When you first install Google Chrome in Windows 7 x64, it doesn't work. It installs. It runs. But it doesn't actually display anything. I've found several fixes for the problem, but they're not complete. They only work if you launch Chrome from its icon.

The fix for launching Chrome from its icon:

1. Right click the icon and select Properties
2. Select the Shortcut tab
3. Add a space and --in-process-plugins to the Target field, after …\chrome.exe"
4. Click OK

It's a pretty simple fix, but it works; however, it does have one disadvantage. If Chrome is not already open, opening a link from another program (if Chrome is your default web browser) or from Open With doesn't work. It's not a big deal, but after a few times, it can get on your nerves.

To completely resolve the problem requires a few changes to the registry. Essentially, we're applying the same fix to four locations in the registry with one minor change. The registry commands to launch Chrome contain additional arguments.

Each key needs to be changed from looking like
…\chrome.exe" -- "%1"
to
…\chrome.exe"--in-process-plugins -- "%1"

The registry keys to change:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\chrome.exe\shell\open\command
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ChromeHTML\shell\open\command
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\chrome.exe\shell\open\command
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeHTML\shell\open\command