Earlier this week I bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 9.5. It took me close to an hour to get the software install and configured properly on my system, primarily because I am using a 64-bit operating system. Dragon NaturallySpeaking does not support the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, but there is a workaround that allows you to install on a 64-bit operating system. Another challenge is that Dragon NaturallySpeaking has trouble with certain onboard sound cards. This blog entry highlights the challenges I faced when installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking provides workarounds.
If you try to install Dragon NaturallySpeaking a 64-bit operating system you will be stopped by the installer. After a bit of searching, I found this helpful post by VelvetPoodle:
The problem is the installer bundled with the software. This has code preventing it from being run on 64 bit vista. This can be edited using the free application orca.exe which is part of the much larger Microsoft core platform SDK. If you only want the application orca.exe do a google search for it. Make sure you get the 64 bit version though… Alternatively get it from here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2004/07/12/180792.aspx.
1. Copy the entire contents of the DVD to a folder on your computer
2. Make a backup of the file Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.msi
3. Install Orca and open Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.msi from the installer directory
4. To the left under tables, scroll down and click on the “launch Conditions”. The error conditions will appear to the right.
5. Select the Condition “Not VersionNT64”
6. Right-Click and select “Cut Row(s)”
7. Save the edited "Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.msi"
8. Install as normal
While this method will certainly get Dragon NaturallySpeaking to install and work on 64-bit operating system, one thing to keep in mind is that NaturallySpeaking will not respond or respond very slowly when dictating in 64-bit applications. For example, if I try to dictate in Internet Explorer, Dragon NaturallySpeaking virtually hangs. Supposedly, the next version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking will support 64 bit operating systems.
After successfully installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my computer, the application started and I was greeted with a warning: "Audio Setup Wizard cannot find the sound system." This error threw me for a loop because my computer certainly does have a sound system - I can hear music coming from my speakers and am able to record voice from a microphone. Some online sleuthing turned up message board posts from other Dragon NaturallySpeaking users who encountered similar problems with onboard sound card systems not supported by Dragon NaturallySpeaking. My computer has an onboard RealTek sound card; other users with the same configuration had reported similar errors.
In the same post where VelvetPoodle shared how to install Dragon NaturallySpeaking 64-bit operating system, another poster named webbediva shared a workaround for the audio wizard problem that worked for me:
To get past the audio wizard error:
With Naturally Speaking bar running, right-click on the audio.exe file using Windows Explorer in Program Files\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking9\Program. Under "Properties" click "Compatibility" tab and select "XP". Double-click to run.
To summarize, with Dragon NaturallySpeaking running need to set the compatibility level of the audio wizard program to be compatible with Windows XP and run this program from Windows Explorer. With this step out of the way, Dragon NaturallySpeaking (finally) worked! It took a bit of research and effort to get Dragon NaturallySpeaking properly installed and configured on my machine, but I haven't had any issues since (except for slow or nonexistent response times for 64 bit applications).
Read the post with the two workarounds: http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102-0.html?forumID=44&threadID=280578&messageID=2744514
Earlier this week I broke my right hand playing basketball. I currently have a splint on, which renders my right hand useless. I can wiggle the tips of my fingers but I lack the control to use a mouse or type with this lame hand. I'm getting proficient typing with my left hand, but it is still significantly slower than typing with both. For instance, with both hands I can type in the neighborhood of 100-120 words per minute. With just my left, I type a shade under 40 words per minute, and even slower when keying in typical code syntax with its mix of punctuation and case changes. (Thank God for IntelliSense!)
On Thursday I bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking from my local Fry's. NaturallySpeaking a popular voice recognition software package. I opted for the Standard Edition, which set me back $100. Not having had experience with voice recognition software in the past, I was a bit skeptical at how accurate such software could be. I knew it would not suffice for coding, but my hope was that it would make a good substitute for writing e-mails and authoring articles. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised with the accuracy and ease of use. The marketing literature claims over 99% accuracy. I have no clue how accurate it truly is, but keep in mind that even with 99% accuracy that still means that there will be one error every 100 words you utter. And if you are as verbose as I am, 100 words comes very quickly. Every couple of sentences there are one or two corrections I have to go back and make with my keyboard or voice commands.
Speaking of using voice recognition software for coding, I did try writing a little bit of code with my voice. My only foray into this was with a simple "Hello, world" example. What I intended to write was:
Response.Write("Hello, world!");
I said: "response", "period", "write", "open parenthesis", "open quote", "cap hello", "comma", "world", "exclamation point", "close parenthesis", "semi-colon". What I got was:
Response. Right ("Hello, world!");
Close, but no cigar. One of the main problems is that the software injects spaces where it thinks they are needed when speaking English, not when being parsed by a programming language. Moreover, it has trouble with homonyms at times. Note how it chose to use "Right" instead of "write".
In addition to writing text with your voice you can also use Dragon naturally speaking to issue a computer command such as copy, paste, formatting, and other common commands. The copy and paste features are quite useful, but what can be frustrating is when you say a word to type that to also maps to a command, such as "print" or "close".
All in all, I'd recommend using Dragon NaturallySpeaking or some other voice recognition software for people with some sort of typing impairment who spend much of their day sitting in front of a computer responding to e-mails or writing articles or other documents. It takes some getting used to, and there certainly are errors that you have to put up with, but it is a lot more efficient than typing with one hand and allows you to keep that one good hand on the mouse most of the time.
One warning regarding Dragon NaturallySpeaking: the software does not natively support 64-bit operating systems (although there is a workaround), and certain onboard sound cards are not recognized by the software without a bit of a workaround. I'll discuss some of the challenges I had installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and the steps I took to surmount those challenges in: Installing Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) on Vista / Windows Server 2008 64-Bit.