Computer Help Needed

Thursday, June 12, 2008 – 11:25 A.M.   I have a major computer and software problem, so I may not be here too often until it can be straightened out. Right now, I would like to throw out my computer and ALL the software. Is anyone around here a computer expert???   Two years ago, my niece, Kathy, and her husband gave me a voice-activated software program call Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS) – Home Edition 9. All I had to do was talk into a microphone, and everything was typed automatically. A few weeks ago, I upgraded it to Version 9.5 Preferred.   Everything ran perfectly until yesterday. All of a sudden, the program would not run at all! After a few frustrating hours, I finally thumbed through the instruction booklet. One of the pages said that if Version 9.5 was not registered by the fifth time it was turned on, then it would not run at all. That was my answer because I did not register it. Yesterday, I could not even get back to the section where I should have registered it.   After giving it a lot of thought (not a good idea), I came up with the ‘brainy’ idea of uninstalling the programs and then reinstalling them. I did that (or think I did) but kept getting messages asking me for files that were not even on the computer or the program disks. I ran a lengthy Search, and even that couldn’t find them. I worked on this for six hours before taking a break. I later spent another three hours on it.   I finally decided to give it one more try by uninstalling both programs again. That was another mistake. The computer started showing error messages and asking for part of a file called Application Data, which is not on the computer. It also wants something called 9.msi from one of the disks. Not only is that missing, but also now, I can’t even find DNS on the computer even though it is still listed on the control panel.   I looked on the website of the company that makes the program. Instructions there say to go into the Registry and delete certain files with regedit (whatever that is) in order to uninstall the programs. It also says to make a backup copy of everything just in case something goes wrong. I can’t even follow the directions to do that.   The company has a Technical Support phone number that I can call, but because of my disability, I am sure I would not be able to follow their instructions fast enough, and for each call after the first one, they charge $19.95!   Therefore, I’m putting all of this in my journal, hoping that by some miracle, somebody reading it has enough computer savvy to give me some badly needed HELP!   Quotes for Success:   ‘One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.’   Arthur Ashe