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Dani 5,664 The Queen of DaniWeb

I found this in a few different places around the 'net - hopefully it's helpful:

Turn Off, Display, and Select an Animated Character in Search Companion in Windows XP

This article describes how to turn off, display, and select a different animated screen character in Search Companion.

How to Turn Off the Animated Screen Character

  • Click Start, and then click Search.
  • In the Search Companion dialog box, click Change Preferences.
  • In the How do you want to use Search Companion box, click Without an animated screen character.

The screen character is no longer displayed in Search Companion.
Note: You can also right-click the screen character, and then click Turn off the animated character in the You rang box.

How to Display the Animated Screen Character

  • Click Start, and then click Search.
  • In the Search Companion dialog box, click Change Preferences.
  • Click With an animated screen character in the How do you want to use Search Companion box.

The screen character is displayed in Search Companion. How to Select a Different Animated Screen Character

  • Click Start, and then click Search.
  • In the Search Companion dialog box, click Change Preferences.
  • Click With a different character in the How do you want to use Search Companion box.
  • Click Back or Next in the Which character would you like to use box to view the characters.
  • When the character that you want is displayed, click OK.

The screen character that you selected is displayed in Search Companion.
Note: You can also right-click the screen character, and then click Choose a different animated character in the You rang box. Troubleshooting
If the Search Companion dialog box is not displayed, press F3 to open it.
You can also open the Search Companion dialog box when you press F3 in Windows Explorer, My Computer, or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

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Dani AI

Generated

Good catch, — those GUI steps are the standard Microsoft instructions. A few additional notes and quick troubleshooting tips that complement the steps above without repeating them:

Search Companion’s animated characters are implemented with Microsoft Agent and are purely cosmetic. Turning the animation off only affects the character display; the search functionality itself stays the same. The preference is a per‑user setting, so a problem that affects one account may not affect another.

If the character option or characters themselves are missing or ignored:

  • Test with a different user account to see whether the problem is profile‑specific.
  • Run System File Checker from an elevated command prompt (sfc /scannow) to repair any missing or damaged system files (the XP CD or repair source may be required).
  • On managed machines, check with the administrator — a Group Policy or restricted user rights can prevent changing this setting.
  • If characters were removed or corrupted, reinstalling the Microsoft Agent components or applying Windows Update/Service Pack will restore the supporting files.

If the goal is to change the default for multiple machines, enforce the preference centrally (Group Policy or logon script) rather than relying on each user to change it manually.

For the official instructions and additional Microsoft troubleshooting details, search Microsoft Support for the article titled “Turn Off, Display, and Select an Animated Character in Search Companion in Windows XP.”

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