Editing Netscape for Public Access Computers

How to Edit Netscape for Public Access Computers

***Final Note

There have been many discussions on library mailing lists about libraries' problems with Netscape features when used in a public setting. Some of the problems discussed are:

Options/Preferences - Patrons can use this option to change several things about how Netscape works and looks so that Netscape doesn't work the same for the next patron. Also people may experiment with the settings to see what they do, then reach a state of confusion about what has happened and how to restore or fix the problem.
Options/Save Options - Patrons can change options like AutoLoad Images and then Save the option. The next patron might not know how to fix this.
File/OpenFile - This makes it easy for people to browse the files on the computer's hard drive and open and modify files and programs. Modifying or deleting configuration files could be disastrous.
File/Mail Document - "Mail Document" allows patrons to try to send mail. Even if the library has disabled the ability to send mail by leaving the Options/Preferences/Mail Server line blank, the Mail Document option will open, the patron will try to send mail, and only then will discover that they can't send mail. Better to disable the "Mail Document" feature.
Unknown File Type - The "Unknown File Type" Dialog Box pops up whenever a patron clicks on a link that contains a file type that Netscape can't handle. If the patron next clicks on the "Configure a Viewer" option, a dialog box pops up allowing the patron to Browse files on the hard disk.

There have been postings that Netscape may be developing a kiosk-mode version of Netscape to deal with these issues - real soon now. Until that happens, you may benefit from the following:

The Berkeley Public Library, when preparing for Public Internet Access (as part of the California InFoPeople Project, wrote Netscape for permission to disable some of the Options.

We used Borland's Resource Workshop to edit Version 1.2 of Netscape and then, discovered it wouldn't work with versions 2.0x and 3. We found that Microsoft's Visual C++ would. We edited the 16 bit versions of Netscape 2.01 and 3 using Microsoft's Visual C++ 4.0.

If you are interested in what worked for us, please check the following:

Editing Netscape 1.2 for Public Access Computers with Borland's Resource Workshop Version 4.5
Editing Netscape 2.01 and 3 for Public Access Computers with Microsoft's Visual C++ Version 4.0 *
Update: for information on the differences in editing Netscape 4, see the excellect article, Exploiting and Abusing Netscape Navigator, by Tim Kambitsch, Dayton & Montgomery County Public Library.

* Note: We used Visual C++ to edit the Windows 3.11, 16 bit versions of Netscape 2.01 and 3 using the Windows 95 operating system. When we tried to edit the Windows 95, 32 bit versions of Netscape 2.01 and 3 we discovered it wouldn't save the changes. We found that Visual C++ would make the changes to the 32 bit versions of Netscape 2.01 and 3 only if it was running on the Windows NT operating system! Please see Microsoft's Knowledgebase Article Q139030 for an explanation of sorts as to why.

**Note: In response to several past requests and possible future ones - We do not and will not provide edited versions of Netscape for others. We do not believe Netscape would condone such an activity.

***Final Note: - We are no longer editing Netscape in this way. We recommend a third-party security software such as Hyper Technology's WinSelect Kiosk.