This article assumes you are using the last version of Internet Explorer on Mac OS-8 or 9.

GO TO: The most frequent problem Mac OS-9 users have.

I. Getting the link in your browser

You'll receive a link from ProComm in your email. When you click that link, your e-mail client should hand off requests for either http or ftp links to the default Internet browser on your Mac. Your link will look something like this:

ftp://sample:123456789@144.228.88.106

Note: Quite a few email clients display your messages in a window with two panes. The upper pane shows the list of messages in your Inbox and the lower pane is a preview of the message selected. If you double click a message in the upper pane, it will open in its own window. Some email clients will only let you launch links from this view and not from the preview pane. Likewise, these same clients will also prohibit selection of text or copying of test in the preview pane.

If clicking on the link fails, try highlighting the entire link, copying it and pasting it into the URL address field in your browser. Make sure you copy the link as it appears above without any > or < symbols your email client may have added. Again, if you are unable to highlight the text in order to copy it, you might not have opened the email in its own window. Double click the email to open it.

II. Internet Explorer set up

The default setup of Internet Explorer will NOT work for you. From Apple, your Mac is set to use the Network Browser for links that call on the ftp protocol. You should change this to make Internet Explorer handle the transfer or you can set it up to hand off to a stand-alone ftp client like Fetch or Vicom FTP Client. To make this change, follow the directions below:

1. Open Interet Explorer
2. From the Edit Menu, select Preferences...
3. In the Internet Explorer Preferences left pane, scroll down to the Network disclosure triangle and highlight Protocol Helpers

4. In the right pane you should see a list of protocols and their associated Applications. Click the word Protocol above the list to sort the list of protocols alphabetically. Highlight ftp (about 7 or 8 down.)
5. If it says Internet Explorer, you can cancel this operation. If it says Network Browser, click the CHANGE button.
6. In the resultant window,

click CHOOSE HELPER and locate the application (either Internet Explorer or a ftp client like Fetch or Vicom FTP Client) on your hard drive.

III. Internet Explorer, ftp and firewall settings

Depending on how your computer or network connects to the Internet and which firewalls --- either software or hardware --- are used to protect that connection, an ftp connection might fail in Internet Explorer. If you experience problems with Internet Explorer displaying an empty file list or if see the it stuck on "Getting File List" in the status bar at the page bottom, you might want to toggle the FTP mode your Mac is currently set to. Most of the time, Passive Mode is best, but if you're having a problem in passive, try the active mode. To do so:

1. Go to APPLE MENU:CONTROL PANELS:INTERNET
2. Click on the ADVANCED tab.