Nuance DRAGON MEDICAL, DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING User Manual

Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon Medical

Version 10

User Guide

Version 10 Professional, Medical, Legal, Contact Center, Preferred, Standard, and Essentials editions.

Nuance Communications, Inc. ha s patents or pending patent applications covering the subject matter contained in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to such patents. This software is protected under the following patents, among others: 5,027,406; 5,168,548 5,202,952; 5,231,670; 5,388,183; 5,428,707; 5,465,318; 5,526,463; 5,680,511; 5,715,367; 5,754,972; 5,765,132; 5,794,189; 5,799,279; 5,818,423; 5,822,730; 5,850,627; 5,890,181; 5,909,666; 5,915,236; 5,920,836; 5,920,837; 5,949,886; 5,960,394; 5,970,448; 5,970,460; 5,983,179; 6,029,124; 6,058,366; 6,064,959; 6,073,097; 6,088,671; 6,092,043; 6,092,044; 6,101,468; 6,125,342; 6,125,347; 6,138,098; 6,151,575; 6,163,768; 6,167,377; 6,212,498; 6,260,013; 6,292,779; 6,349,282; 6,424,943; 6,456,972. 6,393,399, 6,360,237, 6,456,972, 6,490,555, 6,601,027; 6,912,498, and 7,315,818.

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50-A11A-10511

CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1

About this guide 2 What should I expect from Dragon? 3

CHAPTER 2 Installation and User Creation 5

System requirements 5 Plugging in the microphone 6 What you should know before installing 7 Before installing the software 8 Choosing type of installation 9 Installing software — Typical Installation 9 Installing software — Custom Installation 11 Modifying application settings for all users 16 Modifying administrative settings 16 Setting formatting options 17 Creating a new user 18 Training a new user 22 Adapting to your writing style 23 Scheduling periodic optimizations 24 Upgrading Existing Users from Versions 8.x and 9.x 25 Version 10 File Structure 27 Accessing log files, samples, and tools 28 Setting command, hot key, backup options 29

Contents

CHAPTER 3 Starting to Dictate 33

Starting Dragon 33 Turning on the microphone 34 Starting to dictate 35 Getting Help 39 Troubleshooting 41 The DragonBar 41 Using QuickStart 44

CHAPTER 4 Working on Your Desktop 47

Programs, documents, and folders 47 Switching between open windows 48 Opening and closing menus 49

Selecting buttons, tabs, and options 50 Selecting icons on the desktop 51 Resizing and closing windows 52 Scrolling in windows and list boxes 52 Opening lists and making selections 53

iii

Contents

Pressing keyboard keys 53 Moving the mouse pointer and clicking the mouse 58

CHAPTER 5 Correcting and Editing 63

Correcting mistakes 63 Selecting text by voice 67 Moving around in a document 71 Copying, cutting, and pasting text 73 Deleting text 74 Spelling as you dictate 76 Playing back your dictation 77 Using text-to-speech 83

CHAPTER 6 Formatting 85

Capitalizing text 85 Formatting text 89

CHAPTER 7 Dictating Numbers, Punctuation, and Special Characters 93

Dictating numbers 93 Punctuation 104 Dictating hyphenated words 107 Dictating compound words 109 Dictating names 110 Dictating abbreviations and acronyms 110 Dictating e-mail and Web addresses 113 Dictating special characters 114 Switching recognition modes 119

INDEX121

Technical Support 127 Information and Sales 127 Training and Customization Services 127

Introduction

ragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Medical let you talk

to your computer instead of typing. As you talk, your words are transcribed onto your screen and into your documents or email messages.

Talking to a computer while it types what you say is called dictating. You can dictate, rather than type, into any program that accepts text.

You can use Dragon to:

■ Compose letters, memos, and send e-mail messages—Cut and

paste inside your documents as well as revise and format text. Just think about what you want to say, and then say it into the microphone.

CHAPTER

■ Enter data into forms or spreadsheets. (Available in

Professional and higher editions)—Most people can dictate numbers faster than they can type. Using Dragon Professional or higher editions, you can create custom voice commands to let you move from field to field on your form by voice.

■ Work on the Web—Search the Web, access information, and

navigate Web pages by speaking URLs and links.

■ Start programs and open menus.

■ Use handheld recorders to dictate while you are away from

your computer. Dragon can then transcribe what you said.

Introduction

About this guide

This guide covers all editions of Dragon, including Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Medical. Most information presented applies to all the editions, and differences between the editions are noted.

Conventions used in this guide

1 This guide contains many examples of words and phrases

you can say when using Dragon. These examples appear in italics with quotation marks, for example: “Format That

Bold.”

2 Some procedures also include sample text for you to dictate.

Sample text appears in a different typeface, with punctuation in square brackets.

3 This guide applies to the five English dialects that ship with

Dragon:

■ US English

■ UK English

■ Australian English

■ Indian English

■ Southeast Asian English

US English uses US spelling, punctuation, and time and currency formats. We recommend US English for Canadian users since this dialect formats numbers (including times, telephone numbers, and currency) in North American formats.

All other dialects use UK spelling, punctuation, and time and currency formats (some number settings depend on your Windows Regional Settings). Where multiple dialects are used in dictation examples, those dialects appear in a different font style. For example:

You can also correct a longer phrase by saying “Correct

[text] Through [text]” (US/Canada) or “Correct [text] To [text]” (Other Dialects).

4 This guide uses US spelling and punctuation for consistency.

5 This guide also includes tips and notes to help you use the

software more effectively. Tips and notes appear like this:

NOTE:

If you pause correctly, but Dragon still types a command as dictation, you can force it to recognize what you say as a command by holding down the

With Numbers Mode on, Dragon tries to interpret everything you say as a number. If you dictate words, the results will be unpredictable. However, you can still navigate menus and switch between programs by voice when Numbers Mode is on.

CTRL key.

What should I expect from Dragon?

One reason to use Dragon is to do your writing more quickly; creating letters, reports, and other documents by voice. Another is to reduce the stress associated with keyboarding. Or maybe you just like the idea of being able to lean back in your chair, put your feet up on the desk, and still get work done.

User Guide

Dragon is good for all these reasons, but making it work well requires some effort from you. Dragon learns about your voice and pronunciation as you use it. When you use words the program doesn’t know, it will misrecognize them. By correcting your mistakes, you help Dragon improve its ability to recognize your way of speaking.

Do I still need my keyboard and mouse?

Although you can use Dragon to do almost everything on your computer by voice, some things are still easier to do using the mouse or keyboard.

If using a mouse and keyboard is an option for you, try experimenting with using your voice and using your hands for different tasks, to see what works best.

What if I can’t use a keyboard and mouse?

If using a mouse and keyboard is not an option, Chapter 4,

Working on Your Desktop on page 47.

CHAPTER

Installation and User Creation

his chapter presents how to install and set up Dragon, and then how to train Dragon to understand your voice.

System requirements

System requirements to run Dragon are:

■ Intel

■ 512 MB RAM minimum. Recommended: 1 GB RAM. For

■ 512 KB minimum L2 Cache. Recommended: 1 GB L2 Cache.

■ Minimum of 1 GB of free hard disk space. Minimum 2.5 GB

■ Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4 or higher), or Windows Server

■ DVD drive required for installation.

Pentium® 4 (or equivalent AMD processor) 1GHz

processor or greater. Recommended: Intel (1.6 GHz dual core processor) or equivalent AMD processor. Faster processor will produce faster performance.

NOTE:

During the installation process the software checks to make sure your system meets the minimum requirements. If your system does not meet the requirements, the software will not be installed.

Windows Vista, 1GB RAM is required.

for Dragon Medical.

2000 (Service Pack 4 or higher), Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional (32-bit with Service Pack 2 or higher), and Windows Vista Home or Professional Windows Vista with or without Service Pack 1 (32-bit only).

Pentium® 2.4 GHz

■ Sound card capable of recording, set to 16 bit 11 KHz for

audio recording.

Installation and User Creation

■ Nuance-approved noise-canceling headset/microphone. A

microphone is included with the full product, but is not included with upgrade versions.

■ Microsoft

Internet Explorer® 6 or higher (free download

available at www.microsoft.com).

■ Speakers—Optional for playback of recorded speech and text-

to-speech features.

■ For Bluetooth wireless microphone support, visit

http://support.nuance.com/compatibility.

■ An Internet connection for activation and automatic updates.

■ Additional software—Additional operating system support for

Professional, Legal, and Medical Editions: Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server 4.0 or 4.5 for Citrix support.

Multiple users on one computer

Dragon is licensed on a “per individual” basis. You are permitted to install the software on more than one computer (such as on a desktop and a laptop computer, or on a work and a home computer), but you cannot use the software concurrently on more than one computer.

You are permitted to create multiple voice profiles, so long as each voice profile is for you. If someone else wants to create a voice profile, that person must purchase a separate Dragon license.

Volume license agreements are available.

Plugging in the microphone

To use Dragon, you will need to plug in your microphone.

If you are not sure how to plug in your microphone, consult the documentation that came with your microphone.

NOTE:

If you already have speakers for your computer, you can also

use these to playback recorded speech instead of your headphones.

What you should know before installing

Before installing, modifying, or upgrading Dragon, you should know about issues with Vista and coexistence with other Dragon products.

Installing on Windows Vista

Dragon Version 10 is compatible with all editions of Windows Vista. Versions 8.x, 9.0, and 9.1 of Dragon do not install or run on Windows Vista. (Versions 9.5 and higher do work on Windows Vista.)

If you upgrade a machine from a previous version of Windows to Windows Vista and that machine has Version 8.x, 9.0, or 9.1 of Dragon installed, that version of Dragon will not work after upgrading to Windows Vista. All your user profiles from these previous versions remain intact and can be upgraded when you install Dragon Version 9.5 or higher.

Coexistence with other Dragon products

User Guide

Coexistence with previous versions of Dragon

You can have only one version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking installed on your system.

NOTE:

Running Version 8.x or 9.x concurrently with Version 10 is not supported.

Coexistence with Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK Client Edition

You can install Dragon SDK Client Edition 10 on the same machine where Dragon 10 is installed. In addition, Dragon 10 and Dragon SDK Client Edition 10 can share users and vocabularies.

You can only run one product at a time. For example, if you are running Dragon, you cannot run any of the SDK Client tools or samples.

NOTE:

Coexistence of Version 10 with Dragon SDK Client Edition Version 8.x or 9.x is not supported.

Installation and User Creation

Before installing the software

Before installing, modifying, or upgrading Dragon:

1 Close all open applications.

2 Turn off or disable antivirus software; the installation process

can sometimes trigger a false virus report.

NOTE:

You must have Administrator rights to install or uninstall Dragon on Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista. Administrator rights are not required to create a user or use the software after installation.

On Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista systems, if as an administrator you want to create a Dragon user for a Windows limited user (user with restricted privileges), you must log on using that Windows limited user account before creating the Dragon NaturallySpeaking user.

If you create a Dragon user account for a limited user while logged in as a Windows administrator, the limited user will not be able to access that user account. These restrictions also apply to an upgrade installation.

Choose the type of installation to carry out.

Choose Installation Type

Choose whether to install the entire product or only particular features of the product, as explained in the next section.

MSI

You can also carry out an online Dragon System Administrator Guide PDF or Help file for details.

installation. Refer to the

Choosing type of installation

When you install Dragon, you can either do a complete (typical) installation or a custom installation. Nuance recommends you do a complete installation unless you are experienced with the product. The table below tells more about each installation type.

TYPE DESCRIPTION

Typical/ Complete

Custom Lets you select options and speech files to

Installs all options and speech files. Requires the maximum disk space.

install. Can greatly reduce the disk space required. During a custom installation, in the Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional and Dragon Medical editions, you can modify settings that are then applied to all users created with this installation, including Windows limited account users.

User Guide

NOTE:

If you decide not to install some Dragon components by selecting Custom installation, you can install them later by running the Setup program again and choosing Modify.

If you are installing the product for multiple users, you should choose a Custom installation rather than a Typical/Complete installation. To carry out a custom installation, proceed to

Installing software — Custom Installation on page 11.

Otherwise, proceed with Installing software — Typical

Installation on page 9.

Installing software — Typical Installation

To install all features of Dragon:

1 Insert the Dragon DVD into your DVD drive.

If the installation does not start automatically, use Windows Explorer to find and double-click setup.exe on the DVD.

Installation and User Creation

NOTE:

Vista, you may see the message saying A program needs your permission to continue. Click Continue to start the installation.

After the Windows Installer begins, it installs two software packages if they are not already installed:

■ Visual C++ Version 8.0

■ PowerMic Microphone Drivers (Medical edition only)

3 After the Wizard begins, click Next to proceed to the License

Agreement page. Read the text and select I accept the terms..., then click Next.

4 Enter your User Name and Organization, and the Serial

Number supplied to your installation.

5 (Optional) When the Setup Type page appears, click the

Change button and choose where to install the product.

Windows Vista: When you start the installation on Windows

If no earlier versions of Dragon are installed on your system, the default directory is:

C:\Program Files\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking10

For a list of directories created by installation, see Version 10

File Structure on page 27.

6 While you are still on the Setup Type page, select Ty p ic al .

User Guide

7 On the Ready to Install the Program page, you can choose:

■ Enable QuickStart mode for the current user—If you enable

QuickStart, the product launches at system startup time and adds the Dragon QuickStart icon to the Windows task bar.

■ Upgrade existing speech files to work with the installation—

If you select this option, either immediately after you install (or after you reboot when you are prompted to reboot), Dragon starts the user upgrade process (Upgrading

Existing Users from Versions 8.x and 9.x on page 25).

8 Click Install to start the installation.

9 When prompted, click Finish to complete the installation. (If

you are prompted to restart your computer, restart it now.)

10Select Start > All Programs > Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 >

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10. The DragonBar appears on

your desktop.

11(optional) If you have users from Version 8.x or 9.x that you

would like to upgrade before proceeding, refer to Upgrading

Existing Users from Versions 8.x and 9.x on page 25.

12If you have no previously existing users, the New User

Wizard starts immediately after you run the product. Proceed

to Creating a new user on page 18 to set up a user, then continue as instructed, to train the user.

You are now ready to create a user, as explained under

Creating a new user on page 18.

Installing software — Custom Installation

To install portions of Dragon or to install it for multiple users:

1 Insert the Dragon DVD into your DVD drive.

If the installation does not start automatically, use Windows Explorer to find and double-click setup.exe on the DVD.

Installation and User Creation

NOTE:

Vista, if you see a message saying A program needs your permission to continue, click Continue to start the installation.

After the Windows Installer begins, it installs two software packages if they are not already installed:

■ Visual C++ Version 8.0

■ PowerMic Microphone Drivers (Medical edition only)

3 After the Wizard begins click Next to proceed to the License

Agreement page. Read the text and select I accept the terms..., then click Next.

4 Enter your User Name and Organization, and the Serial

Number supplied to your installation.

5 (Optional) When the Setup Type page appears, click the

Change button and choose where to install the product.

If no earlier versions of Dragon are installed on your system, the default directory is:

C:\Program Files\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking10

Windows Vista: When you start the installation on Windows

For a list of directories created by installation, see Version 10

File Structure on page 27.

6 While you are still on the Setup Type page, select Custom for

the type of installation.

NOTE:

If you decide not to install some Dragon components by selecting Custom installation, you can install them later by running the Setup program again and choosing Modify.

User Guide

7 Click Next and you see a tree where you can select any

particular feature of the product and click the down arrow to its left to choose where/when to install it:

■ Install now, on local hard drive

■ Install now, with all subfeatures on local hard drive

■ Install when it is needed on a just-in-time basis

These options are particularly useful for installing multiple languages and/or multiple vocabularies.

For example, see the selections for the Southeast Asian English vocabulary shown in the illustration below.

If you are using Dragon Medical, you can choose to install, for example, the Surgery vocabulary under US English, shown in the next illustration.

Installation and User Creation

Installing other languages, dialects, and specialized vocabularies

To install user files for the other languages or dialects supplied with your edition, choose Custom on the Setup Type page. The user files for each language or dialect contain both spellings and pronunciations specific to that region. For example, users who wish to dictate US English spellings—including users with accents—should install the US (American) English user files.

8 Click Next again and, if you do not have the Professional or

Medical edition, skip to the next step. Otherwise, choose any check boxes under Additional options to have additional dialog boxes pop up at the end of the installation, where you can make changes that affect all users dictating on this computer.

OPTION DESCRIPTION

Modify the application's settings for all users

Displays the Options dialog box at the end of the installation; here you set several options for all users at once (see online Help for details). Useful for an installation in a shared area; for example, in an examining room where multiple healthcare providers can dictate.

Modify the administrative settings

Displays the Administrative Settings dialog box at the end of the installation, where you set up the Roaming User feature, where to backup your files, and who can modify commands/vocabularies.

Formatting options

Displays Formatting dialog box at end of installation, where you apply uniform formatting to all documents dictated at this installation; for example, formats for dates, times, and phone numbers. You also set whether to expand contractions, apply abbreviations, and insert commas automatically. See online Help for more details.

9 Click Next.

User Guide

10On the Ready to Install the Program page, you can choose:

■ Enable QuickStart mode for the current user

In QuickStart mode, the product launches on system startup with the Dragon QuickStart icon in the Windows task bar. For more on the QuickStart option, see Version

10 File Structure on page 27.

■ Upgrade existing speech files to work with the installation

If you select this option, immediately after you reboot, Dragon NaturallySpeaking starts the user upgrade process.

11Click Install to start the installation.

12When the installation completes, proceed with any of the

following sections that apply to your custom installation:

■ Modifying application settings for all users on page 16

■ Modifying administrative settings on page 16

■ Setting formatting options on page 17

13If you chose to upgrade speech files earlier, when the

message about upgrading your user speech files pops up, click OK. (The message might tell you that the installation will not be complete until after your system is restarted.)

14Check Yes, check for program updates to download any

updates after the setup completes and click Finish to complete the installation.

15If you were told you need to reboot in order to complete the

installation, reboot your computer now.

16Select Start > All Programs > Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 >

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10.

17If you have users from Version 8.x or 9.x that you would like

to upgrade before proceeding, refer to Upgrading Existing

Users from Versions 8.x and 9.x on page 25. Otherwise, if

you have no previously existing users, the New User Wizard starts immediately and you can create a user as explained under Creating a new user on page 18.

Installation and User Creation

Modifying application settings for all users

If you checked off Modify the application’s settings for all users during a custom installation, the Options dialog box opens immediately after the installation completes.

NOTE:

If you did a typical installation, open the Options dialog box by running Dragon NaturallySpeaking and selecting Tool s > Options.

In the Options dialog box, you see several tabs you can use to set up various aspects of dictating with the product:

■ Correction

■ Commands

■ View

■ Hot keys

■ Text-to-speech

■ Miscellaneous

For more information on each tab, see the online Help. If you have the Medical Edition, you also see tabs for PowerMic I, PowerMic II, and the Dictation Box.

Modifying administrative settings

If you checked Modify the administrative settings during a custom installation, the Administrative Settings dialog box opens immediately after the installation ends.

NOTE:

If you did a typical installation, open the Administrative Settings dialog box by running Dragon NaturallySpeaking without opening a user and selecting Tools > Administrative Settings.

In the Administrative Settings dialog box, you see these tabs:

■ Roaming—To set up roaming users.

■ Miscellaneous—To create backup/distribution directories and

control who can modify custom commands.

■ Scheduled Tasks—To schedule voice recognition optimization

and data collection for improved accuracy, and let users modify the schedule.

■ Data

For details, refer to the Help by clicking the Help button.

Setting formatting options

If you checked Formatting options on the Custom Setup page during a custom installation, the Formatting dialog box opens after the installation completes.

NOTE:

If you did not do a custom installation, to set up formatting: Run Dragon, open a user, and select Tools > Formatting. Then choose the General tab.

The Formatting dialog box for all versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking appears as shown below.

User Guide

Choose the options to apply to your dictated documents.

In Dragon Medical, the Formatting dialog box offers a wider variety of options (shown in the next illustration), including

Installation and User Creation

more possible formats for capitalization, numbers, units of measure, and abbreviations.

Creating a new user

Before you can begin using Dragon, you must create a user for each person or healthcare provider who is dictating.

Your user files store acoustic information about your voice that Dragon uses to recognize what you say. These files also store any changes you make to the standard vocabulary—any specialized words, names, acronyms, and abbreviations you add.

User Guide

When you launch the software for the first time, the New User Wizard starts and leads you through creating a new user:

NOTE:

If you upgraded a single user from an earlier version, Dragon loads that user. If you upgraded multiple users, it displays all upgraded users in the Open User dialog box.

To create a user:

1 Type a name for Your Name.

2 Select your language for Language. Dragon Version 10 lets

you create and train users in multiple languages. If you have purchased an edition with support for more than one language, you can add languages by later choosing Custom during the installation and having the Dragon DVD available to install the language files for creating the user.

3 Select your microphone or other audio input device from the

Dictation source drop-down list.

4 Vocabulary—Select the appropriate vocabulary from the drop-

down list. Dragon uses the vocabulary to recognize words correctly based not only on their sound, but also on their context.

5 When you create a user, Dragon chooses the vocabulary and

speech model that best fit your computer’s speed/memory.

Installation and User Creation

Usually, you should follow this recommendation. For a General vocabulary, you see an Advanced button that you can

click to change the speech model type and vocabulary size:

■ Speech model—Used to adapt to your voice during training.

■ Vocabulary size—Choose:

6 Initial Training: Training is a process where you read text

aloud so that Dragon NaturallySpeaking can more readily recognize your speech. Completing initial training before you start dictating enhances initial recognition accuracy. Choose the type of training to carry out:

Dragon recommends the model that best fits your computer’s speed and memory.

■ Medium—Requires at least 512 MB of RAM.

■ Large—Requires at least 1 GB of RAM.

■ Empty Dictation—(Professional and Medical editions

only) Vocabulary with a language model but without any words, designed for experienced users or resellers who want to create highly specialized vocabularies.

■ None—Choose to skip initial training.

■ Short—Choose to read aloud from provided text. Provides

greater initial accuracy than None.

■ Special—Choose if you have difficulty speaking, a strong

accent, a speech impediment, or stuttering.

If you skip initial training, it is important to read the text exactly as presented when the New User Wizard leads you through the volume and quality checks for your microphone. You can do additional training later by running Perform Additional Training from the Accuracy Center.

7 Click Next to continue. Then proceed with Setting up/

positioning your microphone on page 20.

Setting up/positioning your microphone

1 Click Next to have the New User Wizard lead you through

setting up your microphone.

2 When the New User Wizard first shows/explains how to,

position your microphone.

Positioning the microphone correctly is important. If the microphone is out of place, Dragon might not be able to hear you clearly and make more mistakes.

Consistent positioning is also important. Make sure that you position the microphone the same way each time you dictate.

Here are some tips on using particular types of microphones:

Using a headset microphone

■ Position the microphone about a half-inch (approximately

the width of your thumb) from your mouth and a little off to the side. The microphone should not touch your mouth, but it can be almost touching your lips.

■ If you need to move the microphone out of the way, lift the

“boom” up and over your head, rather than bending it out of position or removing the headset.

Using a handheld microphone

■ Hold the microphone one to three inches from your mouth

and a little off to the side.

■ If the volume display on the DragonBar

turns red, try

holding the microphone slightly farther from your mouth.

User Guide

Using an array microphone

■ Position the array 18 to 30 inches from/pointed at your

mouth.

■ Avoid blocking the path between your mouth and the

array, for example by holding a book or paper in front of your face.

■ Avoid having any source of noise or signal other than your

voice directly facing the array within at least 15 feet.

3 Click Next to continue with Checking microphone volume/

sound quality on page 21.

Checking microphone volume/sound quality

1 When the Adjust Your Microphone: Volume Check page of the

wizard appears, click the Start Volume Check button and then read aloud the text displayed in the box.

Installation and User Creation

2 When the program beeps to indicate it has finished checking

the volume, click Next.

3 When the Adjust Your Microphone: Quality Check screen

appears, click Start Quality Check and then read aloud the text displayed in the box.

4 The program beeps when it has finished evaluating the sound

quality of your system. If Dragon displays PASSED, click the Next button to continue.

NOTE:

low error while creating a Dragon user, to boost the microphone’s volume:

1. Select Start > Control Panel > Sound.

2. On the Recording tab, double-click the Microphone icon to open the Microphone Properties dialog.

3. Based on your sound card and microphone, you set the boost from the Level or Custom tab. If you see a slider to set the boost, move the slider all the way to the right for the maximum boost. If you see a Boost checkbox, select the checkbox.

Windows Vista or XP: If you get a Sound level is too

Proceed with Training a new user on page 22.

Training a new user

If you selected Short training when you created the user, you are prompted to start General Training after you check the volume and quality of your microphone.

Performing training when creating a user enhances your initial recognition accuracy. In initial training you read aloud for several minutes from one of the available texts.

NOTE:

For information on training a mobile user, see the online help.

To train a new user:

1 When the yellow arrow showing you where to start reading

appears, begin reading the text. To take breaks while you’re training the program, click Pause.

User Guide

NOTE:

To advance through the first two screens, you must say the sentences without pausing. For the rest of the screens, it’s okay to pause in the middle of a sentence.

When the words change color, it means the computer has heard and recognized them.

2 If you re-read the same words and the computer still doesn’t

get it, just click Skip. Otherwise, click Next to continue.

3 Choose a text to read aloud and click OK.

You only need to read for about five minutes to train Dragon to recognize your voice.

You can take breaks during this training by clicking Pause. Don’t worry if you make mistakes or laugh. You should try to read exactly what you see on the screen, but it’s okay if you read something incorrectly. The computer either ignores the mistake or positions the yellow arrow at the beginning of the text for you to reread it.

The progress bar shows how much text is left to dictate.

NOTE:

During training, dictating punctuation is not necessary.

When you’ve read enough, the New User Wizard displays a congratulations message. Click OK and Dragon starts adapting to your voice.

5 Proceed to Adapting to your writing style on page 23.

Adapting to your writing style

After it adapts to your voice, the New User Wizard prompts you to adapt Dragon to your writing style.

Dragon can analyze your writing style to increase your overall recognition accuracy. This tool scans documents in your My Documents directory—Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, text files, html files, and rich text files (.rtf).

Adapting to your writing style can add 5 to 30 minutes to user training. Close all other programs when you run this step.

Installation and User Creation

NOTE:

Though we recommend that you run this part of the New User Wizard, if you plan to skip this step, select Skip this step rather than Cancel.

Click Start to continue. While scanning your files, the New User Wizard displays its status.

2 When Dragon has finished adapting to your writing style,

click Next.

3 Proceed to Scheduling periodic optimizations on page 24.

Scheduling periodic optimizations

After it adapts to your writing style, the New User Wizard presents the Periodic Optimizations page, where you select the type of language and acoustic model optimizations Dragon should carry out and how often:

1 Check off the optimizations you want carried out.

2 To the right, click the Configure button to set when, how

often, and what time of day to run each optimization. Instead of Daily, We ekly, and Monthly, you can run the optimization At System Startup, At Logon, or when the system is idle.

3 You might be asked to enter your Windows password.

4 Under Data Collection you set whether or not to collect data

and schedule when it should be collected. If you choose to turn it on, this process collects 500 MB of acoustic data from your dictation sessions. You have the option of sending that data to Nuance to help improve the accuracy of future versions of Dragon. No personal information is ever sent to Nuance and participation in data collection is completely voluntary. Click Configure to schedule acoustic data collection to occur and be sent Daily, Weekly, or Monthly, and to indicate the date and time it should start.

5 On the Done page of the wizard, you can choose to run the

tutorial, see new features, or begin dictating with the user you just created.

User Guide

Auto Configuration Based on System Profile

After you create a user, Dragon automatically analyzes your hardware and changes the default settings of your users to optimize performance. The changes could include:

■ Disabling Natural Language Commands in some applications.

■ Adjusting the Speed vs. Accuracy slider in the Miscellaneous tab

of the Options dialog box to favor speed.

Depending on your hardware, you might receive a message indicating Dragon has taken these actions. If Dragon modifies these settings, you can change them after you have finished creating the user, as explained in these online Help topics:

■ Enabling Natural Language Commands

■ Adjusting Speed vs. Accuracy

Upgrading Existing Users from Versions 8.x and 9.x

If you chose to upgrade existing users during the installation, the User Upgrade Wizard appears the first time you run Version 10.

NOTE:

If you do not want to upgrade users right now, you can exit from

the wizard and do it later.

Otherwise, you can start the User Upgrade Wizard from the Windows Start menu at any time.

To upgrade existing users:

1 To start the User

Upgrade Wizard, select Start > All Programs > Dragon NaturallySpeaking

10.0 > Dragon NaturallySpeaking Tools > Upgrade Users. The User Upgrade Wizard

appears.

Installation and User Creation

2 On the Select Users to Upgrade page, modify the list of users to

include users that you want to upgrade. The wizard starts by including all users in the current folder as candidates to upgrade. You add users to the list by clicking the Add button and browsing for additional users in other locations. You remove users from the list by selecting them and clicking the Remove button. After the list contains only the users you want to upgrade, click Next.

3 Click Next and choose the location for the upgraded user

files. As the User Upgrade Wizard modifies your user files to work with the newest version, it can move place the upgraded user in another location while keeping the old files untouched, in case you need them again.

4 Click the Browse button in the Choose Destination page of the

wizard to select the location for the upgraded user files. If you do not set a location, the files are placed in the default location (see Version 10 File Structure on page 27).

5 (Optional) If you want to make changes to the user locations,

base vocabularies, and/or acoustic models, click the Advanced button and the Advanced Options dialog box opens.

In this dialog box, you can make finer adjustments to how the wizard upgrades particular users. You see a list of the users being upgraded. For each user you see the user name, old location, vocabulary, and one or more acoustic models.

When you click on the location line of a user in the list, the New Location text box below the list becomes available. You can click Browse and select a new location.

When you click on the vocabulary line of a user in the list, the New Base Vocabulary text box below the list becomes available. You can choose a new base vocabulary from the drop-down list.

When you click on the acoustic model line of a user in the list, the New Acoustic Model text box below the list becomes available. You can choose a new combination language, language model, and accent from the drop-down list.

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