So I've had this issue for quite some time now, but up until now, just kind of dealt with it by saving the files to disk, then opening them in Firefox using an extension to provide support for these types of documents.
For a while now, attempting to open a MHT or MHTML document in Internet Explorer brings up a blank page, with a prompt to download the file. This occurs with both local, intranet, and remote files. I saved some example files, and I've taken some screenshots
to better illustrate the current issue.
MHT Documents
MHTML Documents
Thus far, I've tried a number of different methods to fix this issue:
- Resetting my Internet Explorer using the button in the Advanced Settings tab.
- Verifying that MHTML and MHT files were associated with Internet Explorer.
- Unassociating and reassociating the MHTML and MHT file extensions with Internet Explorer
- Completely removing the registry entries under Software\Classes\.mht & Software\Classes\.mhtml. (in addition to the keys that they pointed for to provide information for opening the file) Afterwards, I reassociated the extensions with Internet Explorer
- Ran a FixIt or two that were centralized on fixing IE9 issues, but none of them turned up any errors.
- I attempted to uninstall, then reinstall Internet Explorer 9, but an issue occurred which left me in a state where I didn't have Internet Explorer 9, and at the same time received an error when attempting to install it. To avoid the hassle of diagnosing
the issue, I just did a System Restore.
As you can see in the screenshot below, Windows indicates that Internet Explorer is the default handler for these file extensions.
Default Programs - Internet Explorer
Interestingly enough, the files open fine for editting in Word 2010
Opening a MHT file in Word to Edit
Finally, I've gone ahead and exported the registry entries associated with the two file extensions, as well as CLSID's pointed to by the entries. (I removed some of the entries for empty subkeys leading up to the children keys to save some space)
.MHT Files
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht]
@="IE.AssocFile.MHT"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Excel.exe\shell\edit]
@="&Open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Excel.exe\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\EXCEL.EXE\" /dde""command"=hex(7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,46,00,26,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,45,00,58,00,43,\
00,45,00,4c,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,56,00,69,00,6a,00,71,00,\
42,00,6f,00,66,00,28,00,59,00,38,00,27,00,77,00,21,00,46,00,49,00,64,00,31,\
00,67,00,4c,00,51,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Excel.exe\shell\edit\ddeexec]
@="[open(\"%1\")]"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Excel.exe\shell\edit\ddeexec\application]
@="Excel"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Excel.exe\shell\edit\ddeexec\topic]
@="system"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Excel\shell\edit]
@="&Open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Excel\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\EXCEL.EXE\" /dde""command"=hex(7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,46,00,26,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,45,00,58,00,43,\
00,45,00,4c,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,56,00,69,00,6a,00,71,00,\
42,00,6f,00,66,00,28,00,59,00,38,00,27,00,77,00,21,00,46,00,49,00,64,00,31,\
00,67,00,4c,00,51,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Excel\shell\edit\ddeexec]
@="[open(\"%1\")]"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Excel\shell\edit\ddeexec\application]
@="Excel"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Excel\shell\edit\ddeexec\topic]
@="system"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Publisher\shell\edit]
@="&Open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Publisher\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\MSPUB.EXE\" %1""command"=hex(7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,46,00,26,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,50,00,75,00,62,\
00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,3e,00,52,00,24,00,6e,00,75,00,\
6a,00,53,00,57,00,46,00,65,00,3f,00,7d,00,61,00,4c,00,72,00,52,00,70,00,39,\
00,78,00,40,00,57,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Word\shell\edit]
@="&Open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\Microsoft Word\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\WINWORD.EXE\" /n \"%1\"""command"=hex(7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,46,00,26,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,62,00,69,00,24,00,54,00,21,00,\
56,00,21,00,30,00,5a,00,3d,00,7b,00,50,00,6b,00,30,00,76,00,6d,00,7e,00,41,\
00,5a,00,75,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\MSPub.exe\shell\edit]
@="&Open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\MSPub.exe\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\MSPUB.EXE\" %1""command"=hex(7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,46,00,26,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,50,00,75,00,62,\
00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,3e,00,52,00,24,00,6e,00,75,00,\
6a,00,53,00,57,00,46,00,65,00,3f,00,7d,00,61,00,4c,00,72,00,52,00,70,00,39,\
00,78,00,40,00,57,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\WinWord.exe\shell\edit]
@="&Open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mht\OpenWithList\WinWord.exe\shell\edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\WINWORD.EXE\" /n \"%1\"""command"=hex(7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,46,00,26,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,62,00,69,00,24,00,54,00,21,00,\
56,00,21,00,30,00,5a,00,3d,00,7b,00,50,00,6b,00,30,00,76,00,6d,00,7e,00,41,\
00,5a,00,75,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\InprocServer32]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\MSOHEVI.DLL""ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Old Icon\ChromeHTML\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Users\\Charles\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe,0"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Old Icon\FirefoxHTML\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Network\\Web Browsers\\Pale Moon\\palemoon.exe,1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Old Icon\FirefoxMHTML\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Network\\Web Browsers\\Pale Moon\\palemoon.exe,1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Old Icon\htmlfile\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,49,00,6e,00,74,00,65,00,72,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,20,00,\
45,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,69,00,65,00,78,00,70,\
00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,37,00,\
00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Old Icon\IE.AssocFile.MHT\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe,-32554"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Version\12]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\msohtmed.exe"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}\Version\14]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\msohtmed.exe"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT]
@="MHTML Document""AppUserModelID"="Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default""FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-913"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\DefaultIcon]
@="\"%1\""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell]
@="opennew"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\msohtmed.exe\" %1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\open]
@="Open in S&ame Window""MUIVerb"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-5732"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" -nohome"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\open\ddeexec]
@=hex(2):22,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,3a,00,2f,00,2f,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,2c,\
00,2d,00,31,00,2c,00,2c,00,2c,00,2c,00,2c,00,00,00
"NoActivateHandler"=""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\opennew]
@="&Open""MUIVerb"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-5731"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\opennew\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" %1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\opennew\ddeexec]
@=hex(2):22,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,3a,00,2f,00,2f,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,2c,\
00,2d,00,31,00,2c,00,2c,00,2c,00,2c,00,2c,00,00,00
"NoActivateHandler"=""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\opennew\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\opennew\ddeexec\IfExec]
@="*"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\opennew\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURLNewWindow"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\Print]
@="&Print"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\shell\Print\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\msohtmed.exe\" /p %1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\IE.AssocFile.MHT\ShellEx\IconHandler]
@="{42042206-2D85-11D3-8CFF-005004838597}"
.MHTML Files
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mhtml]
@="mhtmlfile"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mhtml\OpenWithList]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\.mhtml\OpenWithList\WINWORD.EXE]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile]
@="MHTML Document""AppUserModelID"="Microsoft.InternetExplorer.Default""FriendlyTypeName"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-913"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\CLSID]
@="{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,49,00,6e,00,74,00,65,00,72,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,20,00,\
45,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,69,00,65,00,78,00,70,\
00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,2d,00,33,00,32,00,\
35,00,35,00,34,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell]
@="opennew"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\open]
@="Open in S&ame Window""MUIVerb"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-5732"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" -nohome"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="\"file://%1\",,-1,,,,,"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\opennew]
@="&Open""MUIVerb"="@C:\\Windows\\System32\\ieframe.dll,-5731"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\opennew\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\" %1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\opennew\ddeexec]
@="\"file://%1\",,-1,,,,,""NoActivateHandler"=""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\opennew\ddeexec\Application]
@="IExplore"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\opennew\ddeexec\IfExec]
@="*"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shell\opennew\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURLNewWindow"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shellex]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mhtmlfile\shellex\{8895B1C6-B41F-4C1C-A562-0D564250836F}]
@="{92dbad9f-5025-49b0-9078-2d78f935e341}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}]
@="MHTML Document"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}\BrowseInPlace]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe,-19"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}\InProcServer32]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\mshtml.dll""ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}\MiscStatus]
@="2228625"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3050F3D9-98B5-11CF-BB82-00AA00BDCE0B}\ProgID]
@="mhtmlfile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{92dbad9f-5025-49b0-9078-2d78f935e341}]
@="CLSID_PreviewMime""DisplayName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,\
00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,\
73,00,20,00,4d,00,61,00,69,00,6c,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,00,6f,00,65,00,72,00,65,\
00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,37,00,34,00,39,00,35,00,00,00"AppID"="{6d2b5079-2f0b-48dd-ab7f-97cec514d30b}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{92dbad9f-5025-49b0-9078-2d78f935e341}\InprocServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,6e,00,\
65,00,74,00,63,00,6f,00,6d,00,6d,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8895B1C6-B41F-4C1C-A562-0D564250836F}]
@="PSFactoryBuffer"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8895B1C6-B41F-4C1C-A562-0D564250836F}\InProcServer32]
"ThreadingModel"="Both"
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\COMMON~1\\MICROS~1\\OFFICE14\\OPHPROXY.DLL"
Lastly, one of the discussions I've found while trying to diagnose this problem over the last few months mentioned a URL that consisted of mht:\\path. It occurs to me that that would indicate a registry entry to a URL Protcol for the mht protocol. I couldn't
seem to find a registry entry for that on my computer, however.
Any ideas?