If you clicked on a link and Netscape responded by filling your browser window with gibberish, the link was probably not to an HTML document, but Netscape tried to read it as one anyway.

You can easily set up Netscape to handle non-HTML files. It takes about five minutes.

Using following instructions, you'll tell Netscape that files with the .doc extension are Microsoft Word documents. Once Netscape knows this, it will launch Word whenever you click on a link that points to a .doc file.

Follow the same procedure for other file types, such as .ppt, substituting the appropriate application.

Netscape Navigator 4 and above

1. In the browser window, under the Edit menu, choose Preferences...
2. In the window on the left, click on "Applications," which is under "Navigator."
3. Click the Create New Type button.
4. In the dialog box that appears, enter "Microsoft Word Document" in the Description of Type field, "application" in the MIME Type field. In the File Extensions field, enter "DOC" (without the quotes).
5. In the Application to use field, enter the path for Microsoft Word. It is probably c:\msoffice\winword\winword.exe, but you may want to browse to find winword.exe.

6. Hit the OK button.

Netscape Navigator 3

1. In Netscape, click on the Options menu, then General Preferences...
2. Click the Helpers tab.
3. Click the Create New Type button.
4. In the dialog box that appears, enter "application" in the Mime Type field and "msword" in the Mime Sub Type field. Hit the OK button.
5. In the File Extensions box, enter "DOC" (without the quotes).
6. In the Action/Launch the Application field, enter the path for Microsoft Word. It is probably c:\msoffice\winword\winword.exe, but you may want to browse to find winword.exe.
7. Hit the OK button.