Installation of NaturallySpeaking Medical on Windows Server 2007 failed near the end of the install with cryptic message 1722: Problems with Windows Install Package. A program run as part of setup did not finish as expected.

Installation was run as Administrator

We have heard several reports of NaturallySpeaking 9.5 failing to install on Windows Server 2007.  Chuck Runquist may have additional information on this problem but in the meantime, we have forwarded this information onto Nuance.

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Hi Lunis,

Thank you very much for the follow-up.

We do have NaturallySpeaking 7 running on Windows Server 2007, but, as has been noted before, DNS 8, DNS 9 and now DNS 9.5 will not run on this OS. 

I have been communicating with Nuance on this issue.  What I have been told is that Windows server 2007 (Longhorn) is still in Beta, with Beta 3 scheduled to be released fairly soon.

Windows server 2007 is not, and will not, be supported until it is released either at the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008.  Although Microsoft has very little information regarding Windows server 2007, except on their Beta site, take a look at the following URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Longhorn

Although DNS 9.5 probably works fine, or at least reasonably well, in Windows server 2007, the problem is with the InstallShield installer.  The error code 1722 indicates that the installer could not either install or register a particular file, which is likely due to the differences in the way Windows server 2007 functions as opposed to Windows Vista and user versions.

Nevertheless, Nuance indicates that it will not support Windows server 2007 until it is released in final product distribution form.  In other words, this is simply the standard protocol as with Windows Vista prior to its release.  That is, you won't get appropriate support for Windows server 2007 until after its release.

Chuck Runquist
Former Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK & Senior Technical Solutions PM for DNS

"We are all victims of mythology in one way or another. We are the inheritors, and many times the propagators, of a desire to believe what we want to believe, regardless of whether or not it is true." -- J.V. Stewart

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Hi Chuck,

 Thank you very much for the follow-up. I understand the philosophy, but strongly disagree with it especially in this instance. Windows Server 2007 is considerably more stable than any of the other flavors of Vista. It has been my experience that "well behaved" programs run properly on Server. The only two commercial programs that have caused any problems for us have been NaturallySpeaking and QuickBooks. NaturallySpeaking 7 does run on Server. Its recognition error rate is higher than that of versions 9/9.5, but we can live with it for now.

The install problem is frustrating because it occurs at the very end of the install and is probably a minor issue in the install script rather than a major NaturallySpeaking program glitch.

Robbie,

Unfortunately, disagreeing with it is moot.  It is industrywide standard practice not to update products for compatibility/compliance with Beta products, particularly operating systems.  It doesn't matter what the stability is.  Every major software developer knows that making software compatible with Beta versions of operating systems results in additional costs (R&D) because any updates must be finalized along with the final release version of the OS.  It's simply isn't cost-effective.  You and I can disagree with that policy till the cows come home, but that's the way it is and having been there in the middle of it as DNS SDK technical project manager and programming manager, I understand it.

There are no real compatibility issues with regard to DNS on any OS because DNS is basically OS independent.  That is, it only requires that SAPI 4.0a be installable and functional.  So, we know it works because DNS 7, 9, 9A, and 9.1 can all be made to work.

My guess would be that you are correct, it is simply a glitch in the installation script relative to reading and writing some file from one of the cabs.  However, I recall back when Windows server 2003 was introduced.  There were problems with DNS and closing windows because of the changes and the differences between Windows XP and Windows server 2003.  These were ultimately corrected, but I suspect that similar problems exist between the 2 versions (Vista and server 2007) because of the way that the server works and the number of differences between the server version and the standard end user version.

Question would be what happens with Windows server 2007 Beta 3?  Nevertheless, Nuance isn't going to do any compatibility testing or make any compatibility changes to DNS 9.5 until Windows server 2007, which as you know from the article may end up being Windows server 2008, is released.

Chuck Runquist
Former Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK & Senior Technical Solutions PM for DNS

Logic 101: Post Hoc fallacy - Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: After the fact, therefore because of the fact.  The general assumption that a consequent event or observation maintains an absolute cause and effect relationship to its precedent is false on its face.  While precedent and consequent events or observations may have a direct cause and effect relationships, the absolute assumption of such is invalid, and therefore false.

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This is no surprise, but after replacing Windows Server 2007 beta 2 with beta 3, the bug that prevents the installation of NaturallySpeaking 9.5 is unchanged. (NaturallySpeaking 7 runs properly).

It is frustrating because there is probably a minor, easily correctable problem in the NaturallySpeaking install script. 

I suspect that Nuance will fix that or provide a correct install routine when Windows server 2007 is released.

Chuck Runquist
Former Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK & Senior Technical Solutions PM for DNS

If you hear the sound of hoofbeats, think horses not zebras.
Law of Parsimony (Occam's razor)

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Much to my surprise, NaturallySpeaking 9.5 works with Microsoft Server 2008 (and presumably with Vista).

I stumbled over a Nuance knowledge base comment that suggests disabling Data Exception Prevention (DEP) will prevent install error 1722. This change also eliminated some other install problems that we had on Server. These may or may not have also been a problem with installing on Vista.

See: http://knowledgebase.nuance.com/view.asp?tnID=7016&sQuery=Vista

 We have had previous experience with DEP which blocked some streaming audio.

I don't agree with Nuance's method of disabling DEP, at least on Server. Microsoft doesn't give the user an easy way to completely disable DEP. We didn't have any success disabling it for specific executables. It was necessary to completing disable it. The only way to do this is to execute the following from the command prompt: BCDEDIT.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

Beware that this modifies the OS boot. The above command works properly and will not cause any problems, but a typographical error  could make the boot inoperable. Do a cold start after executing the above command.

 We also disable UAC and run the NaturallySpeaking install from Administartor. 

Based on limited testing, NaturallySpeaking 9.5 (and its SDK functionality)  now work perfectly on Windows Server 2008. We are using it with a RME HDSP 9632 sound card.

 

At our facility (Orcutt Labs), we disable DEP (typically setting it to protecting only Windows system applications) on all applicable servers and workstations. We have found DEP to be a silent killer to a lot of failed application installations.

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Regards, Webmaster

Hi Lunis,

 Thank you very much for the reply. We routinely disable UAC and DEP. The latter by executing:

BCDEDIT.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff. As I believe you know, NaturallySpeaking 9.5 requires the latter step in order to install the software.

I did re-execute the program to turn DEP off, but it had no effect on the NaturallySpeaking crash. There is a trace that identifies the offending command in assembly language. This might help Nuance, but obviously I can't do anything with the information not having the source code.

It is possible that Microsoft has made some OS changes that affect the NS program execution, that has been a change in the functionality of DEP or that the upgrade caused problems that would not occur with a clean install.

A new server is arriving next week and, if time permits, I will re-test NS after a clean install of beta 3. You may have, however, already have tried this. The current test computers are Dell PowerEdge 1800 and 1900. The new server is a PowerEdge 2900. 

Robbie 

I hang my head in shame.

I didn't follow my own instructions which are to completely disable DEP. The command to do this was executed properly, but I accidentally omitted the essential second step of doing a restart. After remembering this omission, I re-upgraded to beta 3, executed "BCDEDIT.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff", re-started the computer and NaturallySpeaking 9.5 again functions properly.

One minor additional step is that the upgrade disables the Windows sound system. You need to re-enable it. 

Windows Server 2008 beta 3 ( formerly called Windows Server Longhorn and then Windows Server 2007 beta 2) is now available. Unfortunately, NaturallySpeaking 9.5, which works flawlessly on the preceding beta (build 6001), crashes immediately on execution with a "privileged instruction" error. A second problem is that beta 3 doesn't include the Radeon 7000 series video adapter driver that is in beta 2. This is a big problem for us because there is no known alternate source for this driver.

I should say that the installation was an upgrade rather than a clean install. The is a legitimate option, but I am well aware that it is always best to do a clean install. It does, however, take about eight hours to do this.

The only good news is that the test computer is always backed up using an Ez Bus DTS SATA drive and a complete restore took only about 20 minutes. 

 I might try NaturallySpeaking 9.5 on a clean installation of Server Beta 3, but perhaps someone else has already done this and knows if the program will work on this version of the beta.

We now have Windows Server beta 3 (which, interestingly, is identified as Windows Server Enterprise, Service Pack 1, version 126) running on Dell PowerEdge 1800 and 2900 computers. It has thus far been stable and without any obvious glitches. A clean install takes about 15 minutes. An upgrade from beta 2 to beta 3 went smoothly, but took 3+ hours. The recommendation is to do the clean install, but the upgrade did work properly on the 1800. A clean install is essential with the 2900.

Installation on the 1800 is simple. The 2900 installation is complicated, but can be done. The details are available on the Dell forum. The RME HDSP 9632 sound card and the M-Audio Transit (USB) sound converter work properly with both computers.

NaturallySpeaking 9.5 runs  on both systems with DEP disabled.