How to Download Microsoft Chat Characters

MORE INFORMATION

Downloading Characters Automatically

To download characters automatically that you do not have when you enter a room, or when users enter the room, follow these steps:

1. On the View menu, click Options.
2. On the Comics View tab, click to select the "Automatically download characters you don't have" check box.
3. Click OK.

For this method to work, the person with the character you want to download must meet the following requirements:

• Must be running Microsoft Chat 2.5
• Must have a downloadable character. Downloadable characters can be created with build 66 or later of Microsoft Chat Character Editor.
  
  For additional information about creating characters, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  
  178246 How to Create Your Own Characters for Microsoft Chat
• Must have the character placed correctly on a share as outlined in the Microsoft Chat Character Editor Readme.txt file.

Problems with Automatic Downloads: If there are any problems downloading characters automatically, error messages are not displayed. To see error messages resulting from download problems, right-click the name of the person in the user list who is using a custom character you want to download, and then click Download Comic Character. An error message should appear if there is a problem downloading the character.

Downloading Characters Manually

To download a character manually, follow these steps:

1. In the user list, right-click the name of the person who is using a custom character you want to download.
2. Click Download Comic Character.

The Download Comic Character command may be unavailable (dimmed) if any of the following conditions exists:

• The character is already downloaded.
• The character cannot be downloaded.

The Download Comic Character command may be missing if any of the following conditions exists:

• The person with the character you want to download is not using Microsoft Chat 2.5.
• The person with the character you want to download does not have an avatar created with a current version of Microsoft Chat Character Editor.

Troubleshooting Tips

Custom Character Is Not Downloaded:

Right-click the name of the person in the user list who is using a custom character you want to download, and then click Download Comic Character. The following error message may appear if there is a problem downloading the file where <xxx> is the name of the character, <srvr1> is the name of the server on which the character is located (this information is contained in the character itself), <dir1> is the folder containing the character, and <yyy.avb> is the actual character file.

If you receive this error message, the character may be referencing a server that is incorrect or currently inaccessible.

To verify whether the information is valid, try typing the FTP address and file name in your Internet browser. If the link is valid, your browser should try to download the file. If the information is not valid, you should receive an error message. The error message indicates that the link is invalid or that the server is down.

Workarounds:

To work around these problems, try the following tips:

• The person with the character you want can send it to you manually using the file transfer feature in Microsoft Chat. For information about transferring files, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  
  178246 How to Transfer a File in a Chat Room Using Microsoft Chat
• The person who wrote the character can try modifying it to work with a valid link.