Frequently asked questions about software
Does Voicepad really recognize your voice?
I think I got a virus!
What is wrong with AOL?
It say I got a page fault, why?
How do I keep from being disconnected during a download?

Voice Pad voice recognition

Kurzweil's been the leader for a long time in voice recognition technology. But they're also used to getting BIg bucks for their products and not used to dealing with consumers. They've just announced they're not planning to upgrade this product to support Win98. Both Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred 3.0 and the latest edition of Via Voice have been cutting out niches for themselves in various parts of the VR field. It's important to remember that neither really is the "Star Trek" sorta thing, where one can REALLY speak naturally and expect to be understood. But both can do parts of some important jobs with respect to using computers. Commanding the machine to do things is different from dictating a letter. Try them. See how far you can take it. I myself hope to lower my typing by about 35%. I am still waiting for delivery of the software, so I can't report back yet. However, you might email cherbear, a seller here who uses the Kurzweil product and see if she's got better insights to share.

The good thing about VR is that more companies are working on this as a viable form of interface with the home PC than almost anything else currently. The next 2-3 years should see dramatic improvements. One thing to keep in mind is that the better your computer (fast CPU and lots of RAM) the quicker the VR program will work. Anything bellow Pentium or 32 MB ram will be slow or will not work well.

The GOOD stuff still costs $5,000, but experienced users can do at least half their dictation with the cheapo consumer stuff. BTW, IBM has always been very active with disAbility issues, you might contact the nearest big IBM office and ask for a referral. If you scout a bit, you can usually find a really nice IBM rep who'll dig through company everything to help you. You might end up with free software on a "beta test" basis. IBM employees can be very helpful on a personal basis.


VIRUS

How do I know if I have a virus on my machine?

Unless the virus tells you its there with a nasty little message, you wont. The best way to beat a virus is not to get it in the first place. There are many good resources on the net that can help you combat and learn about viruses. For example Trend Micro has an online virus scan that you can do right now. We feel right now two of the best anti-virus software packages out there are Norton Anti-Virus and Thunderbyte Anti-Virus. Both of these packages are affordable and easy to set up and use.

What do I do?

Get some antivirus Software and dont use your disks!

Remember, any floppy disks, or other storage media, that you used while infected may also be infected. When you get a virus perhaps the most disasterous thing that can cause is the loss of important (and of coarse not backed up) and hard to find data on floppy disks. There is on the upper left hand corner of the back of a floppy disk a small write protect switch. When the switch is towards the bottom of the floppy, the disk is read and write ready. When the switch is moved towards the top, the disk becomes read ONLY! While this may prevent many programs from running correctly from a floppy, it is a safe and easy way to prevent data loss. Ok now that you have you A-V software;