Netscape Communicator FAQ:		Features and Capabilities General Product Information Installation E-Mail/Netscape Messenger Technical Support/Questions
More FAQs:		About Nevada Bell Internet Services

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Features and Capabilities		What is Netscape Communicator? How do I upgrade my software to Communicator?
General Product Information		Will I get the 40-bit or 128-bit (high-security) version of Communicator? Is Netscape Communicator Year 2000 Compliant? Cookies: what are they? How do they work? Will I be able to use my current screen reader with Communicator if I am visually impaired?
Installation		Where are the Communicator files located after I download the software? Why does the download of Communicator freeze at 12 MB? How do I uninstall previous versions of Netscape Navigator from Windows95?
E-Mail/Netscape Messenger		Can I use Communicator's E-mail and News with America Online? When I open Communicator's e-mail software (Messenger), why am I unable to receive or send e-mail? How does Messenger let me know when I have received mail? Where in Netscape Messenger can I set the system to remember my e-mail password, or check for e-mail at specific intervals?
Technical Support/ Questions		What technical support is provided for Communicator 4.0? What about Communicator's security flaws I've heard about? Why am I unable to connect when I launch the Communicator upgrade for Windows 3.1? How do I import my bookmarks from the old Netscape Navigator 3.x? How do I print my Bookmarks? I have a Macintosh, and my old version of Netscape Navigator launches instead of Netscape Communicator. Why?

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Features and Capabilities

What is Netscape Communicator?

Netscape Communicator is the latest internet browsing software available from Netscape. It contains the Navigator web browser, Messenger e-mail program, Collabra newsreader program, and Composer web page editor. Nevada Bell Internet Services has customized the latest version for our customers.

How do I upgrade my software to Communicator?

To upgrade to Netscape Communicator, you can download it from our Upgrade Software Web page.

General Product Information

Will I get the 40-bit or 128-bit (high security) version of Communicator?

The Communicator 4.0 upgrade that is available by download provides 40-bit encryption for legal reasons. Many financial services applications require 128-bit encryption, and offer free upgrades. Netscape Communicator 4.0 is also available on CD-ROM by ordering the software from our Software Order Form. This version is the high-security, 128-bit encrypted version. For more information about the 128-bit version of Communicator, click here.

Is Netscape Communicator "Year 2000 Compliant"?

Yes, Netscape Communicator will properly process and use dates before, during and after the transition from December 31, 1999, to January 1, 2000, provided that the underlying operating system (OS) of the host machine is year 2000 compliant.

Cookies: what are they? How do they work?

A "cookie" is a small piece of information which a web server can store temporarily with your web browser. This is useful for having your browser remember some specific information which the web server can later retrieve.

For example, when you browse through an "on-line shopping mall" and add items to your "shopping cart" as you browse, a list of the items you've picked up is stored by your browser so that you can pay for all of the items at once when you're finished shopping. It's much more efficient for each browser to keep track of information like this than to expect the web server to have to remember who bought what, especially if there are thousands of people using it the web server at a time.

As you browse the web, any cookies which servers might send to your copy of Netscape Navigator are stored in your computer's memory. When you quit out of Netscape Navigator, any cookies that haven't expired are written to a cookie file so they can be reloaded next time you run Netscape Navigator. (On a Mac, this file is named "MagicCookie", on Unix, it's "cookies", and on Windows it's "cookies.txt". You can look at this file with a text editor to see exactly what cookies are stored there, or delete the file to get rid of all of the cookies - this is harmless and shouldn't cause any problems.)

A cookie file is NOT a secret way for a web server to find out everything about you and what you have on your hard drive. The ONLY way that any private information could be in your cookie file would be if you personally gave that information to a web server in the first place and it decided to put that information into your cookie file for some reason. Also, each cookie is marked with information about what web server it's for; Netscape Navigator does not send any cookies to any web server they're not for. There is absolutely no way for a web server to get access to any private information about you or your system through cookies. Also, there is no possible way that a virus could be spread through the use of cookies.

If you want to know when a server is trying to send a cookie to you so you can choose whether or not to accept it, then go to the "Protocols" section under "Network Preferences" in Netscape Navigator 3.x and turn on "Show an Alert Before Accepting a Cookie." (On the other hand, if you don't want to be asked whether or not you want to accept a cookie, this is where you can turn that off.) If you're running Netscape Communicator, you can refuse cookies entirely by setting an option in the "Advanced" section of the Preferences.

A complete technical explanation of how cookies work is available at: http://home.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html.

If you came to this FAQ hoping to find recipes for cookies, take a look at: http://www.cookierecipe.com.

Will I be able to use my current screen reader with Communicator if I am visually impaired?

The Nevada Bell Internet Services-customized versions of Netscape Communicator web browser and e-mail programs perform well with most screen readers. However, screen reader users may have difficulty completing the Netscape Account Setup to register new or existing accounts. We suggest that you download the Netscape Navigator 3.0 software, and register an account, then download the Netscape Communicator Software Upgrade.

Installation

Where are the Communicator files located after I download the software?

To locate the Nevada Bell Internet Services files on your hard disk after you download the software:

Windows 95 systems
After a successful download of Nevada Bell Internet Services software, the file can be found in the folder that was chosen in the Save As .. box during the download process. If the file is missing, try to search for it by name.

1. Click Start,
2. Select Find, then Files or Folders.
3. In the Find window, make sure the Look In selection is set to My Computer (or C:)
4. In the Name field, type nbi32_4u.exe if you downloaded the Software Upgrade, or nbi32_4.exe if you downloaded the Complete Software Kit.

Windows 3.1 systems
After a successful download of Nevada Bell Internet Services software, the file can be found in the folder that was chosen in the Save As .. box during the download process. If the file is missing, try to search for it by name.

1. Open the Main program group.
2. From the Main window, double-click on File Manager.
3. From the File menu, choose Search.
4. In the Search For: field, type nbi16_4u.exe if you downloaded the Software Upgrade, or nbi16_4.exe if you downloaded the Complete Software Kit.

Macintosh systems
After a successful download of Nevada Bell Internet Services software, the file can be found by selecting the Find tool under the File menu (or Find File under the Apple menu) to search for nbi. The results of the search should include nbimac_4u_PPC.sea.hqx and/or nbimac_4u_PPC.sea. If only nbimac_4u_PPC.sea.hqx was found, you will need to convert this file into a self-extracting archive using a program that will decode BinHexed files, such as Stuffit Expander. Double-click on the file to begin installation.

Why does the download of Communicator freezes at 12 MB?

The vast majority of problems seem to be occurring with those using Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer seems to be unable to recover from a period of time greater than one minute where there is no download (this is not an unusual occurrence on modem downloads of large files).

One way to get the download to resume is to try "pinging" the server.

1. Click Start, then choose Run
2. Type: ping www.nvbell.net

Next be patient and do not cancel the download. After about 4 minutes Internet Explorer should resume downloading, but it may not work in all cases.

How do I uninstall previous versions of Navigator from Windows95?

STEP 1: Backup any needed files.

Find the files bookmark.htm, address.htm, (abook.nab in Communicator), cookies.txt and the Mail directory and copy them to another location on the hard drive (ex: c:\backup).

If you downloaded Netscape from the internet, copy the installation file to another location on the hard drive (ex: c:\backup).

STEP 2: Uninstall previous versions of Netscape from Windows95.

Close any programs that are running. To check which programs are running, hold down the CTRL + ALT keys, and hit the DELETE key only once. In the Close Program window, End Task on all program except for Explorer (Explorer is Windows 95 shell) and Systray. Repeat until only these two programs remain.

In the Control Panel, double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Select any Netscape Navigator, Personal Edition, or Communicator programs and choose Add/Remove.
NOTE: Do NOT remove shared files located in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder!

STEP 3: Remove remaining Netscape files.

In Windows Explorer, open the C:\Program Files\Netscape folder. (NOTE: This is the default location for Netscape's files and folders. If you have Netscape installed elsewhere, you will need to locate that folder instead.)

Rename the Navigator or Communicator folder, along with Users folders, but not any others.

STEP 4: Install new version of Netscape, whether from diskette or CD-ROM, or from downloaded installation file.

STEP 5: Move mail, bookmarks and address book back to the destination.

E-Mail/Netscape Messenger

Can I use Netscape Communicator's E-mail and News with America Online?

At this time, AOL only allows using its proprietary E-mail and Newsgroup clients for retrieving E-mail and News on AOL.  You cannot use Communicator's E-mail and News with AOL.  AOL may change their software in the future to allow usage of other programs for E-mail and News, but we do not have information on when they may do this.

When I open Communicator's e-mail software (Messenger), why am I unable to receive or send e-mail?

This problem usually occurs after installing Netscape Communicator and trying to open the e-mail program for the first time. Occasionally, the installation of Netscape Communicator over an existing version of Netscape Navigator fails to place the Mail folder in the correct directory. To resolve the problem, follow these steps:

Windows 95 systems

1. Close all open programs
2. Double-click on the My Computer icon on the Windows95 desktop
3. Double-click on the C: drive icon
4. Double-click on the folder called Program Files
5. Double-click on the folder called NBI
6. Double-click on the folder called Users
7. Choose the folder for the profile you use and double-click on it (this folder should contain folders named Archive, Cache, News, etc.)
8. If a Mail folder is there, rename it to Old Mail
9. Go to the File menu, choose New and then Folder
10. Name the new folder Mail
11. Close all windows, and re-launch Netscape Communicator

If you still have a problem with receiving and sending mail, try creating a new user profile.

Windows 3.1 systems

1. Close all open programs.
2. Double-click on the Main group from your Program Manager.
3. Double-click on File Manager
4. Double-click the NBI folder under the C: drive
5. Double-click the Netscape Communicator folder.
6. Double-click on the Users folder.
7. If a Mail folder is there, rename it to Old Mail.
8. Go to the File menu; choose Create Directory.
9. Name the new folder Mail, then click OK.
10. Close all windows, and re-launch Netscape Communicator.

If you still have a problem with receiving and sending mail, try creating a new user profile.

How does Messenger let me know when I have received mail?

Netscape Messenger (the e-mail component of Netscape Communicator) displays a green arrow pointing at your inbox in the Component Bar to let you know when you have new mail waiting to be retrieved. The Component Bar is either "docked" at the bottom right-hand corner of your Communicator window, or "undocked" in a small window on your screen. The green arrow will appear when you have new unread mail, and disappear after you've retrieved your new mail.

Click on the green arrow or the inbox icon to open your Messenger window, then click the "Get Messages" button at the top of the window to retrieve your new messages.

If you are running Netscape Communicator 4.0 for Windows95 or NT 4.0, you will have a program named nsnotify.exe.

1. Click your Start button
2. Go to Programs | Netscape Communicator group | Utilities
3. Choose Netscape Mail Notification.

If you run this program, it will put a two-color circle icon at the right-hand side of your Windows task bar. When new mail arrives, it will play a sound to alert you, and also display a notification icon (an envelope with a red waving flag). You can click on the icon with your second (right) mouse button to customize how this program notifies you of new mail.

Where in Netscape Messenger can I set the system to remember my e-mail password, or check for e-mail at specific intervals?

To configure Netscape Messenger to remember your e-mail password and setting specific intervals to check your e-mail server are achieved by:

1. From Communicator's main menu, go to Edit | Preferences.
2. Within the Preferences window, click the plus sign next to Mail & Groups.
3. From the expanded list, click on the Mail Server entry.
4. In the Mail Server listing, click on the More Options button in the lower, right-hand side.
5. Check/uncheck Check for mail every number of minutes and specify a value for the number of minutes.
6. Check/uncheck Remember my mail password.
7. Click OK for the More Mail Server Preferences window.
8. Click OK for the Preferences window.

Your selection results should be immediate.

Technical Support/Questions

What technical support is provided for Communicator 4.0?

Full technical support is available for the Navigator Web browser, E-mail Messenger and Collabra Newsgroups. E-mail support only is available for the Composer Web Editor. Technical support is not provided for Netcaster.

What about Communicator's security flaws I heard about?

Netscape has corrected all known security flaws in Communicator.

Why am I unable to connect when I launch the Communicator upgrade for Windows 3.1?

If you are unable to connect when you launch the Netscape Communicator Software Upgrade for Windows 3.1, and you receive the following error message, "Netscape was unable to create a network socket connection. There may be insufficient system resources or the network may be down", then a connection to the Internet was not initiated.

To connect to the Internet with the Netscape Communicator software upgrade for Windows 3.1:

1. Double-click on your existing NBI Dialer and select properties
2. Select the General tab and uncheck the Automatically Start Netscape box
3. Click OK at the bottom and close the NBI Dialer
4. Double-click on the NBI Dialer, enter your password and then click Dial
5. Wait for your dialer to connect
6. After connecting, double-click on the Netscape Communicator icon

If your modem was disconnected while online, either your phone line is degraded and needs service or your modem may have configuration problems. Get your phone line checked or contact your modem manufacturer for the latest drivers or initialization strings.

How do I import my bookmarks from the old Navigator 3.x?

1. Click on Bookmark from the Communicator toolbar.
2. Select Edit Bookmarks from the menu.
3. From the Bookmarks window, select File | Import.
4. Go to your old bookmark file directory, select the file, and click on the Open button to import the file.

How do I print Bookmarks?

The Bookmarks window does not allow for any type of printing functions, since it was designed for hyperlinking. However, there is a workaround. Open the file Bookmarks.htm in your Netscape browser. You can do this by clicking on File|Open File (Open Page in Communicator). Once the page comes up, you can then click on File and Print.

The only down side to this is that you will not be able to print the URL address that are attached to each bookmark. You could also bring it up in the Browser and click on View and View Document Source. Then highlight everything, press Ctrl+C, open NotePad and paste it. This will have all of the URL's and bookmark titles. Again, there is a down side as there will be a lot of HTML code included and you will have to clean it up.

I have a Macintosh, and my old version of Netscape Navigator launches instead of Netscape Communicator. Why?

If you have Netscape Navigator 3.0 for Macintosh installed, and you downloaded Netscape Communicator, the old version of Netscape will launch automatically if your FreePPP dialer is not associated with the new Netscape Communicator software. To correct the problem, follow these steps:

1. Double-click on the FreePPP icon
2. Click on the small blue triangle in the lower left corner.
3. Select the General tab.
4. Near the bottom of the page you will see an option On connect, open Netscape Navigator.
5. Uncheck this box, then re-check it.
6. A dialog box will appear; select Netscape Communicator 4.04.
7. FreePPP should now read On connect, launch Netscape Communicator 4.04

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