Hi Dani, thanks for asking, because we might be unaware of how certain Windows setups might fail the detection mechanism used by the WinUI.

I’ve asked another colleague and it turns out AIMMS tries to read the path to the Chrome executable from the Windows Registry, from this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\Google Chrome\shell\open\command

Could you check, using the Registry Editor, to see if that key exists on your setup and if it has a logical value (path)?

In the meantime, your problem might just indicate that on current, clean Windows 11 installations, and with the way Windows lets you choose browsers these days, these registry keys don’t exist.

I’ll spend some time investigating that and report back here.

Hi @Edo Nijmeijer , thanks! Indeed, the key you mention does not exist. It only contains internet explorer and Edge, as shown below.

 

After some exploration with different setups from colleagues, and after trying to find documentation online, I have to say I don’t have a conclusive answer yet.

Although Microsoft warns how the mentioned Registry Key is not necessarily the way to go to see which browsers are present on ‘newer’ Windows versions, I still see the key in use on modern Windows.

The registry entries are influenced by all kinds of factors. including the initial setup of Windows and company policies. Not my specialty at all ;-)

So, in the mean time, can I ask you if Chrome is listed below any of these two keys?

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet

or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Clients\StartMenuInternet

And something you’re like to have tried already, but does a re-install of Google Chrome change anything? And/or changing the default browser to something else than Chrome and then back again?

I can understand how having the menu item disabled is inconvenient and illogical.
Maybe others can chip in to see if there are special installation circumstances that create this. Windows versions, ways of installing Chrome, very strict company security policies, anything that could be considered out of the ‘ordinary’?

Hi @Edo Nijmeijer, I tried uninstalling Chrome and re-installing it and for some magical reason, the key can now be found in the registry editor and this also causes AIMMS to recognize Chrome and open the WebUI in Chrome. Thanks for your quick support here!

Thanks for trying and reporting back!

With your question, and magical solution, visible here in the Community, I hope others can use the same solution, or leave a comment here if it doesn’t. So we have more leads to find the cause or the solution on the AIMMS end.