Erase Netscape Navigator's trail

By Andy Walker

Question: Can you advise on Netscape? How do I delete the contents of the pull-down URL menus? The one that shows sites previously visited. -- J.R.J.

Answer: Removing the URLs in Navigator 4.0's Location pull-down menu is not as simple as finding a button and pushing it. On the other hand, it's no more difficult than editing a text file. The information that follows applies to the Windows 95 and Windows NT versions of Netscape Communicator 4.0. (Information on older versions is available at: http://help.netscape.com/kb/consumer/19961024-3.html.)

The URLs (or web addresses) in Navigator's Location pull-down menu are stored by Netscape in a file named prefs.js. You'll find this file in a sub-directory under the directory where Netscape Communicator is installed.
If you used the default installation you'll find it at C:ProgramFilesNetscapeUse rsprefs.js. Note that is probably the name of the configuration you specified during installation. Mine, for example, is awalker.

Locate this file on your hard drive and use a plain text (or ASCII) editor like Windows Notepad, and open it. You'll see several lines in that file which read something like this:

user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_1", "http:// help.netscape.com/");
user_pref ("browser.url_history.URL_2", "http://altavista.digital.com/");
user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_3", http://www.edmontonjournal.com/").

These lines define what shows up in the "Location" pull-down menu. Delete all of these lines, but keep all other lines in the file, then save your changes.

Next time Netscape Communicator starts, the Location pull-down menu should be empty.