Damian Lettie

I've got a new hdd (SSD Kingston 64GB), and I'm now running Windows 7 32bit and Office 2010. (A completely fresh rebuild, all new programs install etc, not a copy of an image or anything like that). Still the same thing happens

OK, so we can probably rule out OS and third-party software incompatibilities.

it also happens if I change the play button to different physical buttons on the foot pedal, although it happens much more with the middle (normal) play button.

That's strange. How old are the pedals?

I'm very hestitant of going out and buying a new foot controller to solve the problem

If you want to test your foot pedal, go to http://www.lvr.com/hidpage.htm and download SimpleHIDWrite. When you run it, select "VEC USB Footpedal" and press and release the middle button and you should see output like:

RD 00 00 00
RD 00 02 00
RD 00 00 00

We've confirmed that enabling the foot pedal is the cause of the excessive CPU usage. There'll be a fix in the next release of Express Scribe.

Thanks for your patience. The next release shouldn't be far off now.

1. I load an mp3 file.

2. Save this mp3 file as a dictation file (.dct).

3. Computer pops an error message saying I have no space left on my hard drive.

This sounds like a separate issue. Is the error message from Scribe or OS X? How much free space do you actually have on your disk? How many dictations are in Scribe's dictation list?

I was thinking of buying the VEC-2 version, BUT A) I'm not sure if mechanically it's any different?

VEC say the IN-USB-2 is 100% backwards compatible with the IN-USB-1. We have come across different firmware versions though, even amongst IN-USB-1's, so obviously something (small?) has changed over the years.

When I use 4.35 or earlier before the code was changed, I have no problems at all, which means it can only be software coding.

Yes, obviously the new code doesn't work well with something in your setup. The question is, what's different between your setup and ours?

I am thinking maybe it is an interaction problem with other software, such as office 2007?

Do you still get the problem if you don't run other applications?

Also I thought; how long are you testing for and what OS do you use? And what pedals?

I tried several different VEC Infinity IN-USB-1 pedals on several different machines (XP, Vista, and 7, one of which was 64 bit), with many, many presses and releases on each. Still didn't see the behaviour you reported. I'm really at a loss here.

Are you able to borrow and test another foot pedal?

I am having problem with DSS file duration that it is shown in the system it is 8 min and 40 sec but when I download the file to my PC and load it to Express Scribe it shows 6 minute.

Are you able to share the problem file with us? In Express Scribe, click Help -> "Send Bug Report", describe the problem, tick the box that says "I can provide an example file", then follow the instructions for uploading the file.

The problem creeps in after a period of time and then becomes really obvious

What period of time? Could you describe this a bit more, because we're still having trouble reproducing the problem here.

1 is of an MP3 format. I can download it and it plays on my Windows media but not on the Express Scribe.

Did you get an error message? Did it get listed in the dictation list? Did the value of the duration column look correct?

The other is a .wav and when I download it, it downloads but won't play at all, either in Windows media or Express Scribe.

Check if the file was truncated when you downloaded it.

Otherwise, it's probably a missing codec. MediaInfo might be able to tell you which audio codec the file was encoded with.

When you go to load a file, in this case DSS files, it does not see the DSS files and if you use finder it will not let you open them.

Unfortunately, the DSS file format is only supported in the Windows version.

MSRS detects the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra as stereo having only two channels.

We're looking into how to fix this issue. In the meantime, I suggest everyone having this problem report it using the Help -> "Send Bug Report" menu item, to help us prioritise based on demand. Make sure to supply your email address so we can notify you when it's fixed.

I don't understand why my mini player has a video box showing anyway (updated version) if there is no video capability.

It depends what version you're using.

Added: Can now view video files.

Added: View -> "Show video" -> "When available" to automatically show and hide the video window depending on the media type of the current dictation.

1. Good foot pedal and headset.

For a list of recommended foot pedals, open Express Scribe and click on Options -> Controller -> "List of compatible controllers".

2. Good audio format to use.

3. Recommendations on smaller digital recorders (simple and easy to use with one hand preferably)

Avoid hand-held recorders that only record in DSS or DSS Pro (a.k.a DS2) - there's no support for these formats on Mac and Linux, and only limited support on Windows. Prefer recording in MP3 or WMA.

4. Methods to get the files to my secretary.

It depends on your setup. Is it always the same secretary or do multiple secretaries share the load? Do you work remotely or are you always in the same office? Are the computers in your office on the same LAN? etc.

I have troubles using ES at Ubuntu 9.10, though there are troubles in the both cases -- using ES 5.01 with Wine and using native linux version ES 3.01.

According to the version log, the latest Linux version is v4.31. Have you tried that?

I was thinking that perhaps there was a way to assign a deadline to a dictation in Express Dictate or DialDictate, or perhaps a default deadline could be assigned to a specific speaker user when the user is created.

As you've discovered, currently the only way to set the deadline is when creating or editing a dictation using the Express Delegate Web Control Panel.

There was some disagreement about how to improve this. Some say that speakers should be able to set deadlines in Express Dictate (or other clients), others say that only Express Delegate managers should be entering deadlines. If you have an opinion on how you think this should be implemented, please post your ideas here or via Express Delegate's Help -> "Send Improvement Suggestion or Feedback" menu item.

When I load the same files without using drag and drop it loads perfectly it's just drag and drop that doesn't work.

No, the dictation doesn't appear in the list, no time duration, no status bar - nothing at all happens.

What file extension do these files have?

My original problem was when I upgraded to Windows 7 Express Scribe wouldn't play any files. Contacted Technical Support and they suggested to go revert back to Vista as Express Scribe was out before Windows 7 - that worked perfectly.

Sorry, it's still not clear what you mean by "revert back to Vista".

By the way what's happened to the file types in ES v5.03? Does it not list the file extensions that plays in ES anymore?

See the release notes for v4.35.

I have updated to Windows 7 and since doing that I'm having problems with drag and drop. Using Express Scribe v 5.01 and when I try to drag a file from the desktop into Express Scribe nothing happens.

What happens when you try Express Scribe v5.03?

What happens when you load the same files without using drag-and-drop? (e.g. Using File -> "Load Dictation Files...").

I click the mouse on the file and I get the '+' sign and it still shows when in Express Scribe but doesn't load.

Does the dictation appear in the dictation list? Does the dictation's duration stay at zero? Do the loading message and / or progress bar appear in the status bar?

When I originally loaded ES I couldn't get it to work with Windows 7 and got on to Technical Support and they said to roll ES back to Vista which works fine but no drag and drop.

What problem were you trying to solve when you originally contacted technical support?

What do you mean by "roll ES back to Vista"?

Last night I loaded Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred 10.1 and when I made it to the microphone sound level test it stopped responding, this happened every time. Now I'm wondering if it's something to do with the sound card. Funny this would happen with two programs that depend on sound.

Even funnier that Windows Media Player works.

Nevertheless, this sounds like a question for Dell.

Today, no matter what I do -- unplug and replug, repair permissions, restart -- Express Scribe does not recognize that the pedal is there at all.

Did you try running Scribe's controller setup wizard?

they don't seem to think it's worth the effort to make the Help files accessible from a Mac

Help is bundled in the application file as HTML files which should launch your default web browser when viewed.

How did you try to launch the help? By using the application menu? The tool-bar button on the main window? A help button on a dialog? A keyboard short-cut?

I'm using Windows 7 and Express Scribe 5.03

Is this the first time you've installed Scribe or did you have a working version before? If you had a working version before, is it only the version of Scribe that's changed?

I am able to load all files but I can only play wma files.

When the non-working files load, do they show the correct duration?

When I try to play the files Express Scribe quits responding

Is it only when you try to play that this happens? Are you able to seek around the audio by moving the position slider while the audio is stopped?

but eventually will start responding.

Does the audio play after it starts responding?

Yes on foot pedal. Standard VEC.

We've confirmed that enabling the foot pedal is the cause of the excessive CPU usage. There'll be a fix in the next release of Express Scribe.

Thanks for helping us track that down.

I've tried this on both Mac OSX 10.6.2 and 10.6.3. Express Scribe 5.02. Doesn't appear to matter what kind of sound file format (AIFF, WAV, FLAC, MP3). CPU resources are up around 98%. Closing Express Scribe fixes the problem.

Could you give us some more details?

What CPU do you have?

Does CPU usage jump to 98% as soon as you open Scribe or do you have to do something / wait a while?

How are you loading the files?

What's the duration of the files?

Do you have any Incoming sources configured?

Do you have Options -> Incoming -> "Perform special process" enabled?

Do you have a foot pedal configured?

It shows that the file is imported as a movie mp4 or mp3 but it only plays the audio does not play the picture.

In the View menu, is "Show Video" checked?

What operating system are you using?

What video hardware do you have?

I have version 4.11 and I just downloaded the mapi.exe plugin. I've entered the path in the run exe box but what do I put in the arguments boxes? I just simply want the program to email me with a date, time, caller id and name whenever somebody calls in?

This doesn't sound like an Express Scribe question. Did you post in the wrong forum?

The pedals will always work fine in ES, but when I switch to a different transcription program (for example eRad or Infraware - both transcription platforms I use for work) I have major problems.

Was Express Scribe still running when you tried the other programs?

If you reboot the machine and try one of the other programs without using Scribe first, does it make a difference?

Is there any news or update on this issue?

Unfortunately we still haven't been able to reliably reproduce the problem here. Express Scribe v5.03 is in beta testing, but no changes have been made to the pedal code.

I don't know if it's down to the pedal or the program.

You could try Express Scribe v4.35 (or earlier), or Pedable v1.01 (http://www.nch.com.a...edal/index.html). Both were released before the last major pedal code change, and could help you confirm that the problem is software, not hardware, related.

Is there any update to correct this issue ?

Express Scribe v5.03, which should fix the above issue, has just gone into beta testing.

If you want to participate in beta testing, you can download the installer from http://www.nchsoftwa...beta/index.html.

Be sure to read the important disclaimer at the top of the page first, then scroll down to "Express Scribe v 5.03 for Windows".