HELP! How do I get my Navigator Mail account back in place?

Ok, here's the series of events leading me to write this:

1)When I tried to log on to Netscape yesterday, it asked for a "new passord ". Being in a hurry, I just entered my old password. It opened, WITH MY EMAIL FOLDERS, INBOX AND ALL INTACT. So I thought nothing of it. In fact, this has happened before, and I had no problems subsequently.

2) When I went to open Netscape today it opened with NONE of my email, no saved folders of email, NOTHING. At first it wouldn't even activate the Compose button. It's as if my old Netscape "account" was gone and a brand new one appeared. For one thing, it appeared, as new, with the ad in the Message area, which on my account, I had used the adding a line of code trick to get rid of the ads.

So, HOW DO I GET MY OLD ACCOUNT BACK? (And, as an aside, WHY did it create a new account in the first place?) Was this a virus that caused it to ask me for a new password, or what? (I run Nortoan AV with AV Live Update, and have scanned for viruses and am told I have none.)

I tried using System Restore, and went back as far as 2 days, when I know Netscape was working properly, but that did not help, so I undid the last restore (not the first one).

Seems to be only a NETSCAPE problem and requires a Netscape solution.

Can anyone tell me how to get my account back?

p.s. I do see that my mail files are still under Settings/Application Data/Mozilla/User... but how do I get them back into Netscape Mail when I go to open it?

Thanks.
Operating System Version: XP -Ser Pack 1
Problem Application Name & Version: Netscape 7
Problem Hardware Make & Model: Dell 450

 

Welcome to the Forum, miguelbgood !

Hi Miguel,

Have you switched Themes, and if so, revert back to the default Modern Theme.

Check these settings:
Edit | Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings | Server Settings
Disable: Empty Trash on exit

With Netscape closed:
Open Windows Explorer and browse to your Mail Account Folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\MailAccount
NOTE: These files are hidden by default.
To see hidden files:
1. On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options
2. Click the View tab
3. Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders

Delete all files with an MSF extension. DO NOT delete any files without this extension.

With Netscape closed:
Right click on your Netscape Desktop Icon
Select: Properties
In the Target Line add your Profile Name
The Target Line should look like this:
"C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape\Netscp.exe" -P "yourprofilename "

Let us know if you continue to have problems, or if you have more questions.

Ramona

 

Was it a virus?

No, I did not switch themes. I don't think I did anything that would have caused this.

As near as I can tell, what happened is that a new netscape "account" was created over my old one, thus all the Preferences and mail settings were wiped out, and none of my old saved mail folders or Inbox were associated with the new account.

Even after setting the mail settings, Netscape worked, but would crash every few minutes, saying "netscape has encountered a problem and needs to close ".

So finally I unistalled Netscape and re-installed it, re-associated my mail folder (by renaming it), and now all seems to be fine.

But the question is HOW and WHY did this happen? How did a new account get created over my old one? No one uses the computer but me, and I didn't do it. Did someone hack in? Or is it a type of virus?

 

Hi Miguel,

Netscape is not your Mail Server. Entering your Password should have no effect, i.e., it would NOT create a new Profile. Perhaps your ISP was on the blink yesterday. You might look there for an answer.

Have you run a virus scan, and do you have a Firewall? Your Firewall log would indicate a hack, but I seriously doubt that this has anything to do with your problem. A virus wouldn't create a new Profile. The only way that can happen is if the User creates a Profile.

The fact that renaming your Mail Folder fixed the problem, indicates that you had corrupt Mail Folders. That's why I suggested deleting the MSF files. Mail is a part of the Profile, and reinstalling Netscape does nothing to the Profile, as it remains intact in the WINDOWS directory.

Glad you are up and running.

Ramona