I've reported this problem before, but so far, no solution. I'll be dictating and things will be fine. Increasingly more often, when I'll go to save a document, Word will stop working. It will be "not responding." I'll have to exit Word and re-launch it.

Also, when I boot up the computer, I'll often get the following error message: "Word experienced a serious problem with the 'natspeak word add-in' addin." Then it will ask me if I want to disable the add-in or not, and I'll always say "no."

 I have Windows 7, NS 11.00, probably updated to 11.5. I had this problem quite a while ago, when I had the previous version of Windows and thought that was the problem. However, it continued after I got a Windows 7 computer. 

 I don't have any problem with Word when I'm not using NS.

 Help.

Lloyd

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Here are my specs:

Rating:      3.5 Windows Experience Index

Processor:  Intel(R)(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @3.0 GHz

Installed Memory: 3.00 GB

System Type 32-bit Operating System

Pen and Touch: No Pen or touch input is available for this Display

Now what do you suggest?

PS I have a laptop which I don't use that often, but I've never had this compatability problem with it. Its specs are:

Rating: WIndows Experience Index

Processor: Intel(R)Core(TM) i5CPU             M460@2.53 GHz 2.53 GHz

Installed Memory (RAM): 4.00 GB (3.73 usable)

System Type: 64-bit Operating System

Pen and Touch:  No Pen or Touch Input is available for this Display

One thing is that I've probably never worked with a long Word file (like 100 pages) on the laptop, and I suspect that I may be having this problem with long files.I'm not sure about that, though.

So, do you have a KB technician in Los Angeles who'd like to pop by and look at my computer?

WAIT A MINUTE!  I just went to Quick Tips, then when I clicked Home, I got the little circle (that used to be an hour glass), then the screen turns somewhat white and I can only see the page in the background, and then I see on the top of the page, Not Responding. In other words, it's exactly what happens when I try to save a Word File when I'm using KB/NS. So does that mean I have a problem with the computer that involves when I click to move around in a program or save a file? If so, now what?

Oy -- Lloyd

PPS: I did this as a trial/experiment. I opened a new Word file and dictated a paragraph. I told it to save the file, and there was no problem.  Then I went to my 128 page Word file, went to the end of it, and dictated the same paragraph. Then when I told it to save the file, the same old thing happened with it "not responding." This tells me that I should only use NS/KB with short files. Does any of this make any sense?

Lloyd

3 Gb of RAM in a Windows 7 32-bit O.S. is simply too little RAM but you are further exacerbating the issue by attempting to edit a 128 page document because you'll be working with too much virtual memory. Most computers have a hard time running NaturallySpeaking in a 50 page document so the problem is doubled by attempting to work with too little RAM in a huge document. To put this into perspective, our i7 X 990 with 6 cores NASA dream machine can easily handle a 128 page Microsoft Word document but it has 24 Gb of RAM. Our i7 965 quad core computer with 12 Gb of RAM (which is no slouch) would work but it would struggle with a 128 page document. The 1st phrase we dictated would take about 16 seconds to hit the page.

We probably could have given you this answer the 1st time you asked the question had we known about your RAM, OS and length of document. You will minimally need to chop that document into much smaller pieces (chapters if you prefer) and if possible, get an extra Gb of RAM. However, we really don't like to recommend anything less than 8 Gb of RAM with Windows 7 64-bit. Windows 7 32-bit is only going to let you go up to 4 Gb of RAM. It is minimally time for a Windows 7 64-bit O.S. upgrade and a lot more RAM

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Thank you. I know I can buy more RAM. In terms of upgrading to a 64-bit system, does that mean buying a new computer?

 BTW, my face is read for a change, but could you please tell me where to find my profile to update it?

Thank so much.

Lloyd

Lloyd,

If you're thinking about upgrading your Windows 32-bit system to Windows 7 64-bit, keep in mind that you cannot upgrade 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version. Doing so requires a clean install of Windows 7 64 bit. You'll find out quickly enough if you attempt to do an upgrade.

As regards RAM, as long as you're running Windows 7 64-bit, you can upgrade either of your systems by simply checking the motherboard manufacturers make model and type of RAM supported. You need to precisely match the RAM that's in your system currently and you need to check as to whether or not you have to replace RAM chips or simply add such. My guess is that you will probably have to replace your RAM on your E8400 desktop system. As regards your laptop, it all depends on whether the RAM in your laptop consists of 2 x 2 GB (i.e., two chips, 2 GB in size chip). If that's a case, and if you only have two slots, then you will need to replace both chips with 2 x 4 GB RAM chips. Again, you need to specifically match the make model and type of RAM in your laptop or that your laptop supports by checking with your laptop manufacturer.

If you're lucky enough to have a laptop that has 4 memory slots, then upgrading your RAM may simply be a matter of populating the remaining slots. However, laptop manufacturers have a way of screwing. That is, if you have four memory slots and 4 GB of RAM, the manufacturer may have installed 4 x 1 GB RAM chips, which simply means that you'll have to remove and replace. On the other hand, if you're lucky, then it's likely that only two of the four slots are populated with 2 x 2 GB RAM chips, in which case, as long as you match your RAM, you can likely and more RAM by simply purchasing 2 x 4 GB RAM chips. In this case, the only thing you have to be concerned about is making sure that you put the two 4 GB RAM chips in slots 0 and 1 and the 2 x 2 GB RAM chips in slots 2 and 3. Since systems go through RAM slot by slot, leaving your 2 x 2 GB RAM chips in slots 0 and 1 is very inefficient in terms of RAM access and use.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. - Albert Einstein

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Your urging me to be patient is great advice, since I've been doing exactly as you described. I called the computer's manufacturer and they said even if I added more RAM (beyond the 3 gigs that I have) my 32-bit machine wouldn't recognize it as any more than 3. So, I guess until I get a new computer, I'll just work with shorter files and have more patience.

Thanks -- Lloyd

Lloyd,

It is not uncharacteristic for slower CPUs and systems with less RAM to experience the "Not responding" issue. This doesn't necessarily mean that the application is frozen, it usually means that you have to wait for the application to respond. This can take anywhere from a minute or two right on up through 10 or 15 min.'s. This is characteristically low RAM each. Unfortunately, too many users and when they see that message and figure that the application is not responding and thus close it. WAIT!!! in many cases the problem will resolve itself. Unfortunately, we've gotten used to wanting things yesterday instead of being patient.

Yes, it does make sense. Keep a couple of things in mind:

1.  Applications do not perform read/write (I/O) operations. All I/O operations, whether it be writing to the hard drive or loading applications and/or data into RAM are controlled by the operating system (Windows).

2.  By default, Windows uses what is called delayed write cache. Simply put, that means that Windows splits the request into a queue and waiting for all other high priority operations to complete before it executes the write operation. In most cases, this is what "Not responding" means. It doesn't necessarily mean that the application has hung up or frozen. Again, WAIT and see if the application returns to normal responding. It's when you close an application prematurely simply because it says "Not responding" that you get into trouble with corrupting user profiles, yada yada yada. This is particularly true with the error message that Microsoft Word had a problem with the NatSpeak Word AddIn.

3.  These types of problems are usually experienced when you have very large documents and very limited amounts of RAM. Give Windows is much time as it needs to resolve the issue. Only if the application doesn't respond for a very long period of time should you actually close it. This is why your short document saves immediately or reasonably so, and your large document takes time.

There are occasions when word actually does have a problem with the NatSpeak Word AddIn because of an access violation or an exception error. However, more often than not "Not responding" simply indicates that Windows is saying "Please wait...". When you're working with 3 GB of RAM (or or gigabytes in the case of Windows 7 64-bit) the process of saving a large document to be slow and Windows may give priority to other background tasks first. The bottom line is don't screw up your applications, data, or Dragon because you're simply impatient. Increasing your RAM will generally reduce the propensity for this to occur, but it won't eliminate it entirely. In my case, even running Windows 7 64-bit and 24 GB of at RAM on a Core™ i7 980X Extreme results in this type of issue from time to time. Let it go until it starts responding again and if it seems like it's taking a very long time, be patient and bite your tongue. More often than not this type of problem occurs because of the fact that you issue the voice command to save a large document.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, We make it better!

If there's more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then somebody will do it that way.  (variant of Murphy's law - Edward A. Murphy, Jr.)

I had exactly the same problem with both Word 2007 & 2010.

I went back to Dragon 11 (from 11.5) and haven't had a recurrence.

HTH.

 Paul 

I'm pretty sure I had the same problem when I was using 11, but I'm not positive. If I wanted to experiment, and go back to 11, how would I do that?

Lloyd

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Yeah, I'll stick with what I have -- 11.5 . I was just curious. And as to my problem, I'll work with smaller files and I'll be more patient. Then I'll get more memory when I get my next computer.

Thanks -- Lloyd