I use a Lenovo x60 tablet XP 3gb ram and have encountered a problem that i have not had with DNS on any other computer. The text is recognized accurately as shown in both the text box and history, but about 30% of the time no text is written to the document. This happens in both Word 2007 and dragon pad. I cannot decipher any particular pattern as to what is not written. Any thoughts very much appreciated.

Esco,

First, the clue should be obvious from the fact that there is something different between the system on which you're having a problem and the systems on which you don't. Focusing on DNS itself is not going to solve your problem. The problem is system related and/or Windows related.

Second, there are two very common problems that produce this particular circumstance:

1. Loss of focus. There are two stages in terms of the way DNS works. The first stage is recognition itself, which is what you see in the results box and the recognition history. The second stage is the transfer of text to the text window into which you are dictating. If the focus is shifted away from the document text window for any reason, what you see in the results box in the recognition history won't be transferred to the document. Try clicking on the title bar or anywhere within the document, preferably the latter, and make sure that the cursor is flashing at that point. Then, try your dictation again.

2. If loss of focus is not the issue, then there is a very high probability that some task, utility, or background operation is interfering with the transfer of text (stage 2). Any task, utility, or background operation that takes priority away from DNS during the transfer of text will prevent that transfer. It is sometimes difficult to determine exactly what what is happening to cause this to occur, but it can be anything from any virus to similar utilities and functions. One way that you can determine whether this is the case is to try the following:

(a) After dictating something that does not get transferred, wait for 15 or 20 seconds and see if it eventually does get transferred. If so, then you know that something is interfering with stage 2.

( Try dictating the same phrase again and see if it transfers the second or third time that you dictate it. If it does, then this is also a good indicator that something is interfering with stage 2.

In the case of #1, the only option that you have is to ensure that the text window into which you are dictating has focus. I see this occurring occasionally. For example, it is very common in Windows Vista 64-bit that opening notepad does not place the focus in the text window for notepad, and the consequent result is the same as what you are experiencing. Under this condition, the user is forced to either click in the text window or click on the title bar for notepad in order to regain focus. This is a Windows problem, not a DNS problem.

In the case of #2, the only thing that you can do is to shut down any background tasks, one at a time until you find the offending task.

Regardless, if you look at the difference between the system configuration on those computers that you are not experiencing this problem relative to the computer on which you are experiencing the problem, you may be able to find the source of the problem itself. However, trying to examine DNS as the cause is not likely to yield a solution. Whatever the cause, something is preventing the transfer of text to the document window and it is not DNS. Some users have discovered that this type of problem occurs when running Norton 360. Some have discovered that during periods of active scanning for viruses or running disk defragmentation software is the cause. Nonetheless, executing the transfer of recognize text to your document requires the use of the RPC server (Remote Procedure Call server). If something is hogging the server, then eventually it will either release it to DNS, or cause DNS to timeout, in which case either the text eventually appears in your document or stage 2 simply doesn't execute.

Chuck Runquist
Owner, GEMCCON - The Choice of Intelligence
Speech Recognition Consulting and Training

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." -- Mark Twain