hi tig
without a doubt, netscape is a crashy browser. i fought that crashiness for several years, trying all manner of remedial action, until finally i said, "that's enough", and began using ie5.5. i keep communicator4.76 around, and always have one window open. i use their email client, but not the browser. ie5.5 now handles probably 98% of my browsing activity.
in my efforts to combat the frequent IPF's (invalid page faults) and GPF's (general protection faults) associated with netscape, i compiled a hitlist of things to try. some were more successful than others. none worked like a charm. i'll paste the file below for you.... it comes directly from a netscape newsgroup 'champion', whose name i've forgotten. i'll highlight in bold those tweaks i feel were most effective. suffice it to say, tig, that i am quite pleased with the overall stability of ie5.5. i'm done fighting netscape. btw, in the following list you'll see reference to specific .dll files. these are because i wrote that i was having trouble with COMMCTL32.
here's the hitlist:
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netscape IPF remedies
"Try the usual first aid. Close NetScape. Then use your file manager to
delete NETSCAPE.HST and the CACHE directory (or all files therein).
They will be built anew as you surf.
If there is more than one COMMCTL32, try renaming the older versions to COMMCTL32.BAK, as a test.
As a diagnostic, prior to opening NetScape temporarily disable all
background applications including virus checkers, performance monitors,
WEBaccelerators and cache utilities, ads-off and crashguard programs,
TSRs, animated screen savers and the like. Click <atl-ctrl-del> once
and END TASK of each item except NETSCAPE, RNAAPP and EXPLORER
and SYSTRAY, if it is shown.
Search for ADVERT.DLL. If found in c:\windows\system, try moving
it to the same folder as the application that uses it - one that offers
advertisements. Go!Zilla is one possibility. Or rename to ADVERT.OLD.
However, this may disable the application that installed it.
Rebuild the NetScape REGISTRY. Back up all USERS directories
(folders). Close NetScape. Rename NSREG.DAT to NSREG.BAK in
c:\windows, then restart NetScape. It will prompt for a new Profile.
Give it the exact name of your old Profile and it should recognize it.
Multiple Profiles can be restored the same way .Or create new Profiles.
Also verify that PREFS.JS, in your NetScape USERS\<your Profile>
folder is not flagged READ ONLY. Right-click, and choose PROPERTIES.
Temporarily rename the BOOKMARK.HTM file to BOOKMARK.OLD. And
rename the address book file to .OLD. If crashes stop, then the file is
the culprit. In 3.0x the address book is ADDRESS.HTM; in 4.0x it is
ABOOK.NAB. In 4.x it has an .na2 extension and the name is usually,
but not always, PAB.na2.
* Try different color depths, under Control Panel|DISPLAY|SETTINGS.
* Also click the ADVANCED button, then the PERFORMANCE tab, and
lower the acceleration setting.
* If DirectX is installed, disable Direct Draw Hardware Acceleration.
Use DXTOOL.EXE. START button|FIND|FILES| "DXTOOL".
If one of the three above suggestions seems to help, seek out an updated
video driver from the chip or card manufacturer's WEBsite.
IPF and GPF errors can be elusive, and may be system-specific...
help.netscape.com
help.netscape.com
help.netscape.com
help.netscape.com (msvcrt)
help.netscape.com
help.netscape.com
help.netscape.com
support.microsoft.com
geocities.com (troubleshooter)
erols.com
windowstrouble.com
walbeehm.com or /win98upd.html
trip.net
thepage.org
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good luck, hope this helps
:)
mark |
