If you have downloaded Firefox2.0 you’ve no doubt noticed the spelling corrections littering your screen! Firefox2.0 will spell check anything you type into the web browser be it an email, a web form, or anything else you might be doing. Granted, immediate spell check is a nice feature to have while browsing the web, I’ve quickly noticed that many properly spelled words are underlined in red - this distracts me! So here is a quick easy way to help you out.
If you are a Microsoft Word user, you’ve no doubt made a custom dictionary by now to include words like your name, company, etc. Well, it just so happens that you can take the knowledge you have equipped Microsoft Word to use, and now place it into Firefox. The steps are simple and short, so read on!
First I’m going to suggest that you close all Firefox sessions and Microsoft Office applications. Next you will need to open the custom.dic file. This file can be found by browsing to C:\Documents and Settings\(your profile name)\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof. Double click to open this file (custom.dic) in Notepad and you will find one word entry per line, this is your dictionary file. Copy all entries from this file. Now browse to C:\Documents and Settings\(your profile name)\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles and look for a file named ‘persdict.dat.’ It is okay if this file does not exist, as it won’t if you have not made an custom entries prior to this point in Firefox. Within this folder, you can right click, Select NEW, and then choose Text Document from the list. You may name the file anything you wish temporarily. Now open your newly created file and paste your previously copied data into the file. There should be one entry per line. Now save the document and exit. Take your newly created word document, right click, Rename. You should now rename the file to ‘persdict.dat’ (without the quotes). Whala! Just as easy as that, your Firefox 2.0 spell checker gets all the intelligence of your Microsoft Word dictionary. Spiffy Eh?!
If you have any questions, please leave a comment! If you haven’t yet upgraded to Firefox2.0 or you’ve never used Firefox, I suggest you go download Firefox2.0 and give it a try!
[…] I will admit, my roommate beat me to this post, as I was still researching it, but there is a good reason mine took a bit longer, and a good reason to wait for it. Jeff’s idea to sync the two dictionaries is outlined in his post, but basically what he instructs his readers to do is to copy the Microsoft dictionary over and then the Mozilla one and the Microsoft one will have the same base, and can then go on their merry way. […]
I am using firefox to facilitate my schooling and Capella university in a masters program. I am looking for a very stable system and I hope this is a good one.
Clark Williams