Spartacus516,

You do not say what error message you were receiving. If you let us know this, it might narrow down the possibilities.

What you are experiencing has happened before. Have a look at all of the entries in the ViaVoice forum http://www.speechcomputing.com/forum/2 relating to installation problems.

In particular you will see some comments regarding Dell Computers!

Yours is not the first Dell that I have come across that has had problems. That is not to say that this is a Dell problem in your case. Having said that, I recently purchased a reconditioned Dell with XP SP2 for a specific use in my office (bought on the basis that if it did not work, it was cheap enough to give away to a charity !), and installed VV 10.5, and copied my user folder into it. It installed without any problems, and works fine. However having said that, I should state that there is no anti-virus, firewalls or etc., on this particular machine as it does not go on line.

It may well be, therefore, that you have anti-virus, anti-spyware or firewall running whilst you're installing. It is essential that these all be disabled. Have a look at http://www.speechcomputing.com/node/576 where I advised Susan on this problem. Also make sure that your online connection is disabled.

Total rubbish.

.....or totally disinterested!

As regards the assistance from Nuance, it would appear that the general experience is not good whether it is VV or DNS.

It is absolute nonsense to state that there are problems with XP SP2 in relation to ViaVoice.

I will admit that I do have problems of one kind or another with XP SP2 which have nothing to do with the quality of ViaVoice or its installation. For example, I frequently have problems with my USB ports when my Speechmike and remote USB mouse are not recognised, and I frequently have to unplug and replug them several times before they are recognised. I have always said, and many have agreed with me, that Win 2000 provides a much steadier platform than XP, and I still use 2000 in my dual boot desktop, but cannot in my laptop which will not allow 2000 to start up due to an inaccessible hidden boot drive.

That's to try to get you to buy DNS!

Quentin

To add to what Quentin has said. One of the problems today that did not exist back in the days of MSDOS is the fact that companies like Dell were few and far betweem and the number of motherboard manufacturers were few and the technology not as complex. Today, all companies that mass produce systems, like Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. are constantly looking for price vs. quality. The motherboards on the less expensive models are 2 layer vs. 4 layer, and not as well designed as an Intel, ASUS, or other MB's by the major players. The result is that if you buy two identical systems from the same manufacturer a couple of months apart, you are likely getting different hardware. This means that, although they are spec'd out the same, they are not identical. One works fine, and the other has a problem with the same OS or Software applications.

InstallShield has encountered this problem, which is the source of most install issues, but they support the software manufacturers, not John Q. Public. So you can't go to them and cry the blues. HP/Compaq have tried to deal with these issues, but: (a) they generally deny the problem, and (b) the update for InstallShield files generally do not work.

Go figure. The price of technological advances and cheaper computers.

Chuck

Spartacus516,

I am one of the junior members in this group and you will get much more knowledgeable and helpful advice from others here, I'm sure.

And actually what I'm posting to you here, is from lots of good advice I received from the group a couple of years back when I was having trouble with using Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my Dell desktop with XP Windows operating system.

I was having problems, I think similar to yours, in which my computer crashed constantly, at least daily, and all seeming somehow to be connected with my use of dictation software. (And I had the problems starting in the first week when I first purchased the computer.)

I spent several hours on the phone with Dell technical support to no avail.

What finally worked, and I learned by reading the posts from this group, was to (excuse me, group, if I'm using the wrong terms) restore my computer to factory condition, meaning erase everything using the instructions found at Dell's web site, and reload the operating system, drivers, everything. I myself am somewhat disabled and so doing all this by hand was very very difficult and took a long time. If you are like me and find computers very confusing, it's helpful to have a spare computer that is online, so that you can ask questions as you are doing this.

But it was worth it! I have been using the computer problems free (and crash free!) for a year and a half now. I never did find out what was wrong, but restoring everything took care of the problem once and for all.

The other thing I did at the same time as restoring the computer was to learn how to partition the hard drive and install disk imaging software (Acronis was recommended). This was recommended because if I ever had problems (OK, this is ridiculous, I'm dictating using my Toshiba, which some of you know I'm having problems with right now, and the dictation software just type in "Viagra problems" where I was trying to say "ever had problems") like this again (computer starting to crash etc.), I could use the software to restore the computer to its original condition -- the computer is reborn. So, a year and a half later, I started having problems last month, and restore the image, and the computer is working great again.

If you want to go this route, let me know -- I've got the instructions in a box somewhere and would be happy to send along whatever I have. (The original e-mails about this were in the group's old forum at Yahoo.)

Good luck!
Jasmine

Just to add to previous postings, I purchased a recondition Dell, 2. GHz Pentium 4, 256 Mb Ram, preloaded Win XP SP 2, including 17 inch monitor, for the equivalent of $370. (I bought it for the specific purpose of running my accounts.) As usual, I partitioned it, and as an experiment, installed Office 97 and VV 10.5. VV installation was smooth and perfect, and I had no problem migrating my user files from my laptop, so that I was instantly in action. To my amazement, using a SpeechMike Pro USB, its performance is excellent.

Time will tell as to whether or not this Dell continues to operate smoothly without problems.

Of course I have not filled the Dell with all my usual programmes, and in particular there is no Anti-Virus, anti-spyware or firewall and it is not used to go on the Net.

I wonder are all the reports of problems caused by the proliferation of programmes that we seem to carry? Is it a case of KISS (keep it simple, stupid)!

Quentin

Did our advice help?

Quentin

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Just got a brainstorm -- if the Administrator thing doesn't work, try a Repair Install of XP with SP2. Its not unheard of for an OS install to make a small booboo that it doesn't notice but causes unpredictable problems. You may have to check with an expert on XP, but at least for W2K you boot off the install disk and indicate a desire to install. You will get one notification that an existing install has been found and it offers to fix it.

DECLINE THE FIRST OFFER!

Continue the install process. When you get the second offer to repair an existing installation, jump on it like an eBay addict on a Second Chance offering!

This site seems pretty good for guidance on the repair install:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

You could also Google "Window XP repair install" for further guidance.

Then try to install VV again. This might work and is guaranteed to frivel away half a day or more at least.

Of course, if you haven't really done much with the previous install after replacing your disk, you could just do a total new install, including reformatting the disk -- that's really the surest way, but if you have already set things up the way you want them, then a repair install will probably take less time.

Good luck,
Bruce

BTW, I gotta say it: Sometimes Evil ain't really evil, its just not what you expected

May be Dell problem ...?

Not sure about this, but in reading this thread (and others elsewhere) I'm wondering if this might have something to do with the "secret" little 34 MB "Utility" partition that Dell now installs on all of its its systems and the replacement hard drives.
I discovered the partition when I was installing a partition manager. Found that I could not remove it, or the system would not boot up.
Dell don't say much about the contents or use for it, but I'm pretty sure one of its functions is to store the diagnostic utilities that their tech-support use when they remotely take over your system to diagnose problems.
It just seems very suspicious to me that I can't get my PC to boot on a brand new Windows installation on a brand new (empty) hard drive unless that partition (and its contents) is present at the very start of the disk.
Leads me to wonder what else is in there, and also to wonder how some programs that might try to take over certain early disk sectors for fast (known address) disk accesses would interact with it.
Might ViaVoice be one of those...?
What do you guys think?

Alex.