel the need to go up in the chat to recall something. This is when the conversation thread starts to feel like an overwhelming, unending wall of questions and answers. What if Google added a way to collapse Q&A pairs in the Gemini chat thread? It would look quite clean and easy to navigate. You'll quickly get an overview of everything you have discussed with the chatbot. Add buttons to jump between messages Suggested mockup of the feature. This reminds me of a small but useful Gemini feature that Google could add to its chatbot: the ability to hop between prompts in a conversation. Just add simple up- and down-arrow buttons, similar to YouTube Shorts, so people can quickly scroll through the messages. A table of contents or Chat Overview It's hard to get a bird's-eye view of everything you have discussed with the chatbot during a lengthy conversation. This is where a table of contents, or Chat Overview, displayed at the top of the screen, possibly in a drop-down button, might come in handy. You'll be able to get an overview of the chat and jump between messages, serving as an alternative to the up/down arrow buttons. Temporary mode for Gemini Live Image: Google You can use Gemini Live to have real-time conversations with the chatbot, which feels like you're talking to someone in the same room. However, a downside is that Gemini Live doesn't work in Temporary Chat mode, so all your conversations end up in the chat history. Google should consider expanding the temporary chat mode to include Gemini Live. Default to a specific chat One thing that feels somewhat annoying to me is that Gemini always opens in a new chat, whether on web or mobile. Sometimes, you want to return to your last chat. Google can take cues from web browsers, which let you choose whether you want to go to a new tab or a specific web page(s). Gemini can also have options to default to a specific chat when reopened. That said, generative AI chatbots have endless possibilities given the vagueness of their work. You can mold them the way you want by attaching different connectors, adding custom instructions, and including source files. It remains to be seen what Google has in store for future updates and whether anything from this wishlist gets the green light. The search giant released a stream of new Gemini updates in recent months, including Gemini 3.5 Flash and Gemini Omni Spark, adding that it now has 13 products with more than a billion users each. What do you want to see in the Gemini app? Tell us in the comments.
    • Thank you for the post. Just a FYI that links to an outside site or promoting specific software is considered spamming here. Asking general questions is fine.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      sumytbe earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Year In
      B4dM1k3 earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      DarkWun earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Dedicated
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      507
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      181
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      86
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      78
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!