When you enter an Internet URL without its corresponding protocol identifier, such as http://, https:// or ftp://, Internet Explorer attempts to determine the protocol needed by using the contents of the URL address. However, when the browser can’t determine the protocol on its own, it uses the URL Search Hook method in an attempt to identify the protocol. URL Search Hook objects are created under the registry key of: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/UrlSearchHooks A URL Search Hook object’s class Identifier (CLSID) string, the data between the braces ({ }) in the registry entry, uniquely identifies the object. The IURLSearchHook interface translates a URL’s address and the data of its corresponding CLSID to identify the associated protocol. Internet Explorer then uses the partial URL and the protocol identifier to access, retrieve and display the requested information. On a majority of Windows systems, there is only one UrlSearchHook object, which should look something like this: R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {00A6FAF6-072E-44cf-8957-5838F569A31D} - (no file) To identify and fix registry object issues, including URLSearchHook objects, a free downloadable utility, HijackThis, is available. When it runs, this utility analyzes a Windows registry and can even fix certain problems, including a missing or corrupt default URLSearchHook object. However, if you prefer, you can also use RegEdit, a free utility from Microsoft that lets you edit, modify and correct the registry directly. Writer Bio
