I have used an old version of Dragon (v11) for many years., on an old PC running Windows 7.

I recently upgraded to Dragon Professional 15.61, and to a new laptop running Windows 10.  As there were no instructions to save my old user profile, I naively assumed that this would be imported automatically. Sadly this has not happened and my profile and saved vocabulary appears to have been lost. As a surgeon I use quite a few specialised words so this is not looking good, as my user profile was built up over years. 

I managed to find an old v11 back up folder but when I tried to import this to v15, I was instructed to upgrade the profile. Unfortuantely the profile upgrade does not appear to have worked and it is not recognised by the newly installed v15. 

Any advice would be welcome. 

It is just as the message states. So the only way for you would be to reinstall version 11, load the profile backup into it and export your custom words via the Dragon menu provided that loading the profile succeeds. Save the export of your custom words externally and reinstall version 15. You should be able to import your custom words into a user profile created in version 15.

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Thank you. I have the original CD for v10, which at some stage when it was still a supported version was upgraded automatically to v11. But I don't know how I could reinstall v11 now.
I tried a point restore on my PC but for some reason that didn't work.
When this topic has been discussed in the past, some users have advised that it is easier just to start afresh with a new profile and that it doesn't take that long to add in all the new words.

Unfortunately, these types of events frequently happen to those who purchase directly from Nuance or big-box pushers rather than from certified licensed resellers. Dragon is not automatically updated from the previous version. Ver. 10 didn't upgrade itself to Ver. 11 because full version numbers are charge upgrades. It seems more likely you purchased the Ver. 11 upgrade. It also helps to be more specific when referring to Dragon i.e. NaturallySpeaking Premium 10, NaturallySpeaking Standard 11 or NaturallySpeaking Preferred 11.

 

Neither installing Ver. 10 or Windows Restore would work because you probably ran Ver. 11 for several years. You can't typically Restore Windows to several years into the past.

 

If your old profile is important, bear in mind that you cannot and shouldn't import these files; even if you could, because they were built with entirely different algorithms. In other words you cannot import your previous training. Fortunately, training is no longer necessary. Your vocabulary, which you have likely massaged for several years and possibly your commands, can be exported and imported into Ver. 11. The only way this can be done is if you reinstall Ver. 11. Ver. 10 won't help. Note that if you were using Preferred 11, you will not be able to export your commands but there is another effective option. If you were using Pro 11 you are set.

 

Fortunately, we still have downloads for NaturallySpeaking Premium and Professional 11 which you can acquire through our Dragon Downloads section. Note that other editions of Dragon, like Standard, are not available. You will also need your Ver. 11 serial number. Please also note that we have never received a request for Ver. 11 so it's not on our list but you can let us know when you order.

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You shouldn't take just anything said around here as written in stone. And whenever listening to recommendations given here, you should ask yourself how the person giving them actually uses Dragon himself or herself. With regards to creating a new user profile and customising the vocabulary, it always depends on whether you are more of an average user or a specialist.

Technically, you won't be able to recreate version 11 any longer unless someone could provide you with a copy of the original installer, which, however, is more than unlikely.

Another option would be if someone who still actively uses version 11 chimed in and you would get in touch with each other, and, if the person would be so kind to, he or she would be provided with the profile backup to extract the words on his or her computer. That would be truly involved, indeed, and the question is how high the cost of losing the vocabulary and having to start over.

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Unless you have a backup of your exported custom words and phrases, you're going to have to add them to your new Version 15 profile. There are two ways to do that: manually and semi-automatically.

The manual method: Add a word or phrase as you discover that you need it.

The semi-automatic method:

1. Open a text editor (e.g., Notepad).

2. Type in as many of the custom words and phrases that you can remember, in this format:

@Version=Plato-UTF8
20 Eyeball Avenue
Ambulatory Director of the European Union
ADEU\\A D E U
lensectomy
refractive lensectomy
Taras Zinkre\\Tara Sink Ray

etc.

- Accept on faith that "@Version=Plato-UTF8" needs to be the first line. (However, this method probably works if you omit it.)
- The double backslash: the part to the left is how the word or phrase is spelled. The part to the right is how you pronounce it.

3. Save the file. This is a good time to create a folder where you keep your custom words and phrases.

4. When you create a new profile, import this file: "Import a list of custom words and phrases..."

Personally, I find that the need to train custom words is minimal. I have 400 or 500, and only a handful are not recognized the first time I say them. Typically, correcting the misrecognized word once or twice does the trick.

No it doesn't. You need that first line, and you need the double backslashes. Anything else will eventually result in import errors.

 

HTH, Stephan

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Another way to jump-start the process of adding unique words to your vocabulary is to let Dragon analyze files that contain samples of your writing.

So if you have a folder that contains letters that you have written, point Dragon to that folder. After Dragon analyzes the files, you'll see a list of words that are not in Dragon's vocabulary. You can choose to exclude words.

I have a single file that contains fragments of hundreds of letters and email messages. It's about 88 pages long. It takes Dragon just a few seconds to analyze it. When Dragon analyzes the file, it tweaks the language model so Dragon has a better understanding of context: which words tend to be used in proximity to other words.

Going forward, I recommend you make a backup of your custom words and commands and update it periodically. I also recommend that you keep a backup somewhere in the cloud. As I recently found out, computers have a way of going belly up without warning.


Another suggestion. The proper way to backup your custom commands isn't obvious, and this is another thing I learned the hard way. Under the Task Pane in DPI 15's Command Browser, you will see a menu item called "Export" under MyCommands. Do not use that! Instead, click "Manage" under Mode and check all the boxes for the commands you want to back up. Then click "Export" on the left.

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James McVay