Warning for Dragon Naturally Speaking Users

[InternetMarketingIQ]

Once again I've done something stupid because I got in a hurry to "fix" something and it ended up costing me a lot of time.

I tried to use Dragon today and got an error. Why? Because I forgot that every time you do a System Restore in Windows it corrupts the Dragon Naturally speaking files. You would think that the mighty Windows OS would be able to "roll back" without corrupting files.

Is this Microsofts fault or Nuance? I don't know. But this is not the first time I've had this problem. So if you use Dragon and don't want to go through the annoying process of retraining your files don't use system restore.

System restore will also corrupt a lot of .NET programs like XsitePro.

[Eric Lorence]

I've never experienced this, or heard of it B4...

But it wouldn't surprise me with Vista.

Run an error check at reboot, and check recovery of bad sectors to see if that clears up the problem.

[dmarze]

It happened to me with XSPro one year ago.

[hugofortin]

Hi,

Thank you to let us know about this problem. I was thinking to buy dragon.

bye

Hugo

[Neromancer]

I had one of the first versions of this program and I had lots of problems with it - my wife has an accent (Australian) so it took longer to get the software to work lol but still this is good to know - is it Vista?

[j0s3]

I'm a Dragon user, and I've had nothing but nightmares with the whole experience.

The software is VERY fickle - you don't have to reinstall Windows to break it - installing some apps can do the trick just as easily.

I've gone through about 3 laptops in as man years, plus a few reinstalls, and each time lost Dragon and had to start again from scratch.

A word of warning: it's almost impossible to contact Nuance (in my experience) or find anything useful in their site.

Don't expect a support e-mail you can use when you need to ask for your key etc.

Having said this, I've tried every alternative I could find, including an IBM voice to text product, and NOTHING comes close to Nuance's product.

I have to give it to them: their software is nothing short of incredible, when it works.
Their support on the other hand, is shoddy.

[JohnMcCabe]

It's not Vista. Nor is it Dragon. It's the system restore, and how it works.

As I understand it, a restore point marks a point in time, and the system takes a snapshot of what your computer "looks like" at that point in time.

When you do a restore, it makes your computer look like that snapshot. It's like whatever you did after that point never happened.

So if you are running programs that keep a running history - Dragon, XSP, even your junk mail filters if you use something like Thunderbird - get set back to the state they were in when the restore point was set.

The files are not corrupt, just old.

Whether there is something in the program itself that makes those old files problematic is another question entirely - one better taken up with the software company itself.

That's how I understand it, anyway. I could be wrong. It did happen one other time...

[theultimate1]

If it's only happening with Dragon Naturally Speaking and/or XSitePro, then quite presumably (and possibly), it's not Microsoft's problem. They can't sit down and check how System Restore works with every software on the planet (not feasible for a company 100 times their size, even).

[pheonix44]

I know this is unrelated, but can anyone tell me how to get my usb microphone to work with DNS. The microphone works just fine, but when I try to dictate the usb doesn't work, only the sidejack.

[TimS]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

I know this is unrelated, but can anyone tell me how to get my usb microphone to work with DNS. The microphone works just fine, but when I try to dictate the usb doesn't work, only the sidejack.

I switch between my wireless lapel microphone (love it) to my USB Andrea headset on my laptop from time to time. I need to "set up" the new microphone each time. I don't bother creating a new user, I don't save my user files on the laptop, just on the desktop.

Here is what is in their help file...

If you switch between microphones you must rerun the audio check. Open the Accuracy Center (on the Tools menu of the DragonBar, click Accuracy Center) and either click or say "Check your audio settings." For best accuracy, you should create a different user for each device you plan to use.

[Lawrh]

Don't use system restore. Get a copy of an imaging program and make an image now and then. More frequently if you're in the habit of screwing up a lot. Store the image on a different drive. Also, remember that the system restore files are on the c: drive and won't do you any good if the drive fails.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Yeah, I can't even use my DNS 9 anymore. I did a system restore and now
when I use it, the words literally come out nonsense. I don't know how it
even comes up with the stuff it does off of what I'm actually saying. I mean,
it's not even close. Ironically, it worked better right out of the box without
training it than it does now.

Oh well, I don't mind typing so much anyway, but geesh...what a mess.

[TimS]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Yeah, I can't even use my DNS 9 anymore. I did a system restore and now when I use it, the words literally come out nonsense.

That used to happen to me from time to time. Strangely enough, what worked was for me to open Dragonpad and to just speak gibberish until it stopped. Sometimes it took less than a minute, other times it took a few.

I rarely ever save my user files any longer. It does a good job and I can generally write an article with it only making one or two mistakes at the most. Many times, I'll write a batch, export them all to text files and then proofread them all at one time. I just close dragon when shutting down and tell it not to save the user files.

[j0s3]

Ah yes, Dragon Pad - I started using that to remove 1 layer of complication (i.e. having DS talk to MS Word or Writer) and I noticed a slight boost in performance.

What I started doing is speaking into Dragon Pad, then copy/paste the result into Word or Writer and spellcheck / tweak accordingly.

I use a MacBook now so Dragon is out the equation until I set something up.

[ArticlePrince]

It takes an insane amount of time to train the files properly (Im Irish, Dragon doesn't care for my accent), but the same it saves me is unbeatable. To avoid this, burn a disk of the Dragon files every month or so, so if something happens you can just reload them.

[tigertale]

Thinking about getting DNS. Can I use it to get my pre-recorded audio transcribed?

If I want to make both an audio and text product will it do this? Or does it just create the text?

[pheonix44]

I switch between my wireless lapel microphone (love it) to my USB Andrea headset on my laptop from time to time. I need to "set up" the new microphone each time. I don't bother creating a new user, I don't save my user files on the laptop, just on the desktop.

Here is what is in their help file...

If you switch between microphones you must rerun the audio check. Open the Accuracy Center (on the Tools menu of the DragonBar, click Accuracy Center) and either click or say "Check your audio settings." For best accuracy, you should create a different user for each device you plan to use.

Thanks, I tried this and it worked. I now get really good accuracy now because of the usb mic.

[TimS]

Originally Posted by pheonix44

Thanks, I tried this and it worked. I now get really good accuracy now because of the usb mic.

I'm glad it worked out for you. Having a good microphone that works correctly makes all the difference.

Tim

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by tigertale

Thinking about getting DNS. Can I use it to get my pre-recorded audio transcribed?

If I want to make both an audio and text product will it do this? Or does it just create the text?

DNS 10 Preferred can transcribe mp3 files. You'll still have some clean-up to do, though. Another solution, if you don't have DNS, or you want to use an older version, is to simply play the audio into the microphone.

I use the speech-to-text built into Vista. Sometimes I record audios remotely using my little pocket recorder. To transcribe, I just play the recorder into my USB mic. It still needs the basic clean-up, but gives a quick transcript.

I don't think DNS saves the audio after it converts to text. You'd have to check the features list.

[angela99]

You can get DNS to transcribe, but you need to train on the device you'll use first.

I have an Olympus notetaker which I carry around with me, and I've got it set up for DNS. I usually only create small five-minute files on it, just ideas, so I don't get the files transcribed often. But it does work.

[JonMills]

I tried Dragon Naturally Speaking it couldnt figure out my british accent, no matter what i said.. I had to speak like Clint Eastwood from the Good the Bad and the Ugly to get it to understand me.