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Hacks for Dragon NaturallySpeaking users

Dragon and KnowBrainer Tips, Tweaks and hacks are courtesy of Lunis Orcutt, KnowBrainer.COM Live Chat www.KnowBrainer.com  Sales@KnowBrainer.com  615-884-4558

Hack #1 Using third party software to extend usability of Dragon

 

KnowBrainer Professional 2017 is the 15th version of our a third-party command utility and the 1st application to introduce artificial intelligence-like command technology. KnowBrainer also adds thousands of commands and numerous capabilities to Dragon, simplifies the learning curve and substantially increases your efficiency.


The KnowBrainer
DISPLAY Numbers command numbers every possible mouse click position so that you can left-click, right-click or double-click on any position with a single command. By comparison, the Dragons MouseGrid command only works on 1 monitor and can require up to 5 additional commands. From a command point of view, KnowBrainer is notably superior to Dragon which utilizes a slower, older and more limited command technology. KnowBrainer also includes a dynamic sidebar which displays all KnowBrainer commands and doubles as an interactive Command Browser. You can find or open any KnowBrainer command by saying FIND COMMAND or EDIT COMMAND.  Example: Say Edit Command to open the KnowBrainer Paragraph command for editing.

KnowBrainer includes approximately 240 artificial intelligence commands such as Google For , Search Contacts for ,Spanish Translation for and Search for (searches your computer). You can go to almost any website by saying Go To . For example, you can globally say Go To and KnowBrainer will open a new tab in your favorite browser and go to the KnowBrainer Forum which is rated #1. If you say Go To , KnowBrainer will open the BBC website.

Direct Dragon dictation is only available in approximately 10% of applications. Non-Dragon friendly applications typically require opening the Dictation Box, dictating and then transferring your dictation to the target application. The KnowBrainer Say command enables direct dictation in any field or application that accepts typing. Example: Say Say to type 'my dog has fleas” ANYWHERE!

KnowBrainer is packed chock full of powerful editing commands. For example, if you were to dictate 'the brown fox jumped over the fence” and decided to to replace 'brown fox' with 'yellow dog, in Dragon alone (without KnowBrainer) you would have to say select brown fox, dictate yellow dog' and then say move to end of paragraph (3 commands). With KnowBrainer, all you would have to do is say Replace with to make the edit in under a second. There is also a Replace All command that will replace every occurrence of any word or phrase with another word or phrase. For example if you need to change 57 entries of the word 'head' to 'shead' you would only have to say Replace All with to make all 57 changes in less than a second.

KnowBrainer includes our patented ability to verbally create VB, DVC & .Net commands which are 10 times faster than typing but we didn't stop there. KnowBrainer 2016 introduces 3 groundbreaking automatic commands which create VB scripting and 

boilerplate text commands. You can now create Advanced-Scripting commands without scripting or programming knowledge. For example, if you want to create a command to click on a button or menu called, for example, Widget, simply hover the mouse over any button or menu and say something like New Mouse Command. KnowBrainer will record X & Y coordinates, create, name and save your VB command in 2 seconds. KnowBrainer includes a similar command based on the previously mentioned DISPLAY Numbers macro (detailed in the KnowBrainer Manual). You can voice automate any application within a few minutes. To create a fast boilerplate text command highlight a paragraph and say New Text Command.

Click 
KnowBrainer 2017 PowerPoint Presentation for a short PowerPoint that includes additional details. If you want to see KnowBrainer in action, check out the growing KnowBrainer Videos list.

Hack #2 Slow type response fixed

DNS users who work within the cloud using Internet Explorer (IE) often suffer from slow or delayed typing appearing within your email or other program screens. The most likely causes are the Dragon IE add-ons. Here is the quick method for disabling these add-ons and getting back your real-time typing. Re-enabling the add-ons will allow you to use them again when you desire, but keep in mind that Nuance assumes when you have DNS install...ed you won't be typing, but rather speaking. So the slow type response will come back. Your best bet is to disable the add-ons until specifically needed.
Let's disable your add-ons:
* Open Internet Explorer
* Click Tools
* Click Manage Add-ons
* Click Toolbars and Extensions
* Under Show: click All add-ons
* Click any add-on
* Press CTRL + A on your keyboard (this should select all add-ons)
* Click Disable all
* Click Close
* Close Internet Explorer
* Open Internet Explorer
Now all add-ons are disabled in Internet Explorer, test to see if the missing letters problem till occurs. To re-enable the add-ons follow the instructions below.
* Click Tools
* Click Manage Add-ons
* Click the first disabled add-on
* Click Enable
* Click Close
* Surf a few pages
* Close Internet Explorer
* Open Internet Explorer

 Dragon Tweak #1

Ignore the Manufacturer Recommendations after Creating a New User Profile

 

1. After Dragon finishes crunching the numbers (when creating a user profile), it will offer to scan your Sent e-mails and any documents it finds in your Windows Documents folder. We recommend removing the checkmark from both boxes and clicking Next. The reason to not let Dragon sift through your Sent e-mail folder is that this folder is likely to contain messages that you are responding to. Dragon can't differentiate between your writing style and someone else's style. Although your Documents folder may contain a lot of documents for Dragon to study, most end-users store their work in another folder. For this reason, it is recommended you play it safe and run the Vocabulary Builder by saying and adding words from documents or folders that you want Dragon to include.


2. Although scheduling DNS to run the Acoustic and Language Model Optimizing, when you are not around might sound like a good idea, it usually occurs when your computer is off; resulting in an error the next time you launch DNS. We recommend unchecking this option and clicking Next because it is no longer necessary to run this utility. Many end-users have even reported problems after using it. Dragon now optimizes on-the-fly and will prompt you, approximately every 5th save, to let it automatically optimize your profile. If you would like to help the manufacturer improve Dragon's accuracy in future releases, click Run Data Collection. However, we recommend against this process because it puts additional stress on your computer. 
 

 

 

Streamline Adding Words and Phrases to Your Vocabulary

 
1. Click Vocabulary on the Dragonbar 2. Click Add a new word or phrase 3. Type a unique word that doesn’t currently exist in your vocabulary; like KnowBrainer, for example, 4. Remove the checkmark from I want to train the pronunciation this word or phrase followed by clicking the Add button. This will allow you to add custom words and phrases without the unnecessary step of training and if you are using KnowBrainer 2012/2014 you’ll be able to highlight any word or phrase and say Add to Vocabulary to add a commonly used phrase in one quick command.
 
 
 

 Dragon Option Recommendations

 
1. Click Tools on the Dragonbar
2. Click Options which will open your Dragon options to the Correction Tab
3. Putting a checkmark in 'Correct' commands brings up Spelling Window will allow you to say correctly to pull up the Spell That Correction Dialog box
4. Removing the check mark from Automatically Add Words to the active vocabulary will prevent Dragon from adding unwanted vocabulary (partial words and misspelled words) from Full-Text Control documents. This feature is a dual-edged sword. If you open a document in a Full-Text Control application, like Microsoft Word, that contains misspelled words, Dragon will automatically add them to your vocabulary (even though you didn’t dictate the words). On the downside, Dragon will not automatically add unique words to your vocabulary during the correction process so any unique words that you wish to add to your vocabulary, you will either have to do so manually or via the previous KnowBrainer Add to Vocabulary command.
5. Click the Commands tab
6. Move the Pause required before commands to the 3rd notch
7. Remove the checkmarks from Enable web search commands, Enable desktop search commands, Display search text before performing search and Enable email and calendar commands to prevent Dragon from seemingly going crazy by performing unwanted searches when you are attempting to dictate into a non-Full Text Control environment.
8. Removing the checkmark from Enable multiple text searches prevents Dragon from numbering multiple choices when you attempt to select, cut, copy or delete multiple text matches. In other words, if you dictate 'the fox jumped over the fence' and you wish to select the word 'fox' you can just say select fox. If there is more than 1 choice, Dragon will simply select the previous closest choice rather than making you additionally say choose one.
9. If you miss the traditional legacy yellow Results Box or not necessarily a fan of the spinning Dragon icon that appears at the end of your dictation, consider putting a checkmark in Show preliminary results. If you want to move the Results Box out of your way, consider dictating a few words, left clicking on the Results Box and dragging the Results Box to a preferred location such as the upper left-hand corner of your Window. If you would like to see the Results Box disappear, after performing a command or dictation, consider changing the autohide delay to 1 second. 
10. Click the Hotkeys tab
11. The default Dragon hotkey for toggling your microphone on and off is the {Plus} Key on an extended keyboard but if you don’t have an extended keyboard or if you need to use your extended keyboard for calculator functions, you might consider double-clicking on the Microphone on/off menu and substituting the {Pause} Key.
12. Click the Data tab
13. Change Disk space reserved for playback from 100 to 200
14. Change Save recorded dictation with a document from Always (Yikes) to Never.
15. Remove the checkmark from Run Accuracy Tuning at the time scheduled by your administrator. The jury is still out on as to whether or not this utility helps or hinders a user profile.
16. Depending on whether you’re using DMPE 2 or any other NaturallySpeaking product, the Dictation Box options differ but our only critical recommendation is to make certain that you choose a setting that preserves your dictation to the Windows clipboard in the event that a Dictation Box transfer fails so that you don’t lose your work.
17. Click the Miscellaneous tab
18. Move the speed vs. accuracy slider from the default 50% setting to the most accurate setting if your computer is fast enough to handle the change. If you’re using BestMatch IV, this shouldn’t be an issue for most computers.
19. We recommend against launching Dragon in QuickStart mode (which by default should be checked)
20. We recommend removing the checkmark from Alert when audio quality is low because it is too sensitive
21. If you don’t like your microphone automatically going to sleep after 5 minutes of nonuse, you can change the setting to 120 minutes, which is the maximum.
22. How to force the Dictation Box to work the same way and DMPE 2 as it does in other NaturallySpeaking additions. (Note that this tweak is exclusive to DMPE 2) a. Open Dragonbar Tools/Options b. Click the Dictation Box tab c. Put a checkmark in Anchor Dictation Box to application
23. Your user profile is extremely valuable. By default, NaturallySpeaking automatically creates a backup user profile every 5 times you save your current profile. We recommend leaving the default setting but not trusting it entirely. If anything happens to your current profile, which is a fairly common event, there is an 80% chance that your backup profile will be intact. You probably wouldn’t want to hear those odds if you were about to undergo surgery but unlike surgery, you can increase your user profile odds. We recommend scheduling an appointment, in your calendar, for a monthly manual external backup of your ~ C:\ProgramData\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking13\Users\(your username) to an external drive; preferably not on the premises. In the event of a fire or other catastrophe, you could lose your backup. For this reason, we prefer network or cloud backups.

 

 

Three KnowBrainer Tweaks for Windows
 
Disable Windows User Account Control The UAC is a utility that nags the end-user with unnecessary prompts  which can cause problems for NaturallySpeaking and KnowBrainer 2014
In Windows 8:

Hack One

1. Hover the mouse over the bottom right corner of the screen 
2. Click Search (magnifying glass)
3. Type UAC 
4. Click Settings
5. Click Change User Account Control settings
6. Move the Slider all the way down to Never notify.
7. Click Yes to allow the change. You will not have to reboot In Windows 7:

Hack Two

1. Click the Start button (Windows logo)
2. Type UAC and Press {Enter}
3. Move the Slider all the way down to Never notify.
4. Follow the Prompt to Reboot Windows before installing Dragon or KnowBrainer In Windows Vista:

Hack Three

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click User Accounts and Family
3. Click User Accounts
4. Click Turn User Account Control on or off
5. Remove the check mark from use user account control (UAC)...              
6. Follow the Prompt to Reboot Windows before installing Dragon or KnowBrainer
 

A Couple More Tips

Eliminate the Windows Delete Prompt
No more having to verify deleting a file or folder.  If you make a mistake, you can always press Ctrl+z to undo the delete
Right-click on Windows Recycle Bin, click Properties and remove the checkmark from Display delete confirmation dialog.
 
 
Display Windows Explorer Hidden Files and Folders
Revealing Windows hidden files and folders allows access to your Dragon user files directory
1. Open Windows Explorer or any folder on your computer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer)
2. Press Alt+T followed by O to open the Folders options menu.
3. Click the View tab 
4. Click Show hidden files, folders and drives followed by clicking OK.

Dragon and KnowBrainer Tips, Tweaks and hacks are courtesy of Lunis Orcutt, KnowBrainer.COM 
Live Chat www.KnowBrainer.com  Sales@KnowBrainer.com  615-884-4558