Moving Forward from 7.0

Folks:

I've been puttering along with my installation of Netscape Navigator[1] 7.0 for quite some time, but it seems to be at odds with my Windows '98 installation from time to time, and I'm looking to explore options inside the proper development track. The way I understand it, that leaves me with Firefox, Mozilla, or the latest Netscape release.[2] If y'all would, please help me to make a decision of 'what to do' and 'how to do', based upon the following criteria:

1. I've absolutely got to keep my cookies and related settings. Too many passwords have been entered and too many sites have been painstakingly configured to thwart various advertisers. (At the same time, I need to figure out how to do something more sophisticated than just crude IP/domain blocking; the list is now hideously long and triggers a suggestion to cancel the script.)

2. I don't have any use for an IM client, mail client, newsreader, or anything else. I just need a browser, in essence.

3. I'd really like to keep the old Netscape 7.0 'American' theme in use. A quick glance at themes.mozdev.org indicates that I can probably do this, but I'm not entirely sure that I understand all the compatibility issues.

4. I'm hoping to not have to remove my 7.0 installation, because it does, more or less, work. If nothing else, I could fall back to it.

5. I've got something close to a meg or two worth of bookmarks, and I er, need to be able to manage them. That's one of my larger gripes about 7.0, because it doesn't seem to always respond well to bookmark management.

6. Is there any way to not use the download manager? I thought it was nifty early on, but now I'm suspicious of the thing trying to drag down the browser. (I regularly delete stuff I don't want to remember that I've gotten, but still...)

7. Somewhere, I'm told that the recent Netscape releases were not fond of Windows '98, and that users of the latter shouldn't download the former. What's the story?

Thanks in advance for any help; I've got JRE v1.3.1 and 1.4.0_01 installed if that's any help.

[1] Yes, I'm a Luddite in terms of nomenclature. Ten years' habit dies hard.
[2] I put an earlier release of Firefox on my father's computer, and it seemed too simplistic to do very much with; I presume that's no longer the case.

 

This is a long one. I will try to reply to each item.

1.I think that you have been go through a lot of unneeded pains. NS7.01 started popup controls, and 7.1 Junk(Spam) Controls. But, I may be misunderstaning what you have been doing. Up to now, the Mozillas may have been more advanced. NS7.1 could be problem with Win98.
.

2.Firefox could do, but it is not a final version. There have been downloads with the browser only for Netscape


3.I am using the American theme with a later Mozilla. Many themes have been updated.

4.You don't have to remove it. Just install a new version in a different directory. And, have a new profile for each. At one time I had working NS6.2.3, 7.02, 7.1 and Moz.1.5 and 1.6, plus two Firesomething ( my nomenclature).

5.That much bookmarks stuff is scary. Like my wife. she can find them on occasions, but she admitted that it was almost like a nervous tick to mark them. She is good in every other way, but bookmarks, beware.
I have all my bookmarks in folders, and each folder is accessible from the Personal Toolbar. I have only a few strays.

6.I never use the DM. You can select Pref|Navigator|Downloads to have a progress dialogue.


7.You are probably referring to the Resources leak of NS7.1. I did fine with it, until my computer broke down, and I got XP. You have to know how to use it. People with problem made no adjustments.


8.You are way behind, and one Java should do. Current Java is 1.4.2_05


9.First time I heard that FF is too simplistic. Most people call it "geeky ". Of course, if you want to have a ready made product, with no changes, it may be troublesome.

 

Fenris, your Profile will remain untouched if you uninstall, or when you install a browser. This is one of the perks of having it in the Windows directory.

Netscape 7.1 was also released with a Base version, which did not include the Mail & Newsgroups component. Also, Antony Shen of SillyDog701 releases a Streamline, and a Standalone CCK Version of the latest releases of Netscape. I always use these releases, as they are free of AOL, and media players.

There will be icons associated with the Theme Name to let you know which browsers are compatible with the Themes. See these sites:
http://themes.freshmeat.net/browse/968/?topic_id=968
http://themes.mozdev.org/

The American Theme is compatible with Mozilla 1.7, Netscape 7.1, and 7.2, and Firefox0.8+, using the current versions.

No need to uninstall 7.0. Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird are very compatible and can be run simultaneously. If you decide to keep 7.0, and install Netscape 7.2, Firebird 0.9.2, or Mozilla 1.7, you should first create a Profile for the new browser you intend to install. Otherwise it will pick up your 7.0 Profile, which can cause havoc. Many problems will ensure if sharing a single Profile.

As Westside advises, you're going to be in a lot of pain if you don't organize those bookmarks into folders. I've never had a single problem with Bookmarks, as, exactly like Westside, I have all my Folders on the Personal Toolbar, broken down into many subfolders. If you have that many, then you most certainly don't want to lose them. As soon as you have finished reading this, backup that entire Profiles folder, and then export your abook.mab file as an LDIF file, and keep it with your Profile folder backup.

You can't disable it but you can set the Preference to not show the dialog window. Edit | Preferences | Navigator | Downloads
Select the radio button next to "Don't open anything "
I believe that was the setting in 7.0.

There is a serious resource leak when using Win98 and Netscape 7.1. There is a workaround for it that does work, but that issue has been addressed in Netscape 7.2, which is based on Mozilla 1.7 code. There are several pretty annoying bugs in 7.1, as a matter of fact, none of which are in Mozilla 1.7, nor will they be in Mozilla 1.7.

Not good! Uninstall both Versions, reboot your PC. Then install JRE Version 1.4.2_05. See this thread: Sun Java Security Vulnerability - Versions 1.4 thru 1.4.2_04.

I think we have given you something to chew on here, and post back with any further questions.

Ramona

 

Indeed. I was looking to somehow chop bits and pieces out of it, which I didn't communicate in my original message.

When Navigator 7.2 is released, I suppose I'll give one of those a shot. Thanks for reminding me that they exist.

I've got a brand new copy of Firefox installed, and darned if it didn't find zilch compatible. Did I have to install the Theme Installer from the top of that page?

I believe you, but Firefox didn't show any sign of creating a profile, other than to have the folders for same in a separate directory than my Mozilla/Navigator ones. The Firefox setup apparently didn't copy a single thing from Navigator 7.0 to Firefox.

Done, except for the export of abook.mab; I've never used the mail client, which is where I imagine the LDIF export command resides. That's 60MB of stuff and something like 4400 files, but not including the Firefox folder. C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\... has Profiles and Firefox as the next two paths downward. Since I no longer use any of the other profiles than the one geared for 7.0 support, is there any way to safely delete the others without doing it permanently? I have some vague suspicion that performance would be improved if they weren't there, but I don't want to permanently delete them, either.

As for bookmarks, do go on. I've had a fit with the file not recording dates of adding like it should; the program seems to be very hit-and-miss about doing it. I'd prefer them sorted by strict chronological order, respecting folders arrangement as well. Something like this: Overall, oldest links first and newest last, with the same rule applying inside the folders. In other words, like it did back when Navigator was in the 4.x series. Any way to make it work like that?

I've gotten attached to download dialogs which tell me the progress. I'll just have to manually delete stuff; that list has grown to 3MB or so.

Looks like I'm waiting for the release of 7.2, then.

Done, done, done, and done.

Shall do. I'm curious as to how I could tinker with Firefox to get it running; I hear more or less acceptable things about it. I appreciate your help; thanks.

 

Ramona

What about Java Web Start? Should we keep that? Do we need it? I've no idea what it does or why I have it.

 

Welcome to the Forum, James!

Hi James,

With earlier Versions of SunJava, Web Start was listed in Add/Remove, but now that option has been removed, and it is integrated with JRE. You can't remove it now...

You may find a use for Web Start, but it is mainly for developers. Here is Sun's description of Web Start:

What is Java Web Start?

Java Web Start provides a platform-independent, secure, and robust deployment technology. It enables developers to deploy full-featured applications to end-users by making the applications available on a standard Web server. By using any Web browser, end-users can launch the applications and be confident they always have the most-recent version.

How can I launch applications with JavaTM Web Start?

You initially launch a new application by clicking on a link from a Web page.

If you use an application frequently, create a shortcut from your desktop or from the Start Menu by allowing Java Web Start to place an icon on your desktop. JavaTM Web Start will ask the second time you launch an application if you would like to create shortcuts or an entry in the Start Menu. If you say "yes," all future launches of the application can start without a browser.

The Web Start FAQ offer a great deal of information.

Ramona

 

Fenris,

If you want to backup specific Profile data, you can do that as well, from the salted folder *.slt. See: Profiles Folder Location. To back up your cookies, you can copy the cookies.txt, and cookperm.txt files.

Sorry about the American Theme. I do know for a fact that Sailfish is working on all his Themes, so it may be available for Firefox in the near future. You don't really need the Theme Installer. All that's necessary is to enable Software Installation in preferences.

Firefox installs to a separate directory (Firefox) so it wouldn't pick up a Profile from the "Profiles" directory. However, I should have specified "Mozilla and Netscape" will pick up the existing Profile from the Profiles directory.

If you've never used the Mail component, you certainly would have no working Address Book. The Export/Import feature resides in the Address Book Manager.

You can delete, or remove, any Profile that you aren't currently using. Create a folder on the root directory for Xtra Profiles, and move those folders to the newly created folder. I keep several Profiles in a folder to use for testing problems that come up on the Forum. You might also want to delete those Profile names from the Profile Manager. If you get a prompt asking if you wish to delete the Profile data files, you will, of course, click on "DON'T DELETE FILES ". However, I don't believe you will see any improvement in performance. Check out the Sticky at the top of the Forum: Preventive Browser Maintenance which is a guideline for improving performance.

Unfortunately, the only way to organize Bookmarks now is in alpha, and not chronological order.

You might want to consider cleaning up the list of downloaded files. In Netscape 7.1 that is one of the major bugs. If the Download Manager list of downloaded files isn't regularly deleted the user experiences an inability to download files. Deleting the compreg.dat file gives a temporary fix.

Firefox will soon be at the 1.0 Final Release. Users, like you, who want only a browser, are finding Firefox to be an excellent browser, even in beta stages.

I hope I have adequtely answered all your questions, and feel free to post more!

Ramona

 

Thanks for the Information

I've managed to get all of that folder backed up in a convenient zip file, so it's all safe as of some time yesterday morning.

Not a problem about the theme; I'm glad to hear that it might come out soon, because I've used it exclusively for multiple years. I simply wasn't sure that I was reading the themes archive right. I've settled on "Firefox Modern 0.7.1 ", and it's adequate for the time being. I must admit however that I'd much rather have either "American" or something that mimics the look of my beloved Netscape Communicator from 1997, right after they switched from the "Gold" look. Come to think of it, I wouldn't object to a "Netscape Navigator 2.0" theme, either. Alas, I've already put the Theme Installer in; it shouldn't be too much trouble. If it is, it goes.

That makes sense, come to think of it. I only use one profile anyways, but future releases of Firefox will need to be told to use a new profile until they get it fully operational. At that point, it'll be time to make the big jump and import a profile, correct?

Heh heh heh. I was getting suspicious of that at this point.

In that case, they'll stay in that directory until they rot; no point in messing with something that ain't broke, for no benefit.

That is distinctly unfortunate. I was better at remembering "when I found it" instead of "what it was called "; it allowed me to group by periods of interest.

I'm starting work on that. I'd like to be able to read the data in the downloads file somewhere else, but enh, it's 0215 and the explanation can wait. What controls the speed of the display of the download progress window? Getting that to appear after picking the target folder and then having it switch from downloading to completed has been getting more and more of an exercise in patience.

OK. Still, it doesn't say "Netscape Navigator" on it. Having been a Navigator user since 0.94b and some time in 1994, I simply can't imagine going without a Netscape browser for any length of time.

You have, I think. I've gotten Firefox 0.9.2 installed and more-or-less configured, and am gaining operational experience with it. I'm still nowhere near willing to surrender my familiar copy of Navigator 7.0, but this Firefox thing may prove more stable in the long run. We shall see. In any event, I'll have a question or two later about the preventive maintenance thing; I'll holler when they're properly formulated.

 

Fenris, that's because you have let the list of downloaded files accumulate to an excessive size. You need to delete some of those entries, and you will see a definite improvement. I usually suggest deleting all files from the list on a frequent basis.

Ramona

 

Ramona:

Sorry to take so long to respond to that, but I've been playing with this wee little Firefox browser. It is not the browswer that I installed on my father's computer; rather, it's a handy little gem that seems to work. If I'm not careful, it might gain ground on Netscape Navigator, especially if that American theme comes out.

One of the reasons I wanted to replace 7.0 was due to computer troubles. Some of them are OS/hardware related, but I always noticed an interesting correlation between Navigator 7.0 and increases in the appearance of things like random reboots and lock-ups. Luckily, Firefox has cut down on that tremendously.

Back to the downloads thing: Is there any program out there that can read the downloads.rdf file? I've got an interest in seeing what's in that file, so I can keep track of some things that I downloaded from a file library, a checklist if you will. At the same time, I just hate deleting a trail. I seem to have gotten it loaded in Word, for 1467 pages. I don't know if everything's in there, but I'd sure like to know. If I knew that I had everything in there, I'd be quite happy to go through and reduce the size of the file tremendously, stopping just short of removing everything.

Any response you've got'll be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Fenris,

It seems that Firefox is addictive, and you now see that it has evolved considerably since you last used the browser. Enjoy!

I use Windows WordPad to open the downloads.rdf file. What you could do to get your downloads moving much faster, is simply rename the existing downloads.rdf file to Xdownloads.rdf. Netscape will rebuild the file on restart, and you will have saved that 3 MB list of downloads for perusal. Ensure that Netscape is closed before renaming the file, and backup first.

Ramona

 

Ramona:

Thanks for the advice! Last question in this general line of thinking: Can I re-name bookmarks.html in similar fashion and thus still have them, but not available through the pull-down tabs? I'm of the opinion that things would be better (yes, that's rather vague) if I were to not have a meg and a half worth of bookmarks hogging the memory in the browser.

Thanks again for your help. If only Adblock worked in 7.0!

 

Fenris,

You can certainly rename the Bookmarks file, just as you did downloads.rdf. Netscape will rebuild the file on restart. You don't necessarily have to keep these files in your salted folder either. You can file them in your backup folder as well. I do hope you are backing up your Profile folder before doing any editing.

Ramona

 

Ramona:

Absolutely I've got a backup of the Profiles folder, a giant zip file that's got me to a restore point if all goes badly. The only problem is that I'm getting rather attached to Adblock; it's allowing me to see the Internet like I did when I was younger, before the invention of Flash. (Told you I was a Luddite; I miss raw HTML.)