Netscape Communicator
E-mail Problems

Some pages contain code that prevents you from using the Back button. To go back, open the Go menu and select the listing that has a 1 next to it.

If you encounter this message intermittently:

First check to see if the URL is typed correctly. An incorrect address cannot be located.

It is possible the web site you are trying to contact is down. Try connecting to a different web site to see if you can connect to other sites.

The network may be having a momentary problem or network traffic may be heavy during certain hours. Try connecting again in a few minutes.

If this happens all the time, and if you connect to the Internet by using a modem to dial Dynamic Internet, it is possible you have never set up your dial-up connection or that your dial-up connection may be incorrect. Go to our Set Up Dial-Up Networking page for assistance in configuring your computer's dial-up connection. Restart your computer, try dialing into Dynamic Internet, then restart Netscape Communicator.

If you are connected to the Internet via a computer at work, you may be behind a firewall which does not allow access to certain web sites.

The Communicator history file keeps a record of every web page you've visited recently. This is to let the program remember what web links you've already visited so it can make the visited links show up in a different color, thus distinguishing them from unvisited links.

If you want to see what is in your History File:

For Communicator 4.5 and 4.6: From the Communicator menu, select Tools, then History.

For Communicator 4.0 - 4.08: From the Communicator menu, select History.

For Navigator 3.0: From the Window menu, select History.

If you are unable to view the contents of the file, then your History File may be corrupted.

The remedy: Close Netscape, search your computer for the history file and delete it.
For Windows (all versions), the file is called netscape.hst.
For Macintosh, the file is called global history. The next time you open Netscape, the file will be automatically recreated.

To clear the history file in Communicator:

From the Edit menu, select Preferences, then the Navigator category in the list along the left side of the window.

Click on Expire Now to immediately clear the history file.

While you're there, you may want to change the Visited links expire after __days field to any number of days you want. For example, if you set the number of days to 5, this forces entries in the history file to be deleted after they have existed in the file for five days.

To clear the history file in Navigator:

From the Options menu, select General Preferences, then the Appearance tab.

Click Expire now to immediately clear the history file.

While you're there, you may want to change the Visited links expire after __days field to any number of days you want. For example, if you set the number of days to 5, this forces entries in the history file to be deleted after they have existed in the file for five days.

Note: Clearing the history file will not have any effect on the Location or Netsite pulldown menu at the top of your browser window.

Netscape advises that you read the following article: Clearing the Location (Netsite) Bar drop-down menu in Windows

A. Download and install the latest version of Communicator. Earlier versions had several unresolved Java issues.

If installing the latest Communicator is not an option, then try the following procedures.

B. Close Netscape, then click the Start button and select Programs | Windows Explorer. Go to Program Files\Netscape\Users\Your username. Click on the cache folder, then go to the file menu and choose Delete. Click once on netscape.hst, go to the file menu and choose Delete.

C. A fragmented hard drive or a hard drive that has errors on it can also be a cause of Java problems. Click on the Start button, then choose Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scan Disk. When ScanDisk has finished, then run the Disk Defragmenter. You find this in Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter.

D. Run Communicator with all other background programs closed. To do this, press CTRL-ALT-DEL and then choose End Task on all programs except Explorer and Ststray.

E. If you try the above suggestions and the problem persists, your video card driver may be causing the conflict. As a temporary fix, set your display adapter to Standard VGA by doing the following:

a. Right click on your Desktop and select Properties.
b. Select the Settings tab and click Advanced.
c. Select the Adapter tab, click Change, and then click Next.
d. Choose the second option, Display a list of all drivers in a specific location so you can select the driver you want.
e. Click Next and select Show All Hardware.
f. Write down the display adapter you are currently using.
g. Select Standard Display Types from the Manufacturers column.
h. Select Standard Display Adapter (VGA) from the Models column and click Next.
i. If prompted, click Yes, then click Next, and finally click Close.
j. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
k. After your computer is rebooted, go to the home page of your video card manufacturer and download the most current drivers for your card.

As a temporary fix, you can disable Java.

For Communicator 4.x:
From the Edit menu, choose Preferences, then select Advanced. Uncheck the options to Enable Java and Enable Javascript. As a result, you will not be able to view any applets or use any JavaScript-controlled features.

For Navigator 3.x:
From the Options menu, select Network Preferences, then click Languages. At this point, uncheck both Enable Java and Enable JavaScript.

For Macintosh:
Be sure you are running the most recent version of Netscape Communicator. The newest versions have solved many of the Java-related crashes.

Some crash protection and debugger programs, such as MacBugs, implement a JIT debugger which may interfere with Java implementations in Communicator. Be sure you have downloaded and installed any patches or updated versions of these programs.

If none of these solutions work, go to the Netscape Technical Help Desk and read the articles on Mac Troubleshooting.