Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking V10.1 PREFERRED Setup Free
Maybell Hughs
I used Dragon Naturally Speaking for years on my PC. Switched to an IMac. Dragon for Mac leaves a lot to be desired - training, recognizing, editing. Any suggestions about how to improve performance or other voice recognition software for Mac users? I dictate a lot of reports using MS Word.
For help with Dragon Dictate for Mac, check out the new training video from speech recognition expert and educator Dan Newman. There are 12 easy-to-follow lessons that show you how to get the most from DragonDictate, including a free video lesson on Punctuation and Capitalization at .
Anyone who uses a Nuance product better be able to sort problems out for themselves... They have the WORST support in the technology industry...no exaggeration. If you can get it running, it's pretty decent, but if anything goes wrong, you will never get it fixed.
Calling support was and experience of the WORST order... The support and customer service people don't know anything and can only take new orders. I was transferred to four different departments (one had their phone disconnected) and no one could tell me what the problem was or how to fix it other than to go back to the Web site... Of course I could not get into the support areas of the Web site because my product was not registered... And yes, I tried to but the site did not like the format of the serial number that I cut and pasted from my purchase email. So I could not even see the support files.
Many of the criticisms on this thread are well placed. Have been trying to use MacSpeech iListen since V1. Thought I would try Dragon Dictate 2.5. I had similar problems to the previous post and was a hair's breadth to asking for a refund. Then I tried the installation on another computer and had no difficulty.
I did call support (my cost of course since the 800-number only seems to work for sales issues.) After a long wait, I did get very detailed and helpful support information that took me step-by-step through the installation process. It didn't take me anywhere I hadn't been but I couldn't have figured out the process by myself. The person also explained that 2.5 had been very buggy and he helped me install 2.5.1, the link to which is way down in the text on the following page:
Two questions... Can I start the process with this update file or do I need 2.5 installed first? (I could not install 2.5, it just would not run and could not access suppport since it didn't like the serial number they supplied in the purchase email).
Since the original download files wouldn't install, did you have to do anything to remove "secret remnants" from your mac? I'm interested enough to try it again but don't really relish the conept of 45 minute waits for tech support.
First of all I have no expertise in installing programs if they are problematic, I can only pass on my experience which relates to trying to purchase and install an Upgrade from MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 to Dragon Dictate 2.5 and the past experience I have had with MacSpeech, the company before Nuance.
The 800-number doesn't get you to Technical Support and I think I was hung up on as well. The wait for technical support was about 10 minutes. If you are paying for the phone call by the minute that could be costly.
Do I understand that you purchased a physical copy of the program on disk? Was it as an Upgrade that Nuance shipped to you? And it wouldn't let you register the product? The other criticism I had of MacSpeech and it seems to have carried on to Nuance was that the matter of accounts and registration accounts can be a forest.
The website to register the program is www.macspeech.com/licenses/. (There is another site for registering other Nuance products but it doesn't recognize your account for products that have been registered on the MaSspeech site.).To register the product you will need to set up an account (not an uncommon process) but that account will not be the way you access the download if you purchase the product by digital copy.If you purchase the program as a physical copy, I would suggest you register the product before you start installing but it really shouldn't be necessary because the program will prompt you to register if the install goes well.
Once you do register a program, the code can be accessed in the future if you keep track of the account and website on which you registered it. I see there is also an option which downloads the code to your computer but heaven-knows-where it is stored. On some other programs the code is stored in the application icon menu. My account on the Macspeech registration website stores the codes for 3 programs I have had since Nuance took over from MacSpeech.
What I was trying to do was purchase the Upgrade of Dragon Dictate 2.5 as the result of an email offer because I was a previous customer of MacSpeech Dictate 1.5. The website only seemed to offer to send me a physical copy with shipping of either $24 or $30 to Canada. When I decided I wouldn't buy the Upgrade because of the shipping cost, I found that I couldn't remove the item from the shopping cart and eventually couldn't even access the shopping cart. When I called the 800-number to complain they told me there was a problem on the website which wasn't offering the download which was my preference. They offered to sell me the digital download over the phone which I could then retrieve from the website www.findmyorder.com with the login which asks for the order number and a password (which I think was assigned when I placed the order, but as I said, registration, download access, etc can be a forest and I was very confused by this time.)
At the www.findmyorder.com website, there were two files to download, the program for 2.5 and the data disk. When I tried to install the program and the data, the process started going around in circles asking for things over and over again.I wondered what I was doing wrong (a common reaction) so I tried to install the program on another computer. The install on the second computer was easy and although I hadn't yet registered the product the program prompted me to register it. It also updated to 2.5.1 (although I only am aware of that in retrospect.) So I went back to the first computer and tried to install again. The same problem happened. At one point I exceeded the number of downloads which is 5 because I was trying to get rid of downloads that didn't seem to be working. I called the 800-number and without too much difficulty, the person reset the downloads. But the same thing happened, with the program asking for the data disk. That is when I called Tech Support.
After the tech showed me where to retrieve 2.5.1 from their website (because he said 2.5 was buggy) and I reinstalled the data disk from the www.findmyorder.com website, the install worked well. BTW I found it hard to understand on the www.findmyorder.com download website which file was which. I got very confused and ended up not getting the data disk. The program disk image which is listed second is called Dragon_Dictate_Englishes.2.5.dmg. The data file listed first is Dragon_English_Data2.5dmg. You need both files normally but if you are getting the 2.5.1 file, I don't believe you have to have installed 2.5 first.
Back to MacSpeech Dictate 1 or 1.5, I assumed that I would have to have this installed on my computer in order to install the Upgrade of Dragon Dictate 2.5. Remember, I was trying to install 2.5 on a new computer. Although I had done this before I tried to purchase the Upgrade 2.5 (because the computer was new and MacSpeech 1.5 hadn't been installed on it yet), I am not sure it was necessary.
There didn't seem to be any "secret codes" that hadn't to be removed first. You may be talking about old or corrupted plist files which sometimes interfere with applications. The tech just told me to drag any 2.5 applications to the trash after we got off the phone, of which by now I had about 5 on the computer. I have had old versions on a previous computer and they never seemed to interfere with one another. I think I still have iListen 1.0 on a very old computer as well as every fresh version and upgrade.
I hope this reply wasn't too long and didn't add to the confusion. As I said in the first message, the criticisms are well founded. Installing MacSpeech iListen and accessing services has been a minefield from the beginning and it isn't improving. For someone interested in easy-to-use voice recognition I would suggest the Dragon Dictate app for an iPad or iPod Touch. Works wonderfully but it has very limited features.
My husband, who has physical disabilities but until recently could type better than MacSpeech Dictate was working for him and didn't have a computer that would work with MacSpeech Dictate, has been using Dragon Dictate 2.5.1 on his new computer without a microphone for a couple of days. He believes there is hope, although with past versions he was frustrated after an hour and quit. One new thing in Dragon Dictate 2.5 is that editing on the keyboard before you finish the document does not mess up further voice input. He continues to struggle with voice control (a good exercise for the voice) and his tendency to talk as if there he has a secretary taking shorthand. You really do have to talk to the computer in a conversational way, speaking in full sentences or full phrases if possible, not in separate words.
From iListen 1.0 I kept saying that voice recognition would work well for everyone. It has been a long road but I can see on the horizon that it will be available for everyone. The iPad/iPod app is close.
I purchased nuance 2.0 dragon dictate for Mac. I can not get the computer to recognize the microphone provided by nuance. This microphone is recognized by my dell computer. How can I get the mac book pro to recognize this microphone?
Have you tried dictating without a headset/microphone? In my last posting I mentioned that my husband dictates directly to his computer, a new iMac. His voice is not strong but he works in a very quiet environment. Dictating directly to the computer's built-in microphone also works for my 2006 MacBook.
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