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This procedure allows you to copy Microsoft Office 2003 settings (including Outlook AutoCorrect options) to another PC.
This tutorial is valid for Windows XP with Microsoft Office 2003.
It is likely that this also works on other Windows versions with other Microsoft Office versions.

On the PC you would like to EXPORT Microsoft Office settings, do this:

1. Exit any Office applications that are running.
2. Click Start, click Programs, click Microsoft Office, click Microsoft Office Tools, click Microsoft Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard.
3. Go through the Wizard. Don’t change any settings.
4. When completed, navigate to "%userprofile%\My Documents" folder.
5. Cut and Paste the file “New Settings File.OPS” to a USB or CD.

On the PC you would like to IMPORT Microsoft Office settings, do this:

1. Place the file “New Settings File.OPS” from the USB or CD in "%userprofile%\My Documents" folder.
2. Exit any Office applications that are running.
3. Click Start, click Programs, click Microsoft Office, click Microsoft Office Tools, click Microsoft Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard.
4. Click “Restore previously saved settings to this machine”.
5. Click Next.
6. Browse to the file “New Settings File.OPS” location.
7. Click Finish and you’re all done.

Links:

• Description and use of the Save My Settings Wizard

[Source: Wikipedia]

In February 2009, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for version 3.5 of the .NET Framework. This update also installed Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant add-on (enabling ClickOnce support).
[Microsoft may be Firefox's worst vulnerability]

The update received a moderate amount of media attention after users discovered that the add-on could not be uninstalled through the add-ons interface.
[How to remove the .NET Framework Assistant for Firefox]
[Remove the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant (ClickOnce) Firefox Extension]

Several hours after the website Annoyances.org posted an article regarding this update, Microsoft employee Brad Abrams posted in his blog Microsoft’s explanation for why the add-on was installed, and also included detailed instructions on how to remove it.

On 16 October 2009, Mozilla blocked all versions of Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant from being used with Firefox and from the Mozilla Add-ons service.
[Mozilla Blocklist]

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This tweak allows you to set Firefox Google Search in English independently from your computer language settings and your location and allows you to clear cookies in Firefox 3+.

This tutorial is valid for Windows Operating System with Firefox 3+.

It is likely that this also works on other Operating Systems and/or in older Firefox versions than 3.

To set Firefox Google Search in English you need to modify the file “google.xml“, part of the Firefox installation.

First of all, close every Firefox instance.

Open the folder "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\" by clicking Start, then Run, in the Open box type the folder path and then click OK.

Copy the already present file “google.xml” to “google1.xml” in the same directory "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\".

This is to keep a back up copy of the original Firefox installation, in case you need to revert back to it.

Open the file “google.xml” with Notepad.

It would look like this “google.xml” but the long key string for the "Image" tag is different for every Firefox installation.

Add this statement “<Param name="hl" value="en"/>” to the “Param” list.

The file modified will look like this “google.xml“.

Save the file “google.xml” in the folder "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\" and close it.
Restart Firefox and see the results.

How to Clean Outlook 2003 Cache for better Performances
Windows 2000 and XP

1. Close Outlook.
2. Open the folder "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook" by clicking Start, then Run, in the Open box type the folder path and then click OK.
   Delete all the files in this folder except the “.pst” files.
3. Outlook file extensions explained
   • .dat (Microsoft Outlook Data file) [info]
   • .fav (Microsoft Outlook Favorites file) [info]
   • .nk2 (Microsoft Outlook Nickname Cache file) [info]
   • .oab (Microsoft Outlook Offline Address Book file) [info]
   • .ops (Microsoft Office Profile Settings file) [info]
   • .ost (Microsoft Outlook Offline file) [info]
   • .pab (Microsoft Outlook Personal Address Book file) [info]
   • .pst (Microsoft Outlook Personal Folder File) [info]
   • .rwz (Microsoft Outlook Rules Wizard file) [info]
   • .srs (Microsoft Outlook Send-Receive Settings file) [info]
4. Reboot your Desktop or Laptop PC.
5. Restart Outlook by clicking Start, then Run, in the Open box type the command "outlook /cleanprofile" and then click OK.
6. Press F9 to do synchronization. All the files will be regenerated.

Laptop or Desktop PC freezes randomly or is very slow to work or has poor performance
Windows 2000 and XP

Run Check Disk [CHKDSK] from a DOS window.
To open a DOS window: click Start, Run, in the Open box type “cmd /k chkdsk %homedrive% /f /r“, click OK.

You will receive the following message:

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process.
Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) _

Type “y” and hit enter, then reboot your computer.

If the hard disk is healthy, CHKDSK results will report this entry: 0 KB in bad sectors.
The results of a CHKDSK conducted on restart using Windows 2000 or later operating systems are written to the “Application Log”, with a “Source” name of Winlogon and a “Type” name of Information, and can be viewed with the “Event Viewer”.
To open Event Viewer: click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, Application Log.
If CHKDSK gives “0 KB in bad sectors”, then proceed with below troubleshooting, otherwise you need to replace the hard disk.

[Clean Computer Cache]

[Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance]

Run Disk Cleanup.

Run Disk Defragmenter.

Check if your hard disk is not full. Minimum free space required to allow a computer to work properly is 15%.

Check your RAM size: it should be minimum 512 MB, if less you also need a RAM expansion.
To check your RAM size, click Start, Run, in the Open box type “dxdiag“, click OK.
Click YES if prompted to accept data collection on the computer.

How to Automatically Run Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter
Windows 2000 and XP

This file “disk-cleanup-defrag.bat” is a batch file that recall the “Disk Cleanup” (cleanmgr.exe) and “Disk Defragmenter” (dfrg.msc) utilities.

To know more on how to use Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter, please read this Microsoft document: [Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance].

1. Download the text file [disk-cleanup-defrag_bat.txt] to your C: drive.
2. Rename the file as “disk-cleanup-defrag.bat“.
3. Double click the file “disk-cleanup-defrag.bat” to run it.

How to Clean the Computer Cache for better Performances
Windows 2000 and XP

1. Close every application.
2. Items in the following folders have to be deleted to clean PC, Browser and Office Cache.
   • Cookies:
     "%userprofile%\Cookies"
   • Browser History 1:
     "%userprofile%\Local Settings\History"
   • Browser History 2:
     "%userprofile%\Local Settings\History\History.IE5"
   • List of Programs that you most recently used:
     "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temp"
   • Browser Temporary Internet Files 1:
     "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files"
   • Browser Temporary Internet Files 2:
     "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5"
   • MicroSoft Office Temporary Files:
     "%userprofile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.MSO"
   • List of Files and Documents that you most recently used:
     "%userprofile%\Recent"
   • Empty this folder to restore Internet Explorer Security Settings Default level:
     "%userprofile%\UserData"
   • To open a folder, click Start, then Run, in the Open box type the folder path and then click OK.
3. Clean Java cache:
   Start, Settings, Control Panel, Java, General, Temporary Internet Files, Delete Files, check all the boxes, OK.
4. Disable Java cache:
   Start, Settings, Control Panel, Java, General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings, View Applets, uncheck Enable Caching, OK.
5. Empty Recycle Bin.

How to Clean the Computer Cache Automatically for better Performances
Windows 2000 and XP

Important !!! This article contains information about how to modify the Microsoft Windows Registry.
Make sure to back up the Registry before you modify it.
Make sure that you know how to restore the Registry if a problem occurs.
For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the Registry, click [256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry] to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

1. Download the text file [c-cleanup-cache_bat.txt] to your C: drive.
2. Rename the file as “c-cleanup-cache.bat“.
3. Open Windows Registry by clicking Start, then Run, in the Open box type “regedit” and then click OK.
4. Go to the string “Userinit” contained in the key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon“.
5. With a standard Windows installation the Userinit string contains the value:
   • Windows 2000: Userinit = “C:\WINNT\system32\userinit.exe,“
   • Windows XP: Userinit = “C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,“
   • Do not delete anything already present in Userinit !!!
6. Modify Userinit by adding the value “C:\c-cleanup-cache.bat,” in front of the already present values.
   • Windows 2000: Userinit = “C:\c-cleanup-cache.bat,C:\WINNT\system32\userinit.exe,“
   • Windows XP: Userinit = “C:\c-cleanup-cache.bat,C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,“
7. Make sure that every file name is separated by a comma [ , ] and there is no single quotation mark [ ' ] nor double quotation mark [ " ].
8. Close the Registry and restart the Computer.

This batch file will provide to automatically clean up the computer cache, also removing the index.dat files, at every start up.

See also:

• What are index.dat files?
• Clean Internet Explorer (up to version 6) Cache