Problems using Dragon Dictate for Mac.

Question

I used Dragon Naturally Speaking for years on my PC.  Switched to an IMac.  Dragon for Mac leaves a lot to be desired - training, recognizing, editing.  Any suggestions about how to improve performance or other voice recognition software for Mac users?  I dictate a lot of reports using MS Word.

Answer 1

First of all I have no expertise in installing programs if they are problematic, I can only pass on my experience which relates to trying to purchase and install an Upgrade from MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 to Dragon Dictate 2.5 and the past experience I have had with MacSpeech, the company before Nuance.
The 800-number doesn't get you to Technical Support and I think I was hung up on as well.  The wait for technical support was about 10 minutes.  If you are paying for the phone call by the minute that could be costly.
Technical Support
781-565-4960
The tech was patient and his directions were easy to follow.  He logged into my screen using Join Me and if you find that too invasive, it may also be a reason not to continue with Dictate.
Do I understand that you purchased a physical copy of the program on disk? Was it as an Upgrade that Nuance shipped to you?  And it wouldn't let you register the product?  The other criticism I had of MacSpeech and it seems to have carried on to Nuance was that the matter of accounts and registration accounts can be a forest. 
The website to register the program is www.macspeech.com/licenses/. (There is another site for registering other Nuance products but it doesn't recognize your account for products that have been registered on the MaSspeech site.).To register the product you will need to set up an account (not an uncommon process) but that account will not be the way you access the download if you purchase the product by digital copy.If you purchase the program as a physical copy, I would suggest you register the product before you start installing but it really shouldn't be necessary because the program will prompt you to register if the install goes well.
I can't recall which identification they asked for when I called technical services - the product code, the order number, or my registration account but I was prepared with all of them.
Once you do register a program, the code can be accessed in the future if you keep track of the account and website on which you registered it.  I see there is also an option which downloads the code to your computer but heaven-knows-where it is stored.  On some other programs the code is stored in the application icon menu. My account on the Macspeech registration website stores the codes for 3 programs I have had since Nuance took over from MacSpeech.
If you have purchased a physical copy and the registration site I listed above won't let you register it, I would call the 800-number which is
Customer Service
800-654-1187
What I was trying to do was purchase the Upgrade of Dragon Dictate 2.5 as the result of an email offer because I was a previous customer of MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.  The website only seemed to offer to send me a physical copy with shipping of either $24 or $30 to Canada. When I decided I wouldn't buy the Upgrade because of the shipping cost, I found that I couldn't remove the item from the shopping cart and eventually couldn't even access the shopping cart.  When I called the 800-number to complain they told me there was a problem on the website which wasn't offering the download which was my preference.  They offered to sell me the digital download over the phone which I could then retrieve from the website www.findmyorder.com with the login which asks for the order number and a password (which I think was assigned when I placed the order, but as I said, registration, download access, etc can be a forest and I was very confused by this time.)
At the www.findmyorder.com website, there were two files to download, the program for 2.5 and the data disk. When I tried to install the program and the data, the process started going around in circles asking for things over and over again.I wondered what I was doing wrong (a common reaction) so I tried to install the program on another computer.  The install on the second computer was easy and although I hadn't yet registered the product the program prompted me to register it. It also updated to 2.5.1 (although I only am aware of that in retrospect.)  So I went back to the first computer and tried to install again. The same problem happened.  At one point I exceeded the number of downloads which is 5 because I was trying to get rid of downloads that didn't seem to be working.  I called the 800-number and without too much difficulty, the person reset the downloads.  But the same thing happened, with the program asking for the data disk.  That is when I called Tech Support.
After the tech showed me where to retrieve 2.5.1 from their website (because he said 2.5 was buggy) and I reinstalled the data disk from the www.findmyorder.com website, the install worked well.  BTW I found it hard to understand on the www.findmyorder.com download website which file was which.  I got very confused and ended up not getting the data disk.  The program disk image which is listed second is called Dragon_Dictate_Englishes.2.5.dmg.  The data file listed first is Dragon_English_Data2.5dmg.  You need both files normally but if you are getting the 2.5.1 file, I don't believe you have to have installed 2.5 first.
In retrospect I may have not understood how to install the two files - the program file and the data file but I can't remember exactly what was happening. By that time I was pretty lost.
Back to MacSpeech Dictate 1 or 1.5, I assumed that I would have to have this installed on my computer in order to install the Upgrade of Dragon Dictate 2.5. Remember, I was trying to install 2.5 on a new computer. Although I had done this before I tried to purchase the Upgrade 2.5 (because the computer was new and MacSpeech 1.5 hadn't been installed on it yet), I am not sure it was necessary.
There didn't seem to be any "secret codes" that hadn't to be removed first.  You may be talking about old or corrupted plist files which sometimes interfere with applications.  The tech just told me to drag any 2.5 applications to the trash after we got off the phone, of which by now I had about 5 on the computer.  I have had old versions on a previous computer and they never seemed to interfere with one another. I think I still have iListen 1.0 on a very old computer as well as every fresh version and upgrade.
I hope this reply wasn't too long and didn't add to the confusion.  As I said in the first message, the criticisms are well founded.  Installing MacSpeech iListen and accessing services has been a minefield from the beginning and it isn't improving.  For someone interested in easy-to-use voice recognition I would suggest the Dragon Dictate app for an iPad or iPod Touch.  Works wonderfully but it has very limited features.
My husband, who has physical disabilities but until recently could type better than MacSpeech Dictate was working for him and didn't have a computer that would work with MacSpeech Dictate, has been using Dragon Dictate 2.5.1 on his new computer without a microphone for a couple of days.  He believes there is hope, although with past versions he was frustrated after an hour and quit.  One new thing in Dragon Dictate 2.5 is that editing on the keyboard before you finish the document does not mess up further voice input.  He continues to struggle with voice control (a good exercise for the voice) and his tendency to talk as if there he has a secretary taking shorthand.  You really do have to talk to the computer in a conversational way, speaking in full sentences or full phrases if possible, not in separate words.
From iListen 1.0 I kept saying that voice recognition would work well for everyone.  It has been a long road but I can see on the horizon that it will be available for everyone.  The iPad/iPod app is close.
Frangelica