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Is there a free application out there that will intercept requests from applications to open a URL and prompt me as to whether or not I want the URL to be opened? (For instance, after Adobe Reader installs, it opens its website to get feedback about the install process.)
Ideally, it would be lightweight software for just this task, but if a larger firewall/security app provides this feature, that would be acceptable.
I'm using windows 7 32-bit.
As stating in a comment below, the idea is that you don't want the browser to open (assume it's not already running), so an extension (e.g. for Chrome, ffox) wouldn't be relevant.
Pat
Posted 2013-04-04T16:31:39.480
Reputation: 641
You would have to intercept the call to the url handler OR install an extension on your favorite browser to have you click "Yes" or "No" upon opening a new tab. Either way, it would get VERY annoying VERY quickly. – jnovack – 2013-04-04T16:37:42.587
2What OS are you talking about? – slhck – 2013-04-04T16:38:21.773
Any software that does exist wouldn't be very effective. There are a dozen ways to open a process that cannot be blocked by another application. – Ramhound – 2013-04-04T16:46:04.980
Alternatively - How does one write a minimal application that would "present itself" in the list of default browser options in Windows, KDE and Gnome? Can any binary or executable take that role, or do thy have to register with some OS API? – Ярослав Рахматуллин – 2013-04-04T22:50:29.397
@jnovack The idea is that you don't want the browser to open (assume it's not already running), so an extension wouldn't be relevant. – Pat – 2013-04-06T00:14:24.810
This reminds me of a man-in-the-middle type program I use with Excel 2010 to open new spreadsheets in a separate window. You associate the file type for excel with it and all the program does is hand it off to excel forcing it into a new window. Ярослав Рахматуллин is on to something with his comment if that dummy default browser only asked if you wanted the website opened and handed it off to a real browser. However as jnovack said this would get annoying very fast. – Bryan – 2013-04-12T13:51:45.103
just as an idea: the browser-wrapper program (script, etc) that is registered as your "default browser" (and is the one invoked automatically by external programs) could open a new tab in an existing browser, but if no existing browser process is running, then do nothing (or ask, etc). Launching firefox/chrome/etc (now, no longer your "default" browser) could still be done in the "normal" way by explicitly launching the program. (Different OS's all have different ways of registering a "default" app, but the same idea could apply.) – michael – 2013-04-13T23:54:34.037