How can I add a custom url handler on Windows. Like iTunes itms://

Question

I would like telnet://blah to open putty and not the native windows telnet client.

I don\'t even know what this \'feature\' is called under windows so I\'m having no

Answer 1

To change the telnet: protocol handler (or any other existing handler) on XP (may work for Vista - I haven't looked), go to Control Panel > Folder Options > File Types (Tab). Scroll down (not much, it's near the top) to find (NONE) URL:Telnet Protocol, and hit the "Advanced" button. From here on in, it's just like changing a file type association. Note that the target application needs to support the passing of the supplied URL as a parameter.

Unfortunately, the "New" button doesn't seem to allow the creation of new "URL" types, as it requires the entry of an extension. To create a new one, I've previously had to copy an existing entry from the registry (that is: find, export, edit in text editor, and re-import).