How to make program the default "handler" of a certain protocol?

Question

I have a program that I would like to be launched whenever a url with the protocol "sample://" is clicked/launched. For example, a user clicks on a link in IE/Firefox with the following href: sample://test.txt. My program should then be invoked with the url as an argument. I would like a solution for Windows and linux if possible, though I realise they will be different.

Answer 1

For windows you can make use of this.

Answer 2

For Linux, it will depend a lot on the DE you are using. GNOME/KDE has different mechanisms for the same.