I'm running DNS 11.5 Premium (English only) under Windows 7, and I've just purchased DNS 11.0 Premium (Spanish).  Before trying to install the latter, I have a few questions:

 

1.  Can I install the 11.0 Spanish alongside the 11.5 English-only version, or will trying to install the Spanish version overwrite the 11.5 English-only version?

2.  If the answer to #1 is "Nope, you can't install 2 versions of DNS on the same machine", and I'm willing to forgo the 11.5 features, can I export the 11.5 English users and then import them into the 11.0 Spanish installation (which also speaks English, I believe) so I can keep the custom vocabulary?

3.  I believe that I have heard of someone installing a foreign language 11.0 edition, creating a new (non-English) user profile, exporting that profile, and then importing it into the 11.5 English only version.  Sounds crazy?  Does anyone know if that would work?

Thank you! 

 

Camner,

I couldn't say for sure whether or not you would be prompted, because I haven't done this with 11.5 myself, but you might likely be prompted that you are attempting to install an older version if you attempt to install DNS 11.0 Spanish over top of DNS 11.5 English. In that case, consider the suggestions below. That is, under normal conditions if the version numbers were the same, Nuance allows you to install any international language version and/or all international language versions as an update so that you can have multiple language vocabularies. All DNS does in this case is to upgrade the current installation by adding the international language vocabulary and associated files. However, DNS only allows one DNS program files installation. If you can do this under the above circumstances (i.e., that is if DNS will allow you to do this given that you have two different versions) then the only thing that would change would be the updating of the language support.

I'll let someone else who has attempted this to chime in as to whether or not this works.

It's not a question of installing two versions side by side because DNS doesn't allow that. DNS allows multiple language versions to be installed, but only uses one set of program files, but updates the language support files as noted above.

Since you're working with two different versions (DNS 11.5 English and DNS 11.0 Spanish) and since DNS 11.0 Spanish supports English and Spanish user profiles, my recommendation would be to do the following:

1. Export your English user profile(s) to a safe location so that you have a copy of them in case something goes wrong.

2. Uninstall the DNS 11.5 Premium English version, but when prompted to keep or delete your user profile(s), respond by saying yes. Make sure that you do the uninstall while actively connected to the Internet so that your activation for the English version are reset.

3. Install the Spanish DNS 11.0 Premium. There's no reason that I can think of why your preserved English user profile(s) shouldn't be preserved and available (supported) when using this approach. Yes, you will lose the features and updates from 11.5 and will end up using the 11.0 version, but you should be able to create a Spanish user profile and use both the English and Spanish profiles by simply switching back and forth between them when necessary.

No, that will not work. The simple reason is that the DNS 11.5 Premium English version does not support any international language. That is, the vocabulary and the appropriate models for Spanish are not available in the DNS 11.5 Premium English version. They are only available in the international language version that you install. So, simply attempting to import your international language user profile would result in DNS 11.5 English telling you that the profile is not compatible (i.e., it's invalid). However, installing the DNS 11.0 Spanish will support your English user profile(s), or should, that you created using the DNS 11.5 English version because there is no difference between profiles created under DNS 11.0 English and DNS 11.5 English. In other words, your DNS 11.5 English user profile(s) will work under DNS 11.0 or DNS 11.5 because the user profile format is the same whether you're using DNS 11.0 or DNS 11.5.

The long and the short of it is that the English version does not contain support for international language, but international language versions do contain support for English.

I hope this answers your questions in a manner that allows you to make the appropriate decision. However, it wouldn't hurt to try to install the DNS 11.0 Spanish Premium version as an upgrade to your DNS 11.5 Premium English version. It will either work or it won't, and the DNS InstallShield wizard will tell you whether or not performing that upgrade is valid. Therefore, it can't hurt to try it because it will either work or the installation will abort without making any changes and prompting you that it can't be done for whatever reason specified during the upgrade attempt.

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

For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

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1) You can not have two versions loaded at the same time.

2) I don't know... Chuck covered this point

3) It makes sense for an 11.0 user to go to 11.5.  That doesn't mean that 11.5 will go to 11.0

 

I have not tried this myself.

But since there is apparently an 11.5 Spanish version, what I would do is:

1) Export my 11.5 English user files (Profile, Manage User Profiles, Advanced, Export) so that I could recover if something goes wrong.

I might separately export any custom words.

2) uninstall 11.5 English

3) install 11.0 Spanish

4) upgrade 11.0 Spanish to 11.5. 

5) import my 11.5 English user files

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Larry Allen
Softnet Systems, Inc.
http://www.pcspeak.com

You can install as many different language versions of Dragon on top of each other as you like, however the caveat is that they must all be the same version both in terms of number (11, 11.5 etc) and edition (Premium, Professional etc). Therefore you could install Spanish 11 Premium on top of Italian 11 Premium on top of German 11 Premium, etc and you would then be able to create a user profile in any of those languages with an appropriate language user interface all with this one installation (Dragon was designed specifically to allow these multilanguage installations).

if you try to install Spanish 11 on top of English 11.5 it won't let you, if there was a version 11.5 Spanish then it would but there is no Spanish version 11.5, 11.5 is available in English, French and German and not in Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

All you need to do is this:

1. Uninstall English 11.5 and keep your existing user profile.

2. Install Spanish 11 and it will use the English 11.5 user profile you already have.

3. You can create a Spanish profile any time in the usual manner.

That's it. If Spanish 11.5 becomes available you can simply upgrade this installation.

I did all of this a couple of weeks ago so I know it works.

Lindsay

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www.pcbyvoice.com
www.pcbyvoice.co.uk

Thanks to all for your quick and detailed responses.  There's obviously a knowledgable and active group here!

 I'm left with a bit of a dilemma.  I primarily need to dictate in English (overwhelming), and I've found the 11.5 features (particularly the Dragon Remote Microphone feature, as it frees me from having to constantly sit at the desk while dictating) to be quite helpful.  I wanted to be able to start doing occasional dictation in Spanish.

 The combination of the inability to have 2 side-by-side installations of DNS (11/11.5) and the inability to use a Spanish profile with 11.5 seems to mean that I have either give up the 11.5 features I like or postpone starting to use the Spanish version until/unless Nuance upgrades the Spanish version to 11.5.  

 Does that pretty much summarize the state of things right now?

 

Again, many thanks to all that replied in such a complete manner. 

Yes pretty much that sums it up.  I just double checked everything by uninstalling 11.5 English (which is all I had installed on my own machine), and kept the 11.5 English user profile when prompted to during the uninstall.  I then installed Spanish 11 and it automatically used the 11.5 profile no problem.  I am dictating with it now.  Whole process takes less than 15 min.

I also checked for updates from Spanish 11 and there are no updates available.  So unless they have brought out a full version DVD 11.5 in the last few weeks (which I doubt very much because the upgrade would be available) your summation is pretty much spot on.

What you could do is download some free virtual machine software and run a virtual machine (e.g. VMware or virtual box) then run Spanish 11 on that and it will allow you to keep 11.5 and thus keep the remote microphone iPhone features with English 11.5.

Lindsay

Edit: of course your other option is just to buy a decent quality wireless microphone and use it with version 11, you will get better accuracy than you will with an iPhone as well

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www.pcbyvoice.com
www.pcbyvoice.co.uk

 

I had asked a Nuance person last week about the availability of Spanish 11.5 and it was confirmed that it is available.  But sometimes it takes time between "available" in the eyes of marketing vs. "available" from the eyes of an end-user.

Upon reviewing catalogs and web sites, it appears that Spanish 11.5 may have just been released.  Spanish 11.5 Professional seems to be readily available to sell, some sites are offering Spanish 11.5 Premium.  The situation may temporarily be slightly different in North America than in Europe or other places.

Like Lindsay, I would have expected the Update to be available if the product has been completed and is available for shipment.   I've seen this sort of situation before, it may take a few days or weeks to have 11.5 Spanish Premium available everywhere.

Camner, I'd encourage you to contact your source for DNS 11.0 Premium Spanish and ask them to provide you with up-to-date information on 11.5 Spanish.

 

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Larry Allen
Softnet Systems, Inc.
http://www.pcspeak.com

Well if it is available it must be very new and unreported as both the Nuance USA website/shop and the Spanish Nuance website still say it is version 11.  I hope there is an 11.5 imminent because my client (16-year-old quadriplegic studying Spanish and French A-levels) with a Spanish/French/English Professional installation wants to use the Facebook and Twitter commands.

http://shop.nuance.com/store/nuanceus/pd/productID.221825300?link_name=premium_spanish

http://www.nuance.es/naturallyspeaking/

If you do find it Camner or anyone I would appreciate a source to throw at Nuance UK.

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www.pcbyvoice.com
www.pcbyvoice.co.uk

Well, that's good news, indeed!  I found my copy of Premium 11 at a tech reseller, so I'm not sure I'll be able to rely on them for an updated version.

My English version of 11.0 prompted me to update to 11.5.  Presumably the 11.0 of Spanish would do the same.

How's this for an approach:

1.  Wait until I can confirm that Spanish 11.5 exists.

2.  Install Spanish 11.0 on a machine and let the machine update to 11.5

3.  Export the 11.5 English user(s) and import them into 11.5 Spanish

I presume that this would work to get both English and Spanish users into 11.5? 

Camner

I am still insisting that 11.5 Spanish does not exist, if you phone up these suppliers and ask them you will find they are selling version 11 and not 11.5.  Nuance have confirmed to me again that there will be no version 11.5 Spanish and they will be going straight to version 12.  If you look at your bottom link above they have already changed it to version 11.

I will let Larry update things from his perspective but the distributor he knew who was advertising 11.5 Spanish Professional has confirmed to him that it was mistakenly listed and it should have been 11.

You don't need to do any importing and exporting of profiles.  Just do this:

1.  Uninstall English version 11.5, you will be prompted whether you wish to keep your user profile (s), say yes.

2.  Then install Spanish 11 and it will automatically use your 11.5 English profile straightaway the first time you load it after installation.  The whole process takes about 10 min.

When you install Spanish 11 it will automatically check for an update to 11.5 but it won't find it because it doesn't currently exist.  If I have been wrongly informed by Nuance and Spanish 11.5 does become available this Spanish version 11 installation will update automatically.

Then just add a new Spanish profile in the normal manner.

Lindsay

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www.pcbyvoice.com
www.pcbyvoice.co.uk

Here a few links to the Spanish 11.5 Premium edition:

http://www.journeyed.com/item/Nuance/Dragon+Naturally+Speaking/1488601

http://www.speechtechnology.com/voicerecognition.cfm?URLID=11-PREM-SPANISH

BUT, the Nuance store still lists only the 11.0 version of Spanish DNS.  

Looks as if it should be available soon! 

 

Just one final thing on those links you have listed above Camner, you will notice that things like part numbers on these webpages are giving the part numbers for version 11 and it is only in the description paragraph they mentioned 11.5.  The items themselves are actually saying version 11.

Personally I wouldn't buy anything from either of the suppliers as they don't seem to know what they are selling.  Unfortunately I am in the UK so can't really confirm situations in the US so I would wait for an update from Larry on the US before purchasing if you have not done so already.  If you already have Spanish 11 then just install using the method I mentioned above and it will update automatically should an update ever become available or if you absolutely need 11.5 for the remote microphone then just wait until you know the upgrade is available before following this procedure.

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www.pcbyvoice.com
www.pcbyvoice.co.uk

I think Lindsay is correct -- there is no Spanish 11.5.   3 days ago I really thought otherwise based on verbal statements by a Nuance manager and written material posted by a US distributor.  But digging deeper it doesn't seem to exist.   Sorry.  Take Lindsay's advice given 31 March.

I disagree with Lindsay that an error of this sort means that a reseller doesn't know what he is selling.  With low-volume products, resellers must rely on others for information, and when that information is incorrect we look bad.  In this case, he probably saw Spanish 11.5 offered by his distributor, just as I did.  I know the key person at speechtechnology.com. speechtechnology.com is a quality reseller who understands their products and has served Dragon users for over 15 years.

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Larry Allen
Softnet Systems, Inc.
http://www.pcspeak.com

I meant no inference, and I am not in a position to comment, on the quality of the reseller but simply on the confusion of the webpages where with both pages one part of the page lists as version 11 and another part of the page describes as 11.5. I am not too good myself at keeping on top of the administration of my website so I would dish out the same advice to anyone using it if they were unclear of what they were going to get (without the benefit of knowing 11.5 Spanish doesn't exist).

Thanks for the verification on the nonexistence of 11.5 and also for trying to find a source of 11.5 for my client.

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www.pcbyvoice.com
www.pcbyvoice.co.uk

Hello, I'm a spanish user.

Yes, you are right.

This page is wrong.

http://nuance.software.net/store/swnet/ContentTheme/pbPage.nuanceus-ms_dragon-naturally-speaking-11-premium/ThemeID.16645600?resid=T3x2IAoHAtUAAFUIvZMAAAAe&rests=1333557866871

 The information for the service pack:

 http://nuance.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6213/~/general-information-about-the-dragon-naturallyspeaking-11.5-service-pack

 You can confirm this at the emea store:

 http://shop.nuance.es/DRHM/store?Action=DisplayCategoryProductListPage&SiteID=nuanceeu&Locale=es_ES&Env=BASE&categoryID=13534600

 I've been looking for that version for a long time.

 

Thanks to all for their contributions.  It's a shame that the info out there isn't clearer.  And I'm disappointed if it is the case that Nuance doesn't plan on updating the Spanish version to 11.5 but intends to wait until they're ready to move to version 12, particularly since the info out there seems to be that version 12 won't be released until some time in 2013 (this I suppose is only speculation, but there's a post on these forums somewhere from someone who claims to be more knowledgable...I'm in no position to support or refute those claims).

I don't know if I can return the Spanish 11.0 (I've opened the box but I have NOT opened the sealed envelopes with the installer disk in them), because I'm not sure I would use the Spanish version enough to have it worth it to me to pay for 11 and then pay again for the upgrade to 12.

I am correct, am I not, that there is no upgrade path from the English only to a world language version...if one owns the English only version and wants to move to a multiple language version, one has to purchase the multiple language version as a standalone, full retail cost.  Yes? 

I believe that Lunis wrote that an "upgrade" version in another language will upgrade an English only version to the dual language. 

However, (1) won't help for Spanish, since there apparently in not such an upgrade from 11 to 11.5  (2) the cost of "upgrades"in another language appears greater than buying a new version in English. Prices in Europe appear much higher, and then currently conversion charge and shipping to U.S. - you had better really need that other language.

Lindsay's suggestion of setting up a virtual machine to install Spanish 11 seems like the answer (or get Windows 7 Ultimate with its virtual XP machine).  I paid for the Win7 upgrade to Ultimate (about $100 on EBay) to install DNS -8 French (as well as Collins' English-French/Italian/Spanish Dictionaries which don't work in Win7), didn't know there was free virtual machine software out there.

Quote:

I don't know if I can return the Spanish 11.0

We are not certain about non-US purchases but as long as you acquired your DNS Spanish from an approved Nuance source such as Nuance directly, Nuance certified resellers, Staples, Best Buy etc., you can return your application, even if the seal is broken and you have installed the software, for 30 days. Nuance offers a customer satisfaction thirty-day guarantee. However, Nuance does not offer this return policy or even upgrade licensing from black market or grey market vendors such as any eBay vendor, Amazon and the usual list of pirate sites.

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

Lunis ,

Why should "any ebay vendor" automatically be lumped into that mould regarding lack of Nuance support,upgrades etc. Tiger direct sell Dragon there. I remember Chuck R saying they were a trusted source.

Without looking at the obvious sharks out there selling copied products, Can you say that all sellers on ebay are like that. Or Amazon for that matter.??

Can you also define "grey...or gray etc"

R 

Most eBay software is out right pirated. EBay vendors typically purchase 1 DVD and make 4 copies of it and sell it to the public without a manual. Nuance’s official policy is to not even support legitimate software purchased on eBay. Furthermore, no certified Nuance reseller, like ourselves, is permitted to sell on eBay. Our contract strictly forbids selling on any auction sites. Having said that, we suspect the policy probably isn't always upheld but this is what we were informed. Tigersoft, like Digital River, is a legitimate reseller while Amazon is also a legitimate reseller but many of their merchants are questionable. Interestingly enough, Amazon charges its resellers 16 points on the dollar for software because they have so many piracy issues. We know that Nuance supports Amazon sales but a good deal of those resellers are definitely pirating NaturallySpeaking because there's no way they could offer some of the lowest pricing without pirating. 

Rag, good catch on gray vs grey.

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

To the best of my knowledge, I didn't buy it from a "grey market" source (if it is, I didn't do it intentionally).  I don't know if it's an "approved Nuance reseller," though.  I'll have to check.

Just to update....I was able to return the copy of DNS 11.0 (Spanish) to the dealer from which I purchased it (minus shipping, which is reasonable). When DNS Spanish gets updated (at version 12?), I'll go forward again! Thanks to all for their help.