KMeleonWiki > FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

General

• What is K-Meleon?
• What platforms does K-Meleon run on?
• What are the system requirements?
• What is new/improved/fixed in the latest version?
• How do I install/uninstall K-Meleon?

Features

• Why does K-Meleon not include feature "X" (e-mail client, etc.)?
• What level of support for standards does K-Meleon provide?
• Does K-Meleon include Internet Explorer-style features like Favorites and Fullscreen mode?
• Does K-Meleon include Netscape/Mozilla-style features like Bookmarks and Tabs?
• Does K-Meleon support Flash and Shockwave?
• Does K-Meleon support Java?

Bookmarks, Favorites, Hotlists, and Hotlinks

• How do I use my existing Netscape/Mozilla Bookmarks?
• How do I use my existing Internet Explorer Favorites?
• How do I use my existing Opera Hotlist?
• What are Hotlinks in the Tools menu?
• How do I customize my Bookmarks?
• How do I customize my Favorites?
• How do I customize my Hotlist?

Plugins

• What do each of the K-Meleon plugins do?
• How do I enable or disable a K-Meleon plugin?
• How do I enable a 3rd party/Netscape plugin?
• How do I enable Java?

Customization and Options

• Does K-Meleon support command line options?
• How do I set the home page and other browser preferences?
• How do I customize key commands?
• How do I set up macros?
• How do I set up profiles?
• How do I configure proxies?
• Does K-Meleon provide localization/multi-language support?
• How do I change the toolbar background image?
• Does K-Meleon support skins (themes)?

Privacy

• What privacy features does K-Meleon include?
• How does K-Meleon allow you to control cookies?
• How can you control the browser identity?
• How do you block popup and popunder windows in K-Meleon?

Security

• Does K-Meleon support SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)?
• What other security options does K-Meleon include?

Troubleshooting

• Why do I get an error messages on Windows 95/98 or Windows NT related to MFC42.dll? Why do the text menus not display when K-Meleon starts?
• Why does "Site X" not display properly? Is it a K-Meleon bug?
• Why does ZoneAlarm (or other personal firewalls) issue an alert that K-Meleon is requesting server rights?
• Why does K-Meleon not display colors properly when the monitor resolution is set to 256 colors?
• Why do the menus not display properly when you have enabled the Silver theme in Windows XP?
• When opening a URL from a mail program or shortcut, K-Meleon opens two windows or displays a "Can't open..." error, even though it is, in fact, displaying the page.
• Why do the bookmark and other plugin menus not appear after installation?
• Where can I get more help?

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General

What is K-Meleon?

K-Meleon is an extremely fast, customizable, lightweight web browser based on the Gecko layout engine developed by Mozilla which is also used by Firefox. K-Meleon is free, open source software released under the GNU General Public License.

What platforms does K-Meleon run on?

K-Meleon is designed specifically for Microsoft Windows (Win32) operating systems. There are no plans to port K-Meleon to other platforms. If you are looking for a Gecko-based browser for Linux, visit the Galeon project. Camino is a Gecko-based browser for Mac OS X.

What are the system requirements?

While a Pentium level processor is recommended, K-Meleon can run on a 486 system that meets the minimum RAM requirements. Please consult the Release Notes for particular versions of K-Meleon.

What is new/improved/fixed in the latest version of K-Meleon?

Please consult the Release Notes for that particular version of K-Meleon.

How do I install/uninstall K-Meleon?

Please consult the Release Notes for the particular version of K-Meleon you want to install/uninstall.

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Features

Why does K-Meleon not include feature "X" (e-mail client, etc.)?

K-Meleon is intended to be an extremely fast, customizable, lightweight web browser. It is designed to be a browser only, not a suite. Thus, it does not include features such as an e-mail client or a web page editor, which can bloat and slow K-Meleon down. Users are encouraged to use their favorite applications for these and other particular purposes. The K-Meleon developers will consider enhancements that improve the performance and usefulness of the browser.

What level of support for standards does K-Meleon provide?

K-Meleon uses the Gecko rendering engine developed for Mozilla which provides excellent support for current (X)HTML, CSS (level 1 and some level 2), and DOM standards.

Does K-Meleon include Internet Explorer-style features like Favorites and Fullscreen mode?

K-Meleon provides several features that will be familiar to users of Internet Explorer including:

• Fullscreen Mode: This mode can be entered and exited using the F11 key.
• Favorites: Your Favorites will be automatically imported when you install K-Meleon with the Favorites Plugin enabled. You'll find the Favorites available from the Menu Bar.
• Customizable Toolbars: You can adjust the order of appearance of the individual toolbars. You can also add and remove toolbar buttons through the toolbar configuration file.

Does K-Meleon include Netscape/Mozilla-style features like Bookmarks and Tabs?

K-Meleon provides several features that will be familiar to users of Netscape, Mozilla and Firefox including:

• Bookmarks: K-Meleon supports Netscape/Mozilla bookmarks.
• Preferences: You can access most of K-Meleon's preferences through the Netscape-style Edit - Preferences panel. A number of preferences are available from the main menu relative to the actions they control, similar to extensions in Mozilla and Firefox. Advanced preferences can be accessed from Edit - Advanced Preferences and Edit - Configuration or by typing about:config in the URL bar.
• Tabs: K-Meleon's "Layers" plugin provides tab-style support for displaying multiple windows on a toolbar within the browser.

Does K-Meleon support Flash and Shockwave?

Yes. The installation is the same as in the case of Firefox or SeaMonkey. You simply have to run the same exe files.

Does K-Meleon support Java?

K-Meleon supports Java. If you want to use Java in K-Meleon, see the section on How do I enable Java in K-Meleon?

Note: Java support will not work when the User Agent Browser Identification is set to MSIE 6.0 (Internet Explorer).

What is the Loader? How does it provide faster start-ups?

The Loader automatically loads portions of K-Meleon at start-up to allow K-Meleon to launch more quickly from the Desktop. The Loader is an optional component and can be enabled during the installation. Be aware that if you use the Loader, K-Meleon never "exits" so changes in various components will not take effect until you close the Loader and restart K-Meleon.

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Bookmarks, Favorites, Hotlists, and Hotlinks

How do I use my existing Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox Bookmarks?

The first time K-Meleon is run with the bookmarks plugin enabled, it automatically creates a new empty bookmarks file in your profile directory. You also have the option of using your existing Netscape, Mozilla or Firefox bookmarks file in K-Meleon by going to Preferences - Plugins - Configure, where you can locate the file. Keep in mind that by sharing the same bookmarks file among browsers, any changes made to the file by either browser will also be apparent in the other browser. In Mozilla, Netscape and Firefox, the bookmarks file is stored in your profiles directory, which is different depending on your operating system. The following example is for your Mozilla profiles directory.

• Windows95: \Windows\mozilla\
• Windows98 and ME: \Windows\application data\mozilla\
• WindowsNT: Winnt\Profiles\<user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<profile_name>\*.slt
• Windows2000 and XP: \Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<profile_name>\*.slt

Netscape creates its own folder in the same folder that contains Mozilla. Firefox creates its folder within the Mozilla directory. Mozilla (SeaMonkey) can use a file located anywhere.

If you share a bookmarks file with Firefox, K-Meleon ignores the live bookmarks and after the file is overwitten by K-Meleon's plugin, Firefox will not find the live bookmarks. Favicons get also lost when the file is saved by K-Meleon's plugin. Bear this in mind when you answer the question "The Bookmarks file was not created by this plugin. Would you like to save your changes?"

If you share a bookmarks file with SeaMonkey, the bookmarks which are originally a group of tabs (layers) appear in K-Meleon as a folder. You can delete from or add to this folder, after saving it will still show up as a a group of tabs in SeaMonkey.

Should you want to share a bookmarks file among the three Gecko-based browsers, the easiest way to do it would be navigating both SeaMonkey and K-Meleon to Firefox's bookmarks file.

How do I use my existing Internet Explorer Favorites?

K-Meleon automatically locates your Internet Explorer Favorites when it is run with the Favorites plugin enabled. From that point your Favorites are shared between K-Meleon and Internet Explorer. You also have the option to import your Favorites to your Bookmarks.

How do I use my existing Opera Hotlist?

The first time K-Meleon is run with the Hotlist plugin enabled, it will automatically create a new empty hotlist file in your profile directory. You also have the option of using your existing Opera hotlist file in K-Meleon by going to Preferences - Plugins - Configure and locating the file. Keep in mind that by sharing the same hotlist file, any changes made to the file by either browser will also be apparent in the other browser.

What are Hotlinks in the Tool menu?

Hotlinks are in a way K-Meleon's own bookmarking system. It is very simple and very efficient. You have the option to assign ten URLs to the Ctrl + 0, 1, ... 9 button combinations. Hotlinks are only available if the Macro Extension is installed.

How do I customize my Bookmarks?

You can add and edit Bookmarks through the Bookmarks menu. If you choose to share Bookmarks between K-Meleon and Netscape/Mozilla the changes will be available in your other browser as well.

How do I customize my Favorites?

You can add and edit Favorites through the Favorites menu. Choosing Explore... will open your Favorites in Windows Explorer.

How do I customize my Hotlist?

You can add URLs to the Hotlist through the Hotlist menu. If you choose to share Hotlist between K-Meleon and Opera, your additions will be available also from within Opera.

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Plugins

What do each of the default K-Meleon plugins do?

• Bitmapped Menus: Display icons in menus
• Netscape Bookmark: Netscape/Mozilla bookmarks
• External Control: Allows programmers the ability to interface with K-Meleon from within their own programs
• IE Favorites: Internet Explorer Favorites
• Fullscreen: Add full screen mode where K-Meleon runs without "chrome" using all available screen space
• History: Add dropdown history capability to the back/forward button menus and global history of visited sites
• Hotlist: Opera Hotlist
• Layered Windows: "Tab-like" behavior by grouping windows together and keeping most of them invisible
• Macro Extension: Adds macro language support which enables many additional features in K-Meleon
• Macro utilities: Extends the functionality of the Macro Extension plugin to rename, create, delete files and append text to a file
• Rebar Menu: Makes the menu a rebar (toolbar) like the other toolbars. This means you can move it around just like a normal toolbar. This may break compatability with screen-readers
• Toolbar Control: Control of toolbar icons and properties
• Mouse Gestures: Adds the ability to perform commands and macros with a combination of mouse movement and right clicks. (default: back=left, forward=right)
• Privacy: Control privacy-related settings

How do I enable or disable a K-Meleon plugin?

To enable a plugin: Click on the Edit menu and then select Preferences - Plugins. In the Plugins window, select the plugin from the list and click the Enable/Disable button. Its icon will change to a checkmark on a green background. The next time K-Meleon runs, the plugin will be loaded.

To disable a plugin: Select the plugin from the list and click the Enable/Disable button. When the icon is unchecked, the plugin will be disabled the next time K-Meleon runs.

How do I enable a 3rd party/Netscape plugin?

K-Meleon automatically detects these 3rd party plugins: Acrobat Reader, Sun JRE, Quicktime, Windows Media Player 7. Flash and Shockwave detect K-Meleon.

If it is not done automatically, any Mozilla plugins should work by being copied into the plugins directory under K-Meleon. You can check the status of any plugin by entering about:plugins in the K-Meleon location bar. A page will be displayed that shows all of your currently installed plugins. A comprehensive list of plugins and instructions on how to enable them for Mozilla-based browsers is available.

How do I enable Java in K-Meleon?

You must first install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to run Java applets in K-Meleon. You can download the latest version from http://www.java.com/en/index.jsp. After you install JRE, K-Meleon automatically detects your JRE installation and no other configuration is necessary. To see if JRE is properly installed, type about:plugins in the URL bar. If you see Java Plug-in listed, K-Meleon has properly recognized the JRE.

Note: If you change the User Agent/Browser Identification, Java may not work.

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Customization and Options

Does K-Meleon support command line options?

Yes. Please review the page about command line options.

How do I set the home page and other browser preferences?

The home page and other browser preferences can be set in the preferences panel which can be accessed by selecting the Edit menu and the Preferences option. There are also additional preferences available throughout the UI (User Interface) within the main menu and by right-clicking various toolbar buttons. For developers and advanced users, a complete list of the K-Meleon specific preferences is available.

How do I customize key commands?

Key commands can be enabled, disabled, and modified by clicking on the Edit menu, selecting Preferences - Configs, and then selecting the Accelerators tab. A step-by-step guide to modify the key commands is available.

How do I set up macros?

Macros can be enabled, disabled, and modified by clicking on the Edit menu and then selecting Preferences - Plugins. Select Macro Extension Plugin and then click on the Configure button. Follow the instructions provided in the macros.cfg file. See the Documentation section for more examples.

How do I set up profiles?

Profiles can be added, deleted and renamed using the profile manager (choose Edit > Manage Profiles...). For advanced customization, you might want to review the details on profile location.

How do I configure proxies?

Click on the Edit menu, select Preferences, and then Proxies to configure your proxy settings. K-Meleon can also be configured to work properly with proxies such as Junkbuster that do not support the most recent HTTP specification. By default, K-Meleon tries to use HTTP 1.1. To use K-Meleon with a proxy that only supports HTTP 1.0, change the HTTP version under Edit - Preferences - General.

K-Meleon only accepts hostnames for manual proxies.

Does K-Meleon provide localization/multi-language support?

We have a number of translations for the menu and tool bars in our Resources section. K-Meleon also automatically attempts to recognize character sets and display them properly.

How do I change the toolbar background image?

You can change the image used for the background image or even turn it off by clicking on the Edit menu and then selecting Preferences - Display. A help guide? for using this feature is available.

Does K-Meleon support skins (themes)?

Yes. K-Meleon is probably the easiest browser to skin. You find a number of skins on the KMeleonThemesWiki page. In order to install one, you simply have to extract a zip file into the \K-Meleon\skins directory. You can find detailed instructions on the ChangeSkin page. A tutorial on how to create skins is also available: TutorialSkinning.

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Privacy

What privacy features does K-Meleon include?

K-Meleon allows you to control cookies the browser accepts. It also allows you to control the browser identity. You also have the ability to control and disable popup and popunder windows. The Privacy Plugin allows you to delete all data accumulated during a browser session including Cache, Cookies, History, URL Bar History and Passwords. Advanced users can setup additional site-policy privacy features by editing the prefs.js file. See http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/components/ConfigPolicy.html for more details on advanced privacy features.

How does K-Meleon allow you to control cookies?

K-Meleon gives you basic control over cookies in the Preferences panel under the Privacy option. You can allow all cookies, only allow cookies from the site you are visiting or block all cookies. For more extensive cookie handling, you can use the Cookie Manager available from Tools - Privacy - Permissions.

How can you control the browser identity?

K-Meleon allows you to set the UserAgent string that identifies the browser to the sites that it visits. You can access this feature by selecting the User Agent option in the Tools menu.

How do you block popup and popunder windows in K-Meleon?

By default, popup windows are blocked in K-Meleon. You can unblock popups via the Preferences panel under Privacy. For quicker access to this setting and other privacy related settings, go to Tools - Privacy. Within that menu there is also a Permissions menu which contains a Popup Manager that allows you to specify sites you wish to allow popups on.

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Security

Does K-Meleon support SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)?

K-Meleon 0.9 provides SSL support.

What other security options does K-Meleon include?

K-Meleon allows you to disable Java, JavaScript, Images, Image Animation and HTTP Referer sending. These options are available from Tools - Privacy. For even quicker access to these and other privacy features, you can enable the Privacy Bar from View - Toolbars.

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Troubleshooting

Why do I get an error messages on Windows 95/98 or Windows NT related to MFC42.dll? Why do the text menus not display when K-Meleon starts?

The dlls shipped with Windows are improved and enhanced with each version. Users of older Windows versions, Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, may have to update some dlls to run K-Meleon. If you experience problems with MFC42.dll or with menus and plugins not displaying, please download the following update:

• Vcredist.exe
  • To obtain this update, download VC6RedistSetup.exe here. When you run VC6RedistSetup.exe, it will install Vcredist.exe into a directory that you specify. Browse to that directory and run Vcredist.exe to install the appropriate updates.
  • Users on WindowsME and Windows 2000 should go to the Windows Update web site to download the appropriate updates.

• • If you do not have Internet Explorer installed or are using a version older than 5.0, you need to install an update to comctl32.

K-Meleon does not use Internet Explorer components. The libraries which are used are only a set of controls which are used commonly by Windows applications.

Why does "Site X" not display properly? Is it a K-Meleon bug?

A site not displaying properly is normally caused by one of two issues:

1. The site is not compliant with current HTML standards.
2. The display problem is due to a Mozilla bug.

Please report these bugs and we will attempt to determine the source of the problem. Should you encounter this problem, for convenience you can quickly view the same site in Internet Explorer by right-clicking on the page or link and choosing View In IE.

Why does ZoneAlarm (or other personal firewalls) issue an alert that K-Meleon is requesting server rights?

The Personal Security Manager (PSM) in Mozilla, which K-Meleon is built on, uses sockets for communication between its security components. These communications are internal to the browser and do not go out to the Internet. There is no danger in allowing K-Meleon this access.

Why does K-Meleon not display colors properly when the monitor resolution is set to 256 colors?

Mozilla does not provide proper support for 256 colors. See Mozilla Bug #88560?

Why do the menus not display properly when you have enabled the Silver theme in Windows XP?

This is a known issue with K-Meleon when using the Bitmapped menus plugin with the Silver theme enabled in Windows XP. The current workaround is to disable the Bitmapped menus plugin.

When opening an URL from a mail program or shortcut, K-Meleon opens two windows or displays a "Can't open..." error, even though it is, in fact, displaying the page.

This type of problem is usually the result of the DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) option being set in the Windows registry for the type of URL that you are trying to open. Go to the Windows Start menu, select Settings, Folder Options, then select the File Types tab. After you find the URL type in the list, click Edit, click Edit again, uncheck the "Use DDE" box, then click "OK" until you are out of the dialog.

If you know what you are doing, you can delete the DDE flag directly in the Windows registry for the URL type.

Why do the bookmark and other plugin menus not appear after installation?

One or more DLL files are missing. A known culprit is the abscence of msvcp60.dll. Windows 2000 users, download this dll and copy it to C:\winnt\system. This file is also in the Support/Tools folder in SUPPORT.CAB on your Windows 2000 install disk. Windows98 & Me users can get it from the Microsoft Vcredist.exe file.

Where can I get more help?

Submit your questions to the K-Meleon Forums. If you think you have found a bug, ask first in the Forums. Then file a bug report in our Bug Reporting System.