I’m using Netscape 4.7. Whenever I started up the email tool, it would load some sort of news headline page in the message window. This was a little annoying (occasionally I’d get a TV show or sporting event I haven’t watched yet spoiled, for example), but not a big problem.
However, in the last few days it has started taking over my browser window to load this headline page, which is downright infuriating. How can I stop it? I’d rather it not load this page anywhere at all, but getting it back in the email message window is better than nothing.
4.7? :eek:
I have 6.2 on mine (I don’t use it often, though, I use IE), and they just switched over to a new news format. Could it be that?
The “headline” thing popped up in the main mail window (if I understood what you described).
Look under the ‘Preferences’ menu - there should be a section (under ‘navigator’, perhaps) that allows you to set your homepage to whatever you would lke it to be.
I’d be careful or consider upgrading to a newer browser - many of the newer web pages WILL NOT WORK with 4.7.
The Netscape behavior that I find annoying is when the browser lands on a page that needs a plug-in, it asks me if I want it to look up the plug-in and download it. It has NEVER found a plug in that way - I always get a ‘sorry - can’t find that application’ message, and have to do a google search to find the plug in myself. REALLY obnoxious.
The same thing is happening to me, and it only started recently.
I think that somebody at Netscape has decided that continuing coverage of what the US government knew about terrorist activities prior to 9/11/01 is so important that we all need to be assaulted with it when we load up Messenger.
lawoot, it isn’t the homepage. Part of Netscape Messenger (the email client) is a news window that automatically loads their page unless you’re actively looking at a message.
By far the most annoying thing about NS is that, if you approach a page that you directed its IP as 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1 (ad site you are blocking), and NS doesn’t find the url on the server (which it shouldn’t), NS freezes like a deer in the headlights. NS does it with any url it doesn’t find.
This happens to me too. I’ve always hated the ad in the e-mail window, because I’m on a dial-up and it slows down my browsing. Now it’s opening a new browser, which is worse.
Another annoying thing is that spammers have this ability as well. I opened an e-mail yesterday that opened a new browser and a bunch of pop-up windows. Just because I opened the mail. (Note: I have to open at least one e-mail. Once I’ve selected one, I can CNTL or SHIFT to get others. But I have to open one, and if it’s one of those, then it’s irritating.)
Is there any way to turn off the function that automatically opens browsers and pop-ups from spammers? Will it also work with Netscapes spam?
Interesting, I thought I had screwed up some setting somewhere. Now I see that it must be something Netscape is doing from their end. I’ll try contacting them and see how far I get.
LolaBaby, 4.7 is not as ancient as you make it sound. They skipped version 5 and went directly from 4.7 to 6 (which I hated, and why I still use 4.7). I think I’d migrate to IE (which I also have, but hardly use) before I download NS6.x again.
Try 6.2, it’s much better than 6. I also hated 6 so I went back to 4.7 for a long time, but I’ve been on 6.2 for a couple of months and like it.
Stolen from a newsgroup I frequent:
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- Find the prefs.js file (start, find, file or folders, in “named” box enter prefs.js, in “look in” box select “local hard drives”. Then click the find now button.
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- Once it has found the file, right-click on it, move the cursor down to “edit” in the pop-up menu, then click on “edit” using either mouse button.
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- Now it opens up Notepad and you are editing the file. Move your cursor down to the LAST line that begins with "user_pref("mailnews…
Insert user_pref(“mailnews.start_page.enabled”, false); after that. Save the file.
That’s what I did and it works for me.
Thanks! I tried it, and it’s exactly what I was looking for.
BTW, I never got a reply back from Netscape, but the news page changed back to loading in the Messenger window again.