You Have Voice Dictation

[George]

OK, it happened again. I was in Microsoft Word for some reason, and I noted there was a “Speech” item in the “Tools” menu. So I clicked. A screen popped up asking if I wanted to install the voice dictation part of the software. According to instruction, I inserted disk one of Microsoft Office. And now I have one more voice dictation program. Not bad at all really. That’s right, it only works with Microsoft Office programs. Hmm—does that include Internet Explorer. If so, then I suspect one could dictate right into the text box of this forum. But I don’t want to try to find out.

[How is it that with a Microsoft product, the installation is always a long continuous process? I mean I wait long enough for everything to download when I initially put in the disk. But then, as I try to use the product with its different features over the course of time, a screen always pops up saying this part of the program is not installed, and asking if I want to install it now. It usually means, if there is any way I can remember where I put the installation disk. However, this aspect of their software may actually be one of the more rational approaches to how they do things. The more I use Microsoft products, the more seriously I wonder about Bill Gate’s psychological state.]

George
Post dictated in Word.

[dthomsen8]

OK, it happened again. I was in Microsoft Word for some reason, and I noted there was a “Speech” item in the “Tools” menu. So I clicked. A screen popped up asking if I wanted to install the voice dictation part of the software. According to instruction, I inserted disk one of Microsoft Office. And now I have one more voice dictation program. Not bad at all really. That’s right, it only works with Microsoft Office programs. Hmm—does that include Internet Explorer. If so, then I suspect one could dictate right into the text box of this forum. But I don’t want to try to find out.

[How is it that with a Microsoft product, the installation is always a long continuous process? I mean I wait long enough for everything to download when I initially put in the disk. But then, as I try to use the product with its different features over the course of time, a screen always pops up saying this part of the program is not installed, and asking if I want to install it now. It usually means, if there is any way I can remember where I put the installation disk. However, this aspect of their software may actually be one of the more rational approaches to how they do things. The more I use Microsoft products, the more seriously I wonder about Bill Gate’s psychological state.]

George
Post dictated in Word.

Microsoft has a corporate culture which insists on certain approaches. Sometimes it means that they think they know best, and sometimes it means they are defending some aspect of their near monopoly position.

I, too, encounter those messages, and sometimes I go looking for the installation disk, and sometimes not. You have stirred me up to look for my MS Office 2003 disk, but I must ask what version of MS Word you are using for this particular post.

[Steve Rindsberg]

[How is it that with a Microsoft product, the installation is always a long continuous process? I mean I wait long enough for everything to download when I initially put in the disk. But then, as I try to use the product with its different features over the course of time, a screen always pops up saying this part of the program is not installed, and asking if I want to install it now.]

Probably because you accepted the "typical" install. Unless your idea of yourself aligns neatly with Microsoft's idea of "typical", that's generally not the best idea.

In any case, the typical Office install leaves a lot of optional features in this odd "Available but not installed" state. The feature appears on the menu/etc, but isn't really installed until you try to use it; at that point it asks if you want to install or not.

When they first introduced this in Office 2000, it meant that apps would often demand the install CD.
Sure ... I keep it right here in my wallet at all times.
Annoying.

Now, they drop most, if not all of the contents of the install CD in an out-of-the-way directory on your hard drive, so it's available at need. It generally won't demand the CD any longer. But if it's going to eat space no matter what, why not just install the features and be done with it?

Ah well. They didn't ask me.

Anyhow, if you do a custom install of Office instead, you can select the features you want, leave those you think you might want set as Available, and those you know you don't want as Unavailable.

You can probably re-run the installer, choose Custom and make these changes.
Or copy the contents of the install disk to your hard drive, then the next time it demands the CD, I think you'll be able to point it at the copy on your HDD.

[George]

Dave,

I was using Microsoft Office 2002. However, with Microsoft Office Publisher 2003, it's the same thing. The Microsoft engine is actually version 5, but it immediately took in my version 6 from another program. Not a bad engine, but not what they promote it to be, and i don't know if I really like the correction update procedure. But overall, this is very decent dictation software.

I thought, maybe, the Microsoft people were having Britney Spears music piped in the offices. Opps, I did it again.

George

[George]

Ah well. They didn't ask me.

Anyhow, if you do a custom install of Office instead, you can select the features you want, leave those you think you might want set as Available, and those you know you don't want as Unavailable.


Well, it says I don't have installed certain features that are there and work fine, and it says if I redo with a custom install, they will be installed. In following the directions for the redo, the custom install doesn't come up. There's a certain psychology to this, and that's why they didn't ask you.

George

[Steve Rindsberg]

Well, it says I don't have installed certain features that are there and work fine, and it says if I redo with a custom install, they will be installed. In following the directions for the redo, the custom install doesn't come up. There's a certain psychology to this, and that's why they didn't ask you.

George
I don't quite follow ... which "it" says you don't have the features installed? And what's the "redo" and where are the directions for it coming from?

[George]

I don't quite follow ... which "it" says you don't have the features installed? And what's the "redo" and where are the directions for it coming from?

Oh, on opening the software, a screen comes up saying the spelling dictionary and hyphenation are not installed. It says press F1 for instructions. That says go to the control panel, do a remove, but only hit change, then hit custom install.

But the spelling and hyphenation are there. And following the re-install directions does not bring up a custom install screen. But according to Bill Gates, when things don't seem rational, it's because the user doesn't know about computers, but he/she can pay him $35 to resolve any question that comes up. Something like that.

George

[Steve Rindsberg]

You might try inserting the Office CD and running SETUP.EXE from it. Beyond that, I'm afraid I've no idea.
Never tried to install voice recognition, luckily don't need it, and grouchily don't want it. ;-)

[iamback]

I've tried it, and did give it some time - not from Office because mine doesn't have it, but from a cover CD - but I wasn't convinced it would actually help me. I'm not even sure it's still installed on Alan. ;)

[Steve Rindsberg]

I talk to the computers, and rudely at that, far too often as it is. I don't want to encourage me.

[iamback]

:D