Comparison between Outlook Express and MS Outlook

In this post, I am going to discuss the basic differences between MS Outlook and Outlook Express Both, Outlook Express and MS Outlook belong to “The Microsoft Outlook” family of Emails Clients.Outlook Express is best suited for the needs of home users as it is used for basic E-mailing functionality however, Outlook is designed to fulfill the needs of business users, it works well as a “Messaging” as well as “collaboration client”, you can also say that , “Its an Email client as well as a personal information manager”.

What is Outlook Express?
Outlook Express is included with Internet Explorer as a free version of Outlook e-mail and news client.  It supports the commonly used internet standards (IMAP, SMTP and POP3) that let you get the basic email functionality i.e.  Emailing, news, and address book.

Supported Microsoft Internet Explorer versions: All Versions from Internet Explorer 4.0 to Internet Explorer 6.0.

Supported Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows (Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003), Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9

What is MS Outlook?
MS Outlook comes with the Microsoft Office suite as a messaging and collaboration client, it is not a free version. Its basic functionality is similar to Outlook Express but it provides wider set of features that makes it suitable for business applications.

Supported Operating Systems: All versions of Windows later than Microsoft Windows 95, versions of Windows earlier than Microsoft Windows 95, and Macintosh platforms.

Some major differences between Outlook Express and MS Outlook:

• Integration with Microsoft Exchange Server: With the help of MS Outlook you can work in integration with Microsoft Exchange Server.
• Better templates for sending emails.
• Better Contact organization: MS outlook provides various features that let you organize your contact easily; also you can append additional information (such as phone numbers, address, company name and website.)With the contacts.
• Comprehensive calendar: There is no option in Outlook express to track appointments, set reminders, alarms and track important dates. But MS Outlook provides you comprehensive calendar that let you do all these activities.
• Task management: There is no task management feature in Outlook Express but with the help of tasks option in MS Outlook you can easily create task lists and can also set deadlines and priorities for various tasks.
• Synchronization feature: There is no Synchronization feature in Outlook Express.
• With the help of Synchronization feature in MS Outlook you can:
• Synchronize your email, calendar and tasks with smartphones.(To enjoy this Synchronization feature the smartphone must have Outlook installed or Windows Mobile).
• Synchronize your calendar and email with Google's Gmail and other Web-based email   programs.

MS outlook provides wider set of options as compared to Outlook Express, but still in some situations it is preferred to use Outlook Express. Such as, if you just need a simple email client with a smaller learning curve, you can choose Outlook Express. Or if you have less hard drive space then, Outlook Express is a better choice because MS outlook will require more use of Processor resources.

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Latest Android OS: “Jelly Bean”

Android Operating System is a Linux-based operating system that was developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Google also lead Android Open Source Project i.e (AOSP) and development team that handle all the task of maintenance and further development of Android.

Initially, Android OS was only limited to touch screen devices - smartphones and tablet computers but now, it is widely used for other electronics too due to its open and customizable nature. Now, it is used for wide variety of hardware including laptops, netbooks, eBook reader’s smart books and smart TVs (Google TV) etc.

It is also opted for alcove applications like apps in wristwatches, headphones, car CD and DVD players, automation systems, games consoles, cameras and a lot more.

Interim updates are made by AOSP in the Android OS; you can easily see the rapid releases and incremental updates in android OS for a gradual improvement in the functionalities.The first version of Android OS was Version1.5 (Cupcake) that was released on 30th April in 2009.The latest version of android is Android 4.1(Jelly Bean), the API level Distribution for Android 4.1.x (Jelly Bean) was done on 4th September, 2012.

Android 4.1(Jelly Bean) is an improvement of the previous version of Android i.e. Android 4.0 and it is  the fastest and smoothest version of Android among all the previous versions.

Prominent features of Android 4.1(Jelly Bean) Jelly Bean:

• Fast & smooth touch functionality that provides much better, reactive and uniform response for moving across the screen.
• Expandable and actionable notifications that let you have a better experience while viewing notifications on Google+.
• Widgets personalization features (widgets resizing, automatic positioning, interactive interface for the apps and widgets) let you customize and personalize your home screen in an easier manner.
• Superfast photo taking and sharing feature let you instantly view and swipe over the photos from camera to filmstrip view.
• A smarter keyboard with text-to-speech capabilities, auto keyboard guessing for the next word to be typed and more accurate and relevant dictionaries makes your typing process easier and better than before.
• Added features for Better Accessibility
• 'Gesture Mode' that lets the blind users have a reliable navigation over the UI with the help of touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output.
• Support for accessibility plugins that lets the blind users enable external Braille input and output devices (such as USB and Bluetooth).
• NFC-enabled Android Beam
• It lets you share photos, contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps. Between two NFC-enabled Android devices just by touching the devices back to back and then, tapping to beam whatever's on the screen.
• It lets you instantly pair your android device (phone or tablet) to Bluetooth devices just by tapping them together, thus it omits the need for “search and synchronization” process.To enjoy this feature the Bluetooth device must support the Simple Secure Pairing standard.
• Improved Google Search
• The superfast ”Voice Search” feature that  provides you much faster and accurate information just by speaking your search query ,before you even ask and thus, makes your search experience enjoyable.
• Knowledge Graph that lets you quickly explores and browses search results in lesser time.
• Automatic information Cards by Google that tells you the daily weather, traffic updates, train timings, live match score and a lot more information throughout the day, whenever you need.

I am sure after reading the improved features of Jelly Bean you will surely think of it. We can easily conclude that Jelly Bean provides a much better and charismatic experience to the users than, the previous Android versions. Well, As the Android versions are being updated each 6 to 9 months, we are going to enjoy the simplicity and beauty of Android, even more with the updates and new techniques coming in the forthcoming years. It’s not the end here, it’s a beginning.

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iPhone 5:The Latest Smart Phone

Apple has finally unveiled the iPhone 5 on September 12, 2012 in San Francisco; California. I was waiting so long for the launch date. You might also be eager to enjoy the enchanting features of the iPhone 5. It’s extremely attractive look and feel will surely attract you. Its 16GB version will cost $199, 32GB will cost $299 and 64GB version will cost $399.

Well, these prices seem too high but these are absolutely nothing for the charismatic iPhone5.
Let’s have a brief look at the improved Features of iPhone 5:

• Improved Screen Stature
• iPhone 5 is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S.
• iPhone 5  has a four-inch screen  which is larger than the 3.5-inch screen of iPhone 4S.
• The previous versions contain four rows of apps on the home screen, the iPhone 5 allows for five rows of apps.
• "Retina Display" with the high-definition technology : iPhone 5 provides better video and picture quality as compared to previous models. 

• IOS 6 processor
• Upgraded wireless technology that accelerates Web surfing. Web pages load 2.1 times faster and the Music app with songs will load 1.9 times faster.
• Passbook  feature which lets you store digital coupons, airline tickets and gift cards
• A6 chip is two times faster and 22 percent smaller than the current A5 chip.
• It offers faster Graphics.

• Easy photo Sharing: iPhone 5 avoids the need for messy attachments. Now, you can easily select a picture or pictures, and then email them to whomever you want.

• Improved "iSight" camera
• It lets you take low-light photos.

•  Panorama tool:  You can select the Panorama tool from option menu that let you take panoramic shot within seconds  

• Superior sound system
•  Improved  Ear Pods (headphones)
• The iPhone 5 gets three microphones, one more than the previous versions. 

•  The Diminishing Dock Connector with dubbed Lightning

• It's 80 percent smaller than the previous versions and has an all-digital, eight-signal design and an "adaptive interface”.

•  Improved Battery life  

• Smaller SIM card

•  Own mapping system instead of Google Maps

• It offers aerial views, three-dimensional renderings of many major cities.
• Siri :It’s a virtual assistant that narrates turn-by-turn directions 

• S4G-LTE network connectivity with the speeds of up to 100 megabytes per second

All the above features make the iphone5 the most popular among the all smart phones available in market. Don’t go for my words only, you can purchase the beautiful set and enjoy the advanced features. Apple is going to launch more advanced versions, World is going to drove in the world of iphones in the coming years. I am sure; you must be excited to see more updates in iphones.

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How to Migrate from Apple Mail to Outlook 2011 for Mac?

Do you know “why and how to migrate from Apple Mail to Outlook 2011?”
Before we discuss this further, let us have a brief introduction with “Apple Mail”.

What is Apple Mail?    
Apple Mail Email comes as default Email Client with Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X. It is also called as Mail.app. It was originally developed by NeXT. Later on; it was adapted to become Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X’s Mail application. Generally, Mac OS user opt this for emailing purpose as, it comes preinstalled with the Mac OS.

Apple Mail File Format:
The previous Version of Apple Mail (i.e. Mail.app 1.x) used MBOX file for storing the mail box data (Inbox, Drafts, Sent, and Notes folders etc.), which is stored at the location “/User/Library/Mail/Mailboxes/ directory”.
The later versions (Mail 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0) use .EMLX format for saving the Mail data.

Some prominent features of Apple Mail:

• It uses the SMTP, POP3, and IMAP protocols.
• It supports Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, Gmail and MobileMe.
• It supports MS Exchange Server 2007 functionality with the use of Exchange Web Services.
• It supports ActiveSync feature in the mobile version of Apple Mail. 

I hope, the above introduction will prove helpful for you to understand this article further. Now, let’s come to my main motive of writing this article that is...
Why and how to migrate from Apple Mail to MS Outlook for Mac 2011?
Apple Mail provides a lot of features but still, MS Outlook 2011 for Mac is better than Apple Mail, in both aspects i.e. emailing functionality as well as performance.

Choose MS Outlook for Mac 2011 if you want:

• Integration with a variety of email servers (such as Exchange Server)
• Scheduling meetings
• And enhanced Office functionality etc.
• The wider set of options available in MS Outlook makes it more popular among business users.

If, you are also willing to migrate from Apple mail to Outlook 2011 then, the Apple Mail files must be converted to the “.RGE” file which is supported by MS Outlook for Mac. For accomplishing the conversion process, you will require an “Apple Mail File to “.RGE” File Converter “tool.

These converter tools provide various options to convert Apple Mail file to “.RGE” file. Even a naive user can implicate the conversion process with the help of the intuitive interface provided by these tools. These tools let you preview the .RGE file before saving it in your system and the folder hierarchy of Apple Mail and other data remains intact. After conversion you can easily import the “.RGE” file in MS Outlook 2011 for Mac and thus, can access all your mailbox data in MS outlook. By this way, you can easily migrate Apple Mail to Outlook 2011 for Mac.

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How to Convert NSF to PST File?

In my previous article, I have given a brief introduction to Lotus Notes Email Client and Lotus Notes Recovery process. In this article, I am going to discuss NSF to PST File Conversion.
Basically, the need for NSF to PST File Conversion arises when you want to migrate from Lotus Notes to MS Outlook.

 

Need for NSF File to PST File Conversion arises if:

• An individual wants to convert NSF file to PST file 
• Lotus Domino server has been virus attacked
• NSF file has to be viewed in non-lotus notes email environment.
• Organizations want to switch from Lotus Domino Server environment to MS Exchange Server environment

NSF to PST Conversion Software is required for accomplishing the task of NSF to PST File Conversion. There is lots of Conversion tools available in the market which let you perform conversion of  your Lotus Notes Database (emails, address book, contacts, journals, calendar, to do list, Notes & tasks, email attachments  etc.) in PST File format as well as other file formats such as MSG and EML. Different converter tools possess different feature set.

Below are some prominent Features of NSF to PST Conversion Tools:

• Search Feature: These tools let you locate your NSF file for conversion; also you can search any local or server location for the NSF File.
• Selective NSF to PST conversion: After scanning the NSF file, all the items of user's mailboxes is shown in left pane, you can select the desired items to be converted or all items for conversion thus, let you perform selective conversion of mail items.
• Conversion from NSF to other file formats: These tools let you save the converted mail items into different file formats such as EML/MSG/PST; you can choose any of the options that suit your need.
• Wide Compatibility for:
• Lotus Notes Versions: 8.5, 8.0.2, 7.0, 6.5 and 6.0   
• MS Outlook Versions: 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000
• Operating System Versions: MS Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP and 2000
• Interactive and Easy-To-Use User Interface:  The Simple and easy-to-use graphical user interface makes the Conversion process easier and less time consuming.
• Different Options for saving the converted File: You can save the converted mail items in a new PST file or append them to an existing PST file; it’s totally up to you.
• Preview of Converted File: You can preview all converted mail items before actually saving them.

The NSF to PST conversion software are immensely empowered by various advance features that makes the NSF to PST conversion process interactive and easy to handle, even a new user can easily implicate the conversion process. So, these tools work well for both system administrators as well as home users without the need of extra assistance. If, you are also willing to migrate from Lotus Notes to Outlook, then choose a NSF to PST Converter Software, and convert NSF to PST file. Once it done then, you can import the converted file into MS Outlook and enjoy the various functionalities of Outlook.

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How to Recover Corrupted Lotus Notes files?

In this article, you will study how to do recovery of corrupted Lotus Notes files. Before going ahead, it would be better to have a brief introduction with Lotus Notes and its file format. This introduction will surely prove helpful to understand the Lotus Notes Recovery process.

First thing, what Lotus notes is?
Lotus notes is a proprietary of IBM, it provides a collaborative client-server platform and other functionalities (email, calendaring, contacts management, to do tracking, instant messaging .Lotus Domino is the application server. Lotus Notes client provides access to Lotus Domino applications and databases and it also work in collaboration with IBM Lotus Symphony which is an office productivity suite. Both Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino work in collaboration with numerous add-ons and business .applications.

What is the format of Lotus Notes databases?
Lotus Notes database is in NSF file format, ODS (On Disk Structure) is the other term that is used for NSF format. The user data, metadata and also design information is contained within NSF files.

Lotus Notes databases consist of many types of .NSF Files such as:
Mailbox: It stores Lotus Notes mails.
Address Book: It is also called names.nsf and it contains multiple contact records stored on a users PC.

What are the Reasons for Corruption of NSF File?

• Unexpected system shutdown
• Failure of hardware components
• Fatal Virus Infections
• Abrupt system shutdown
• NSF file header corruption
• Corruption during migration
• Checksum mismatch
• improper manipulation of database,
• Server crash, configuration issues etc.
• operating system or file system issues

 

Due to corruption of NSF file all your Lotus Notes Database becomes inaccessible. In such situation you can restore the Lotus Notes from a backup but, if you do not have any backup then, you need a NSF file recovery tool. These tools efficiently scan the corrupt NSF file to recover your vital data with the use of advanced and indigenous algorithms. 

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Why Do You Need MBOX File to PST File Conversion?

MBOX file format is used by email clients such as Thunderbird, Entourage, Spicebird, PocoMail, Eudora and Apple Mail, all the mail data (emails, contacts, notes, calendar entries etc.) in these Email Clients is saved in MBOX file format.

These mailbox files store each email message that you receive in sequential order in plain text format within single text file.  Eudora and Thunderbird Email Clients use .mbx file format, it’s a complex modification of MBOX file format. 

Why do you need to convert MBOX File to PST File?

In my previous post, I have discussed some of its features that make MS Outlook more popular and deployed than other email clients. Its multifarious features make the business users switch from their current Email Client to Outlook; it provides features that make it usable and poplar as an email client as well as personal info manager.

MBOX format is not supported by outlook so If you are also willing to switch to outlook. The next step is to convert the MBOX data into something i.e. PST file that the Outlook/Exchange world can understand. There is no manual method to convert MBOX File to PST File So, you need a MBOX to PST Conversion tool to Convert MBOX Files to Outlook PST Files. After converting MBOX File to PST File format, you can easily import the converted PST file into Outlook.

MBOX to PST Conversion tools let the user convert the MBOX File to PST File in few moments, you can also convert an entire identity folder containing multiple MBOX files to PST files. The conversion tools are highly reliable, easy to use and make the conversion process easier to handle.The MBOX to PST Conversion tools follow some common features however, these features may vary from tool to tool, different MBOX to PST Conversion tools possess different features.

Some common Features of MBOX to PST Conversion tools:

• The Email formatting and original hierarchy remains intact after the conversion process.

• Before saving  and importing the converted emails , the software shows the Preview of all converted emails

• Supports Thunderbird, Entourage, Spicebird, Pocomail, AppleMail, and Eudora mail clients

• Either you can save the converted mails into a new PST file or into an existing PST file.

• Provides search feature that let you find the file that is to be converted.

               As, I have discussed above Outlook provides more functionalites as compared to other Email Clients.If you are also willing to switch from your current Email Client to Outlook then, you need to convert your MBOX File into PST File, choose some proficient MBOX to PST converter utility install, browse, open and convert MBOX File to Outlook PST format. Now, import the converted PST file to Outlook and enjoy working with the feature set and various functionalities of Outlook after importing all your data into outlook.

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Migration from Windows Live Mail to MS Outlook

There are many email clients are available such as Outlook Express in Windows XP, Windows Mail in Windows Vista, similarly Windows live mail is the basic email client for window 7, it is one of the most popular email client provided by Microsoft. Its functionality is similar to MS Outlook in various aspects. Window live mail is a free of cost email client; it’s a default email client in Windows 7 and comes with the installation of window 7
Some features of Window live mail:   

• Multiple email accounts organization: It organizes multiple email accounts (Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail) on a single system.

• Don’t need MS Exchange Server: It performs information sharing with out the use of MS Exchange Server so you can access your emails in the absence of Internet

• Stores data in standard EML format: Windows Live Mail “store folder “contains individual folders for all users where the emails are stored in standard EML format.

Above given are some useful features of Windows Live Mail that makes it an efficient email client however, it has some flaws that make MS Outlook to be preferred over it.

Below are some crucial features that make Outlook more efficient as compared to Windows Live Mail:

• Data confidentiality in Outlook: Outlook data is stored in the local system which makes it more confidential and safe. 

In Window Live Mail, The data (i.e. EML files) is stored on the Internet cloud which is susceptible to attack by hackers, thus it lacks confidentiality of data.

• Outlook provides more features: Outlook provides a multitude of features (such as contacts, calendars, notes, journals.)For business personnel that are not present in windows Live Mail, that makes Outlook more popular than windows Live Mail.

• UTF-8 technolgy in Outlook: Outlook facilitates its earlier versions too, as it uses UTF-8 technology with the help of which it can represent every character in Unicode character set that makes it compatible with earlier versions.

Windows Live Mail doesn't use UTF-8 technology.

• Image format compatibility in Outlook: Outlook supports the image formats BNP, GIF, PNG but Windows Live Mail is not compatible with these image formats.

Currently, if you are using Windows Live Mail and willing to enjoy the various advanced feature of MS Outlook, then you need to switch form Windows Live Mail to Outlook.
But the Question that arises here is that “how to import Windows Live Mail data to Outlook by your own?” As you know Windows Live Mail stores the data in EML format and outlook supports PST file format, so, if you can convert the old EML data to PST file then you can easily import that to Outlook and resume your emailing process.

But how this conversion can be done??...
Here, Comes the need for Windows Live Mail to PST Conversion tools, these tools provides you various features that let you convert EML file to PST file. Well, it is just a short introduction to windows Live Mail to PST Conversion process, In my next post, you can read more points about  Windows Live Mail to PST Conversion tools So, be in touch.

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How to Fix? “Data error (cyclic redundancy check)”

MS Outlook is susceptible to different errors. As, I have discussed in previous post The Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) Error or Data Error is one of the most frequent error in MS Outlook email client. It may occur when you try to download the mails on system. In that case, to restore Outlook use the Inbox repair tool. In this article, I am going to discuss the step by step process to solve this error

To resolve this issue:

• Check Your Hard Disk for Errors

• Re-create Your Personal Folder File

Check Your Hard Disk for Errors

1.Open command prompt.

2.Type chkdsk /f

            Then press ENTER.

3. Press Y, press ENTER, and then restart your computer, if the following message appears:

“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) “

4.After completion of the above step, exit the command prompt.

5.Start Outlook, and check does the problem still persists,

If yes then, proceed to the next step.

Re-create Your Personal Folder File

1.Exit Outlook application, and then start Windows Explorer.

2.Create a backup copy of your PST file.(Outlook.pst)

The default location of Outlook.pst :

drive:\Documents and Settings\UserID\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

3.Rename Outlook.pst as "OLD.pst"by using the Rename option in File menu.

4.Run the Inbox Repair Tool to scan and repair the OLD.pst personal folder file.

5.Now, After creating the copy of your start Outlook and follow the below steps:

• When you will start Outlook you will receive a message that:

“Your personal folder file cannot be found.” then, Click OK.

This happened because you have renamed the original .pst file in step 3

• Go to Create/Open Personal Folder File dialog box and click open after typing the new pst file name

6.Follow the given steps to import data from OLD.pst to the newly created .pst.

1.Go to View>Folder View.

2.Go to File>Import and Export.

3.Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.

4.Click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.

5.Go to File to Import>Browse,

Proceed by clicking next, after selecting the OLD.pst file

6.Go to Select the folder to import from>Personal Folders.

7.Select the Include Subfolders check box.

8.After that, Click Finish.

If Inbox Repair tool fails to resolve this problem then, you can rescue the PST files by using a third party PST Repair tool .Before choosing a PST Repair tool, you need to evaluate its features as well compatibility with your needs. These tools provide a multitude of options to overcome any kind of corruption and impairment in the PST Files. So, if your PST file got corrupted then, choose a proficient PST Repair tool that fulfill your requirements and recover your corrupted PST files in few moments.  

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“File could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check.”

MS Outlook is one the most popular email clients. However, sometimes it is hard to manage when an error occurs while working with MS Outlook. If you are an expert then surely you can overcome such problem easily. If you are unaware how to resolved error “File could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check.” Then I would like to suggest before you deal with such errors, you need to know the reasons for that error so, that we can find some appropriate solution. I am discussing one of the common problems that I have faced.

Let’s have a brief introduction with the error:
“File xxxx.pst could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check.”
Or:
Data error (cyclic redundancy check)
Symptom:
When you try to download emails to your local computer, you may get the error message:
“File xxxx.pst could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check.”
Or:
Data error (cyclic redundancy check)

Also, it might be possible that you cannot view some of the downloaded emails.
If you click the Deleted Items folder, you are susceptible to receive the error message:

“Error 0x80040116”
Cause:
This issue may occur if your PST file is corrupted.

Resolution:
To resolve this issue you need to:

• Check Your Hard Disk for Errors

• Re-create Your Personal Folder File

To work deal with this issue, firstly you need to run the check disk command to “check your hard disk “for any errors”. After using this command check if the problem still persists.If yes then, proceed to the next step.Re-create Your Personal Folder File Then, use the Inbox repair tool (scanpst.exe) that will let you scan and repair the corrupted files.

If you have faced same error then, the above mentioned steps work well to resolve the problem but it may be possible that the problem still persists; In that case you need some PST repair software. Well this is a brief introduction only, in my next post I am going to elaborate the all these step and also, I am going to discuss some advance solutions that will prove helpful to deal with the above error, if the “Inbox repair tool” fails.

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