diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 18593f1a960..db656e8e7a2 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ ansys-api-fluent = "^0.3.28"
 ansys-platform-instancemanagement = "~=1.0"
 ansys-tools-filetransfer = ">=0.1,<0.3"
 ansys-units = "^0.3.2"
-beartype = ">=0.17"
 docker = ">=7.1.0"
 grpcio = "^1.30.0"
 grpcio-health-checking = "^1.30.0"
@@ -52,10 +51,8 @@ lxml = ">=4.9.2"
 nltk = ">=3.9.1"
 numpy= ">=1.14.0,<2.0.0"
 pandas = ">=1.1.0,<2.3"
-platformdirs = ">=3.6.0"
 psutil = ">=5.9.5"
 pyyaml = ">=6.0"
-requests = ">=2.32.3"
 h5py = { version = "==3.12.1", optional = true }
 
 [tool.poetry.group.docs]
diff --git a/src/ansys/fluent/core/__init__.py b/src/ansys/fluent/core/__init__.py
index b69dda70bd9..dd2b250ca58 100644
--- a/src/ansys/fluent/core/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ansys/fluent/core/__init__.py
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 import pydoc
 
-import platformdirs
-
 # isort: off
 # Logging has to be imported before importing other PyFluent modules
 from ansys.fluent.core.logging import set_console_logging_level  # noqa: F401
@@ -38,7 +36,7 @@
     MeshingEvent,
     SolverEvent,
 )
-from ansys.fluent.core.utils import fldoc
+from ansys.fluent.core.utils import fldoc, get_examples_download_dir
 from ansys.fluent.core.utils.fluent_version import FluentVersion  # noqa: F401
 from ansys.fluent.core.utils.setup_for_fluent import setup_for_fluent  # noqa: F401
 from ansys.fluent.core.warnings import (  # noqa: F401
@@ -78,9 +76,7 @@ def version_info() -> str:
     return _VERSION_INFO if _VERSION_INFO is not None else __version__
 
 
-EXAMPLES_PATH = os.path.join(
-    platformdirs.user_documents_dir(), "ansys_fluent_core_examples"
-)
+EXAMPLES_PATH = str(get_examples_download_dir())
 
 # Host path which is mounted to the container
 CONTAINER_MOUNT_SOURCE = None
diff --git a/src/ansys/fluent/core/examples/downloads.py b/src/ansys/fluent/core/examples/downloads.py
index fb78879c0ad..6526f4b2e77 100644
--- a/src/ansys/fluent/core/examples/downloads.py
+++ b/src/ansys/fluent/core/examples/downloads.py
@@ -7,9 +7,8 @@
 import shutil
 import zipfile
 
-import requests
-
 import ansys.fluent.core as pyfluent
+from ansys.fluent.core.utils.networking import check_url_exists, get_url_content
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("pyfluent.networking")
 
@@ -86,7 +85,7 @@ def _retrieve_file(
 
     # Download file
     logger.info(f'Downloading URL: "{url}"')
-    content = requests.get(url).content
+    content = get_url_content(url)
     with open(local_path, "wb") as f:
         f.write(content)
 
@@ -166,8 +165,7 @@ def download_file(
                 return_without_path = True
 
     url = _get_file_url(file_name, directory)
-    head = requests.head(f"{url}")
-    if not head.ok:
+    if not check_url_exists(url):
         raise RemoteFileNotFoundError(url)
     return _retrieve_file(url, file_name, save_path, return_without_path)
 
diff --git a/src/ansys/fluent/core/launcher/launcher_utils.py b/src/ansys/fluent/core/launcher/launcher_utils.py
index ac1635ffe71..79739a07408 100644
--- a/src/ansys/fluent/core/launcher/launcher_utils.py
+++ b/src/ansys/fluent/core/launcher/launcher_utils.py
@@ -82,12 +82,13 @@ def _build_journal_argument(
 ) -> str:
     """Build Fluent commandline journal argument."""
 
-    from beartype import BeartypeConf, beartype
-
-    @beartype(conf=BeartypeConf(violation_type=TypeError))
     def _impl(
         topy: None | bool | str, journal_file_names: None | str | list[str]
     ) -> str:
+        if journal_file_names and not isinstance(journal_file_names, (str, list)):
+            raise TypeError(
+                "Use 'journal_file_names' to specify and convert journal files."
+            )
         if topy and not journal_file_names:
             raise InvalidArgument(
                 "Use 'journal_file_names' to specify and convert journal files."
diff --git a/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/__init__.py b/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/__init__.py
index 3158e9a88cd..50d80a95fff 100644
--- a/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/__init__.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import importlib.util
 import logging
+from pathlib import Path
 import sys
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("pyfluent.general")
@@ -17,3 +18,19 @@ def load_module(module_name, file_path):
     spec.loader.exec_module(module)
     logger.info(f"Loaded module {module_name} from {file_path}")
     return module
+
+
+def get_examples_download_dir():
+    """Return the path to the examples download directory."""
+    parent_path = Path.home() / "Downloads"
+    if not parent_path.exists():
+        parent_path = Path.home()
+    return parent_path / "ansys_fluent_core_examples"
+
+
+def get_user_data_dir():
+    """Return the path to the user data directory."""
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        return Path.home() / "AppData" / "Local" / "Ansys" / "ansys_fluent_core"
+    else:
+        return Path.home() / ".local" / "share" / "Ansys" / "ansys_fluent_core"
diff --git a/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/file_transfer_service.py b/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/file_transfer_service.py
index bd02b5632c2..ce4f2f852f3 100644
--- a/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/file_transfer_service.py
+++ b/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/file_transfer_service.py
@@ -7,16 +7,13 @@
 from typing import Any, Callable, List, Protocol  # noqa: F401
 import warnings
 
-import platformdirs
-
+from ansys.fluent.core.utils import get_user_data_dir
 from ansys.fluent.core.utils.deprecate import deprecate_argument
 from ansys.fluent.core.warnings import PyFluentUserWarning
 import ansys.platform.instancemanagement as pypim
 
 # Host path which is mounted to the file-transfer-service container
-MOUNT_SOURCE = platformdirs.user_data_dir(
-    appname="ansys_fluent_core", appauthor="Ansys"
-)
+MOUNT_SOURCE = str(get_user_data_dir())
 
 
 class PyPIMConfigurationError(ConnectionError):
diff --git a/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/networking.py b/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/networking.py
index 59eda4e1145..9161f61e3df 100644
--- a/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/networking.py
+++ b/src/ansys/fluent/core/utils/networking.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import logging
 import socket
 from typing import Any
+import urllib
 
 import grpc
 from grpc_health.v1 import health_pb2, health_pb2_grpc
@@ -83,3 +84,40 @@ def find_remoting_ip() -> str:
                         return ip
                 except Exception:
                     network_logger.debug(f"Cannot use {ip} as remoting ip")
+
+
+def check_url_exists(url: str) -> bool:
+    """Check if a URL exists.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    url : str
+        URL to check
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    bool
+        True if the URL exists, False otherwise
+    """
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
+            return response.status == 200
+    except Exception:
+        return False
+
+
+def get_url_content(url: str) -> str:
+    """Get the content of a URL.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    url : str
+        URL to get content from
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    str
+        content of the URL
+    """
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
+        return response.read()
diff --git a/tests/test_settings_api.py b/tests/test_settings_api.py
index 0d04b04b9fb..5f0497b0850 100644
--- a/tests/test_settings_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_settings_api.py
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ def test_setup_models_viscous_model_settings(new_solver_session) -> None:
     solver_session.file.read(
         file_name=case_path, file_type="case", lightweight_setup=True
     )
-    # NOTE: Not sure why initialization is necessary here
-    # solver_session.solution.initialization.hybrid_initialize()
 
     viscous_model = solver_session.setup.models.viscous