| Microsoft Agent |
| What You Need To Use Microsoft Agent (Windows users only!) |
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Microsoft Agent 2.0 Setup
MsAgent was designed for Windows. But, thanks to
http://www.indocomp.com/
Netscape users can also
enjoy the technology. Click their link to install the
plug-in.
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Microsoft Agent is not an application that you can just run (like Word or Excel) and expect to have
characters automatically do things for you. Applications and Websites must be specifically
programmed to utilize Microsoft Agent and provide these capabilities for you. Many of these can
be found around the Microsoft Agent Ring.
Additional information and documentation can be found on the
Microsoft Agent Home Page.
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| System requirements |
Required
 Windows® XP/2000/NT4/Me/9x or later.
Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later.
A Pentium 100-MHz PC (or faster).
At least 16 MB of RAM.
At least 1 MB free disk space for the core components.
An additional 2-4 MB for each character you install.
An additional 32K for each language component (dll).
Recommended
An additional 1.6 MB free disk space if you plan to use the Lernout & Hauspie® TruVoice Text-To-Speech Engine for speech output.
An additional 22 MB free disk space if you plan to use the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine for speech input.
A Windows-compatible sound card.
A compatible set of speakers and microphone.
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Before you go ahead and start downloading everything on this page, here are listings of what is needed
for each operating system starting with the basic System Reqirements to run the program.
You may use these links or use the links further down the page where you will find
additional downloads.
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Windows98 or earlier users will need the following:
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WindowsXP users will need the following extras that didn't come with XP:
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Windows2000 will need the following extras that didn't come with Windows2000:
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Below are the setup instructions for installing Microsoft Agent manually. However it is easier to
install an application that does all this for you, like
MASH - The Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper.
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| STEP 1 |
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Install Microsoft Agent Core Components version 2.0 (395K)
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WINDOWS XP/2000/Me Users may skip this step. The Microsoft Agent Core
Components are already installed on Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Me.
Download the above MSAgent.exe setup program and run it to install the
core components. You may then delete the setup program.
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| STEP 2 |
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Install the Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice, Text-to-Speech Engine (English version) (1MB).
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The Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice Text-to-Speech (TTS) Engine provides speech
output capabilities for Microsoft Agent so you can hear what the characters are saying through your
sound speakers.
Download the above tv_enua.exe setup program and run it to install the TTS Engine. You
may then delete the setup program.
If you've already installed this, you should see Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice American English TTS
Engine in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs list.
Additional Lernout & Hauspie TTS3000 Engines may be downloaded from the table below. You
need to download and install both the TTS Engine and the Language Add-On for the desired Language.
For example, to install French Text-to-Speech, download and install both lhttsfrf.exe and agtx040C.exe
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Microsoft TTS Engines
Mary - Female Voice (English) 2.3MB
Mike - Male Voice (English) 2.4MB
Sam - Male Voice (English) 2.1MB
Microsoft Agent can utilize TTS Engines from many other speech vendors, including versions of ATT
Natural Voices, Digalo, Elan Speech, IBM ViaVoice, and more. The only requirement is that the TTS
Engine is SAPI 4.0 compatible. SAPI 5.0 is not currently supported.
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| STEP 3 (OPTIONAL) |
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Install the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine,
version 4.0 (6MB) |
This step is optional. You can download this later.
The Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine provides speech input capabilities for
Microsoft Agent. This allows you to speak to characters through a microphone. However, Microsoft
Agent must be specifically programmed to understand and interact with what you are saying.
Microsoft Agent does not support dictation.
Download the above actcnc.exe setup program and run it to install the TTS
Engine. You may then delete the setup program.
If you've already installed this, you will see Microsoft Agent Speech Recognition
Engine 4.0 (English) in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs list.
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| STEP 4 |
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Install the Microsoft Speech Control Panel
(840K) |
This step is optional. You can download this later.
The Speech Control Panel will add an icon to your Control Panel to enable you to
list the compatible speech recognition and text-to-speech engines installed on your system and customize
their settings for your use.
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| STEP 5 |
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Download some Microsoft Agent Characters |
There are many Agent characters available and many more are being created.
Now that you have Microsoft Agent installed on your computer, you only have to download additional
Characters (files with .ACS extensions) as they become available and save them to your
C:\WINDOWS\MSAGENT\CHARS or
C:\WINNT\MSAGENT\CHARS folder, depending
on your operating system.
Have Fun!!!
Welcome to the wonderful world of Microsoft Agent...
Microsoft Agent Setup Instructions and Microsoft Agent Detector script written by Gordon Scott Bell.
The Microsoft Agent Ring is sponsored by
MASH - Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper
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