SillyDog701

[Jo]

Hello...
I'm an average computer user who stumbled on this site. I'm currently using NS 6.2..Windows 98...256MB RAM...350 MHZ processor..8 GB HD. I've had nothing but problems surfing the web since I upgraded from NS 4.73....I would like to upgrade to NS 7.1 but the CD is no longer available. I have a dial-up connection which makes downloading very slow...and after reading the comments on this forum about 7.1, I'm not sure if that is a good move anyway. I seem to have problems with sites that have Java applets, emoticons, etc...the screen freezes and duplicates itself over and over. I noticed that you recommend Windows 98 users to install NS 7.02 but some versions you have available didn't have Java support. I prefer NS over IE and have been using it for years...any help/advice would be appreciated. I hope my question/explanation made sense.....
Thank You!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; CDonDemand; rv:0.9.4) Gecko/20011128 Netscape6/6.2.1

[Fulvio]

I have Win98 and 256 MB memory, almost identical computer you have, but I have cable. I keep as many item as as I can from starting as I load Windows, and I do ok with 7.1. 7.02 is people who cannot handlec the tendency of 7.1 to lose resources, over time, and that's the last thing you need.
I suggest that you go to your Preferences|Advanced|Cache, and empty cache, if you are not doing it regularly. Too much cache can slow you down to a halt.
I do not know what you mean about lack of java support with 7.02 versions.
Some versions do not include Java as a download, but it does not mean that Java is not supported. It is a separate program which you may have, and all you need to do is to reinstall it. However, Java is constantly changing, and often not for the best. I have JRE 1.3.1.06, and Iv am not budging until something better comes in. I have yet to see it.
Some people will tell you that 6.2.x is buggy and all sort of other negative things. Well. it is, but not enough to cause the problems which you describe.
Finally, although 4.73 should have been upgraded long ago, I feel that everyone who has a 4.x, should hang on to it.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax) (CK-SillyDog)

[Jo]

Hi..
Thanks for your reply...It helped clear up the Java question. With regard to clearing the cache....I went into edit preferences,advanced, cache...it seems to hold a stable amount in both memory and disk cache...I thought they were automatically cleared and kept in that range. Unfortunately, I deleted NS 4.73 after I unstalled 6.2. I've already downloaded the 7.1 setup..is it easier to download from this site and what advantages do streamline versions have?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; CDonDemand; rv:0.9.4) Gecko/20011128 Netscape6/6.2.1

[Ramona]

Hi Jo, and welcome to the Forum!

Advantages of the Streamline Versions from this site, are the size of the executable, the ability to select components via a "Custom" install, and no AOL excess baggage!

I would definitely advise against using the small Netscape setup file. If you are going to upgrade a browser, then I would forgo Netscape 7.1/7.02, and move on to Mozilla 1.6. It is small, fast, and more stable than Netscape 7.1. Take a look at this small Screen Shot of Mozilla 1.6. Its looks are identical to that of Netscape 7.x.

You will want to do a "Clean" install, removing all vestiges of Netscape 6 before installing another browser. You might want to take a look at these guidelines for a Clean Install. These guidelines also apply to Mozilla.

Let us know if you have further questions.

Ramona

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Jo]

Hi Ramona..
Thank you for responding..I would like to continue with NS even though there won't be any further updates...I guess I'm emotionally attached! I looked over your instructions for a clean install and I don't want to seem like a dunce but...it's a bit over my head. So, if you have some simple suggestions on the best way for me to attempt an upgrade from 6.2.1, I would be eternally grateful. I don't recall it being overly complex when I upgraded from 4.73 to 6.2...I didn't think it was necessary to uninstall the old version
first.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; CDonDemand; rv:0.9.4) Gecko/20011128 Netscape6/6.2.1

[Fulvio]

Jo,
if are isecure about uninstalling the old version, you can have any number of Netscapes and Mozillas installed on the hard drive, as long as you change the folder into which the new Netscape will install from the default: Program Files|Netscape to another location. The idea of overwriting program from the 4.x days is out now, because there is a lot of difference between versions.
The important thing is to create a new Profile. Look at Ramona's Solutions for a lot of help in these matters. http://home.att.net/~cherokee67/index6.html
And, remember, that except for your plugins, which are not lost during an uninstall, there is no problem in removing the program. You can always put it back. But all your info is in the Profile.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax) (CK-SillyDog)

[Alice]

I never had Netscape 6.2 installed but this is what I've been able to gather. People who've have NS6 installed please correct me if I've missed something:

The things you want to safeguard like your bookmarks, address book, and mail are stored in your profile's salted folder (.SLT) and will be unaffected by uninstalling Netscape 6 but you probably should copy the contents of the .SLT folder (or at least a copy of the bookmarks.html, abook.mab and your MAIL folders) and save those to a backup location. The install of Netscape 7 should not touch the profile folders but it doesn't hurt to have backups.

I'm not sure if this applies to all versions of Netscape 6 but there is an uninstall bug that leaves image files still linked to netscp6 UNLESS you first UNcheck the preferences that make Netscape 6 the default. See http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=64727 and http://home.att.net/~cherokee67/ns6newjpegpatch.html

I would suggest you do the following (copied from the newsgroups) before installing Netscape 7, whether or not you decide to uninstall Netscape 6.2:
>
> 1) Open a Netscape 6 window.
> 2) Click on the Edit menu and select "Preferences"
> 3) In the Preferences screen, click on the triangle next to "Advanced" to
> display the Advanced subcatergories.
> 4) Click on "Desktop Integration"
> 5) In the Desktop Integration screen, clear the checkboxes of each file type
> that you do not wish to use Netscape 6 to view or that your wish to
> restore to its previous state.
> 6) Click on the OK button

I would then uninstall Netscape 6 using the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs, reboot, remove any leftover Netscape 6 folder under Program Files\Netscape (save your Plugins folder if you wish) then install Netscape 7 and create a brand new profile for use with Netscape 7. You can remove the old Netscape 6 profile (using the Profile Manager) once you have made copies of the .SLT folder contents you want to save such as the bookmarks (bookmarks.html) address book (abook.mab) and MAIL files (INBOX SENT DRAFTS and TEMPLATES). These can then be copied directly to the new profile, replacing the existing files in the new profile's .SLT folder and MAIL subfolder (details on Ramona's pages). You can also copy any Plugins from the saved to the new Netscape\Netscape\Plugins folder.

Here are Netscape's official instructions, from http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browser ... ctions.pdf
Installation Instructions for Netscape 7.0 (should also apply to 7.1) from which I've copied the following:
============copy/paste==============
Uninstalling earlier versions
If you’ve installed an earlier Netscape 6 version, you may want to
uninstall the older software before installing Netscape 7.0.
Usually this is unnecessary, but it can prevent any problems
with previous versions from being inherited.
You don’t need to uninstall any version of Netscape earlier than 6.0
or any version of Internet Explorer, and you shouldn’t do so before
installation. If you do, Netscape 7.0 won’t be able to import any
data from them.
Once installation is complete, however, you can delete the other
programs to save space if you choose to.
(snip)
Uninstalling from a Windows computer
1. From the Start menu, point to Settings and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
3. Click the Install/Uninstall tab in the dialog box that appears.
4. Select Netscape 6, click Add/Remove, and then click OK.
================end c/p=====================

Also you could search this board for terms like NS6 "Netscape 6" or NETSCP6 for previous discussions, for example:

http://sillydog.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2972
http://sillydog.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=209
http://sillydog.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3970

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Mandrake]

If you must use Netscape over Mozilla 1.6, get 7.1 or 7.02, 6.2 is technically only beta quality software. Having dialup isn't an excuse really, I download 100mb Windows service packs on my dialup, I'm sure you can manage the 15mb Netscape 7.1 Base Installer.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Alice]

The Netscape 7.1 base install from Netscape'a site (NSSetup-Base.exe) is the browser only, no mail program. If you want Netscape 7.1 to include the mail program go with the full offline installer which is appx 29MB (NSSetup-Full.exe) if downloading from Netscape. The full version from Netsape also includes Sun's Java Plugin verion 1.4.1_02. Here is the Netscape 7.1 download page:

http://wp.netscape.com/download/full_install.html

If you would rather download Java separately you can get SillyDog's Streamline version , appx 14.5MB (plus lots more information and links to other versions) from here:
http://sillydog.org/narchive/sd/71.html

If you decide to give Mozilla a try, check the Mozilla links from this site and at www.mozilla.org

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Ramona]

Hi Jo,

Sorry that I took so long to get back to you. If you were confused before, now you must be totally overwhelmed with all the good advice you've been given. I'm sure it was a rather simple procedure when you installed 6.2.1, and your Profile data was migrated from Communicator 4.73.

If you prefer not to create a new Profile for 7.02, that's certainly your decision, and when you install 7.02, the 6.2.1 Profile data should be recognized. The concern here, is that 6.2.1 was a work in progress, i.e., barely more than a Beta version. It's usually preferable, when moving from an unstable version to a very stable version like 7.02, to create a new Profile. That's basically the point of all the advice, but if your prefer not to do so:

This is a step by step guideline.
Note: you can't export your Address Book to an LDIF file, for back up purposes, in Netscape 6.2.1. That feature was never implemented.

1. Create a folder on your HD and name it Backup
2. Navigate to the C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles folder
   Highlight the Profiles folder, right click, select "copy"
   Navigate to the Backup folder, and highlight the folder
   Right click, select "paste" and paste into the Backup folder
3. Make a copy of your plugins folder located here:
   C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape\plugins
   Copy the plugins folder, and paste it into the Backup folder
4. Uninstall Netscape 6 using Add/Remove
5. Delete: C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape folder
6. Run this file uninstall-moz.exe By "run" I mean double click the file and let it restore the file associations which Netscape 6.2.1 has taken over
7. Reboot your PC
8. Install Netscape 7.02
   I would suggest a Custom Install. See these Screen Shots
9. Once 7.02 is installed, your 6.2.1 Profile should be recognized

If you decide to create a new Profile for Netscape 7.02, then there will be more steps involved, so let us know.

Ramona

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Jo]

Hi Ramona...
You certainly hit the nail on the head..about being overwhelmed...however I appreciate all the great advice! I will probably stick to 7.02 because of the resource drain problem with 7.1 but I'm trying to get as many concerns answered before I "take the plunge". When I first began having some problems with 6.2.1 I emailed NS and they suggested I create a new profile as there may have been a conflict with the profile from 4.73..so I know you're right about creating a new one but my concern was/is: If my profile contains my ISP account information, verizon mail settings, preferences, server settings,etc. I believe it's even named with my verizon username... does all that info. have to be manually reentered into a new profile? Is there a way to save it? My ISP mail/account settings were carried over from the original installation of the ISP software which included NS 4.7x.
Thanks to Alice and all the others who responded to my question...I need all the help I can get!!!!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; CDonDemand; rv:0.9.4) Gecko/20011128 Netscape6/6.2.1

[Mandrake]

To my understanding, your Netscape 4.73 profile should still be on the computer, therefore, if you removed 6.2 and installed 7.02 following Ramona's instructions, you should be able to migrate the profile from 4.73 to 7.02. But if you created a new profile in 7.02 (I would remove the 6.2 profile before uninstalling it using the Profile Manager - I'd back it up first though!) you could have the Mail portion of 7.02 import your Communicator emails and settings for mail, and things like Bookmarks can easily be obtained from the 4.73 profile, or your backup of the 6.2 profile.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Ramona]

Hi Jo,

If my profile contains my ISP account information, verizon mail settings, preferences, server settings,etc. I believe it's even named with my verizon username... does all that info. have to be manually reentered into a new profile? Is there a way to save it? My ISP mail/account settings were carried over from the original installation of the ISP software which included NS 4.7x.

If you create a new Profile for 7.02, you will copy the 6.2.1 Profile data manually. You will also need to create your Mail Account in the new Profile. Items 1., 2., and 3., in my last post, outline how to save/back up your 6.2.1 Profile and plugins folder.

Here are the steps for installing 7.02, if creating a new Profile:
(This same information, with few excceptions can be found here: Clean Install )
Edited: 9:39 p.m. I caught duplicate information listed

1. Create a folder on your HD and name it Backup
2. Navigate to the C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles folder
   Highlight the Profiles folder, right click, select "copy"
   Navigate to the Backup folder, and highlight the folder
   Right click, select "paste" and paste into the Backup folder
3. Make a copy of your plugins folder located here:
   C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape\plugins
   Copy the plugins folder, and paste it into the Backup folder
4. Run this file uninstall-moz.exe By "run" I mean double click the file and let it restore the file associations which Netscape 6.2.1 has taken over
5. Uninstall Netscape 6 using Add/Remove
6. Delete: C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape folder
7. Reboot your PC - This is important, because it allows Windows to update system files
8. Install Netscape 7.02
   I would suggest a Custom Install. See these Screen Shots
9. Once 7.02 is installed, your 6.2.1 Profile will be recognized
   
   Jo, you might stop here, and see if Netscape 7.02 will run with the 6.2.1 Profile without problems. However, if you do encounter any problems, then proceed with the following:
   
10. Next: Create the new Profile
11. Open the Netscape 7.02 Profile Manager and create a NEW Profile, entering a NEW PROFILE NAME. Fill in the appropriate information.
12. Open Netscape 7.02 and create your Mail and Newsgroups Accounts
    See these Screen Shots for the setup Windows
    NOTE: In the Mail & Newsgroups Account |Server Settings, ensure that the "Local Directory" setting points to the new Profile folder location.
13. With Netscape closed:
    In the NEW Profile Folder:
    (NOTE: If prompted to overwrite the files click on "YES")
    Copy all the files from the OLD profile News folder to the NEW News folder. This doesn't always work, and you may have to resubscribe.
    Copy all the files with no .msf extensions from the OLD profile Mail folder, including SBD Folders (these are subfolders)
    Again, exclude files with .msf extensions
    Copy the files to the NEW Mail folder:
    Copy rules.dat This file contains your Mail Filters, and is located in:
    C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\accountname
    (Depending on your OS)
    
    Caution: these Mail files will replace any existing files in the new Mail folder. You may first want to rename the Communicator, Mozilla, or Netscape 7 Mail files, e.g., change Inbox to OldInbox, etc. The renamed files will appear in the new Mail Account. This will ensure that you lose no existing mail.
    
    Copy from the OLD profile, and paste into the NEW profile:
    ***abook.mab (Address Book)
    bookmarks.html
    cert7.db (Security Certificates)
    cookies.txt
    cookperm.txt (cookie and image permissions)
    custom.dic (Dictionary)
    panels.rdf (Panel displayed in the Sidebar)
    search.rdf (Search Plugins in the Sidebar)
    user.js (If you have created the file. If not, then disregard)
    (You may not have all these files, and if not don't panic. It's been so long since I used 6.2.1, that I really can't recall.)
    
    If you created these files:
    copy to the new Profile:
    usercontent.css (User customization/appearance settings (text colors,etc.)
    userchrome.css (Controls the UI Chrome of Netscape)
    
    ***If you had created Address Books in the old Profile, in addition to the Personal Address Book, follow this procedure. If not and have only one Personal Address Book, disregard:
    
    Open Netscape/Mozilla, and the Address Book
    Create a new Address Book for each of the additional Address Books which you created in your OLD Profile.
    What you name them is irrelevant...
    Close Netscape/Mozilla
    Go to your salted (*.slt) folder
    You should now see the new Address Books you just created, listed in the NEW salted folder. They will be listed as abook-1.mab, abook-2.mab, abook-3.mab, etc.
    Next:
    Close Netscape/Mozilla
    In the OLD Profile
    Copy abook-1.mab to the NEW Profile salted (*.slt) folder
    It should ask to replace the existing file of the same name
    Answer YES
    Repeat the process for each additional Address Book
    When you open Netscape/Mozilla and the Address Book, the additional Address Books, containing the addresses, should be in place.
    
14. It is recommended that you do NOT copy the following files:
    Cache Folder
    chrome/*.jar file
    chrome.rdf
    downloads.rdf file
    localstore.rdf file
    XULFastLoad file
    xul.mfasl file
    xul.mfl file
    
    Reusing these files could cause Netscape/Mozilla to either crash, or to malfunction.
    
15. Open Netscape/Mozilla:
    Now check to see if Preferences are established, Bookmarks, etc,. You will still need to go through the Edit | Preferences, and change some of the defaults to your personal preferences, e.g., the Sidebar, startup page, etc.

This covers a lot of territory, but if you will take it one step at a time, you will find that it goes rather quickly.
Please feel free to ask questions...

Ramona

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Alice]

Hi Jo,

Just a couple more points, in case you're not totally, completely overwhelmed by now

It wouldn't hurt to remove ALL the Netscape 6 file associations (Edit Preferences Advanced, Desktop Integration, uncheck all) before uninstalling NS6. That way you shouldn't need to use the uninstall-moz.exe file. Just a suggestion.

You mentioned

I seem to have problems with sites that have Java applets, emoticons, etc...the screen freezes and duplicates itself over and over.

You might have a problem with your current Java Plugin installation. In any case, you may have a very old version of the Java Plugin. You can tell what version you have by looking in Start Settings, Control Panel. Either check the Java Plugin version from there or look in Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs to see the "Java RunTime Environment" version. If it's 1.3.1 or earlier you may want to UNinstall it, and the Java WebStart program as well, THEN update your Java Plugin. Thiis can be done as part of a full/offline install of Netsape 7.x or as a separate Sun Java download.

Here is Sillydog's link to Netscape 7.02 (streamline and Standalone):
http://sillydog.org/narchive/sd/702.html

Although not mentioned, the FULL Netscape 7.02 install file (NSSetupB.exe) from Netscape's site includes Sun Java Plugin 1.4.0_03
(see http://wp.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/ns7/relnotes/7.html Netscape 7.0 - 7.1 Release Notes)

NSSetupB.exe can be downloaded from http://sillydog.org/narchive/full67.php using the
Netscape 7.02 (31.35MB, full) link which goes to ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape7/en ... SetupB.exe

If you'd rather deal with Java later on, I can certainly understand. Just be sure to UNinstall your current JRE and Java WebStart before installing a newer Java Plugin version. Just a warning, some people have problems with the more recent verisons of Java, particularly the current 1.4.2 versions. In my opinion I would get the Full Netscape 7.02 install package which includes JRE 1.4.0_03, or download 1.4.0_03 from the Sun Archives at http://java.sun.com/products/archive/index.html (You want the JRE download, not the sdk)

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

[Alice]

One final thought,

I saw that you were worried about preserving your Verizon dialup mail account settings when and if you decide to set up a new Netscape 7 profile. I looked around Verizon's site, http://onlinehelp.verizon.net/ and could only find the settings for Communicator 4.xx but you can use the following as a general guide:
==================copy/paste====================
Setting up your Verizon Online e-mail address with Netscape® 4.5 - 4.7 on Windows®.

1. Start Netscape® Messenger.
2. From the E-mail menu, select Preferences.
3. Double-click the Mail & Newsgroups category in the left pane, then select Identity.
4. In the Your name field, type your full name.
5. In the E-mail address field, type your e-mail address.
6. From the Mail & Newsgroups category in the left pane, select Mail Servers.
7. In the Incoming Mail Servers area, select Add.
8. In the Server Name field, type incoming.verizon.net.
9. From the Server Type drop-down menu, select POP3 Server.
10. In the User name field, type your Verizon Online user name.
11. Select the POP tab at the top of the window.
12. Verify that the Leave messages on server option is not selected, then click OK.
13. In the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server field, type outgoing.verizon.net.
14. In the Outgoing mail server User name field, type your Verizon Online user name.
15. Click OK to save your e-mail settings.
================end c/p===================

In other words, the information you really need:
Server Type=POP3 Server
Incoming (POP) Server = incoming.verizon.net
Outgoing (SMTP) server = outgoing.verizon.net

Your Verizon user name you already know, it's your e-mail ID, the part brefore @verizon.net

You will also need to enter your e-mail password when you first download mail in a newly-created profile. Contact Verizon if you've forgotten your e-mail password.

Here is a page that my ISP (ATT) provides for setting up Netscape 7.0 for mail, in case it helps:
http://help.att.net/docs/howto/email/ne ... p-mail.htm

Just substitute your Verizon settings.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113