Setting Netscape 4.75 Messenger to use IE for hyperlinks

I have been an avid user of an old version, 4.75 of Netscape Messenger, primarily because it doesn't crash, and can maintain over 20,000 emails with fast sorting.(A lot faster than IE, or the later versions of NEtscape) However, whenever I try to double click on certian hyperlinks to web pages, the program chokes. Netscape Communicator 4.75 which is integrated into the Messenger package takes control and does not reads the sites well. How can I configure this program to use IE for my browser access to web pages, while leaving messgenger active for email.

I tried to change my default WIndows settings to IE, but this doesn't work. I suspect that Netscape is controlling all aspects of the browser.

Win XP-II edition, Vaio Lap Top, Duo-Core, 2GHz proc., 1 Meg Ram

 

Very simply put, Messenger and Communicator are part of a single program. I have not used 4.75 in five years or so, but to keep 20,000, or even 200 messages in a single folder is very dangerous. In later NSs, it is discouraged to do anything like that. Mail should never be stored in the Inbox, because, eventually, everything comes to a grinding halt. Now, if your older mail has been sorted out of the Inbox, and stored in subfolders, it is a different story.
IE is a standalone browser, and it has a companion standalone mail program (Outlook Express). But Netscapes up to v.7.2 are integrated suites. What is processed in Mail, stays in the program. So, your suspicion that Netscape is controlling everything are well-founded.