lost Netscape 7.0 as default email and can't get it back

This was an old thread dated 30th July 2003 and has been closed.

"Netscape 7.0 Mail could not be set as the default mail application because a registry key could not be updated. Verify with your system administrator that you have write access to your system registry and then try again. "

Funny how I only started having this problem since yesterday.

Mine is version 7.1 running in 98se.

I have been using it for over 2 years w/o any issue like this.

Anyway, I am posting this to tell anyone having this problem can try this solution I discovered.

I boot my computer to safe mode. Run Netscape mail and when it asked me, I say yes. That updated the registry correctly. Now my problem is gone.

 

Is it possible that you are using some Theme which affects mail? I had problems when I used NS7.x, which I stopped using a while ago, and I recall that some themes affected different aspects of the mail client. It happened a number of time, to the point that I, rarely, deviated from the default themes.
The reason why I brought this up is because you corrected the problem by going to safe mode, which disables extentions and themes.

 

No, I don't use themes.

This "issue" really came out of the blue. No new progs had been istalled either.

I love safe mode's ability that stops running all those nosey windows services.

 

I don't mean the Windows Safe Mode, but rather the program safe mode. I am not sure if it even works in the Netscape7.x.

 

eltektech,

This is a big black hairy bug in Netscape 7. You really need to think about upgrading to either Firefox and Thunderbird, or SeaMonkey. Netscape 7 is defunct, kaput, deader than a doornail, and full of bugs and security vulnerabilities. Not to mention that it is now owned by AOL, and no longer the Netscape that we all knew and loved. Fx, TB, and SM are all up to date on Security fixes... Here is a list of those vulnerabilities which have been addressed since Netscape 7:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html#Thunderbird

Error WinXP:
"Netscape 7.0 Mail could not be set as the default mail application because a registry key could not be updated. Verify with your system administrator that you have write access to your system registry and then try again. "

http://wp.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/ns7/relnotes/7pv1.html


This message you received might also appear if you are trying to enable or disable Netscape Mail as your default mail application, but another application is currently using the Mapi32.dll file located in your C:\Windows\System directory. Close all other mail applications, all MS Office applications, and any other applications (for example, Wordpad), that can be used to send mail. Then start Netscape, and try again.

After making Netscape Mail the default mail application, and then exiting Netscape, you try to send mail from another application by using a new Netscape user profile, or by using an old user profile that has not yet been migrated. Netscape fails to start.

Workaround:
Open the Profile Manager and create the new user profile or migrate the old user profile. Start Netscape using the new profile or the migrated profile and then set Netscape Mail as the default mail application. Also, make sure you have at least one mail account set up before exiting Netscape.

You cannot enable or disable Netscape Mail as the default mail application.

Workaround:
Before you select or de-select the "Use Netscape Mail as the default mail application" setting in the Preferences dialog box, close all other mail applications, all MS Office applications, and any other applications (for example, Wordpad), that can be used to send mail.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell\open\command

Should be updated from whatever it is to:

C:\PROGRAM~1\MOZILLA.ORG\Mozilla\mozilla.exe -mail "%1 "

Following up on a comment from bug 209985:

Under Windows 2000 and XP (but not Win98 or earlier NTs), the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is a logical hive composed of the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes branches. These systems may require certain superuser or admin privs in order to change the HKLM branch.