Windows Mail does not allow me to open Hyperlinks in Emails

Running Vista and IE8

When receiving mail containing a hyperlink to another site I cannot open the link without having to copy and paste it into my browser manually. This has been happening for a few months now but I'm afraid I cannot isolate when precisely or more specifically to any 'event'. There is no error message displayed but a small Explorer box pops up saying "Application Not Found".

Anyone have any thoughts on the 'why's and wherefor's' and possibly a solution to this annoying problem?

Any help greatfully received!

Afterthought: I did have Windows Live Mail loaded onto my puter but decided to uninstall it as I didn't want Messenger but I can't remember if that event caused this problem.

Check both IE8 and Windows Mail whether they have all the defaults.

IE8 :
Start button > Default Programs > Set your default programs > click Internet Explorer. Does it say " This program has all its defaults " ?
If no, click " Choose defaults for this program " > put a checkmark on all entries on the list > click SAVE
If yes, click Windows Mail. Check its defaults same method as above. Don't forget to click SAVE.

FYI : You did not have to uninstall Windows Live Mail just because you dislike Messenger. If you were watching when you installed Windows Live Mail, you would have seen that Messenger and other programs were offered to you. Meaning, they were optional. You didn't have to take any of them.
Had you asked around before uninstalling Windows Live Mail, someone would have told you that you could just simply uninstall Messenger and keep what you want.

t-4-2