Transcriber problem

[Andrew Margetts]

Riyoko,

At the risk of sounding partisan (since I have just announced a 
Transcriber to Toolbox converter) I would like to suggest that you do 
not give up on Transcriber just yet.

As Nick says Elan is a good alternative in that it is under continuous 
development, but its very complexity might count against it in your 
situation (as it does in ours): you say you have an assistant who knows 
Transcriber well - training them to use Elan is likely to be more 
difficult since it is a much more complicated (and capable) program. If 
there was a 'skinned' version of Elan that resembled Transcriber in 
simplicity (but which still made regular Elan files) then I would concur 
that it is probably worth switching to Elan for transcribing. But in the 
meantime I think Transcriber has an advantage there.

But to offer a few suggestions/comments regarding your problems:

'Q2. Do you know any way to make Transcriber works on Vista computer as 
it does on XP?' - I don't have Vista myself so I don't know how well 
this works but apparently Vista has various compatibility tools such as 
the 'Program Compatibility Wizard' - try these links for more details: 
http://www.sandiegobizmart.com/software/VISTA_USERS.htm
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-compatibility-mode/

'I want them to use my Vista machine since it is a desktop and the key 
board arrangement is easier than my XP laptop' - sorry if it is too 
obvious to state, but you could just try using an external keyboard 
plugged into the laptop - doesn't solve that movie editing problem 
though unless you can do that on the Vista desktop.

'I am wondering whether any problems will come up if I get the data 
transcribed on Vista machine to XP machine' - there should be no problem 
there: the Transcriber file format is plain XML; if you do manage to get 
Transcriber to work at all on Vista, any files created should be 
identical to ones created on XP. That's my understanding, correct me 
anyone if you know better.

More generally you might want to consider switching back to XP from 
Vista if that is an option. I have read various accounts of people doing 
just that and Microsoft being more or less forced to support them 
because of various problems with Vista. At first these were mainly lack 
of updated drivers and the like for common hardware and software. While 
this will gradually be fixed, other issues remain such as the fact that 
some things that were standard in XP are now only available in the most 
expensive versions of Vista (sorry, can't remember any specific examples 
I'm afraid).

Andrew Margetts


Nicholas Thieberger wrote:
> Riyoko,
>
> Transcriber is now old software and has not been upgraded to take account of changes in Windows systems. I would recommend using Elan which is still being developed ( a new version was announced today). You can import your Transcriber files into Elan if you want. Otherwise, if you want to keep using Transcriber, you may need to keep an older operating system on a computer just for that purpose.
>
> Nick
>
>
> At 11:32 AM -1000 5/3/08, rhattori at hawaii.edu wrote:
>   
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> I would like to ask you a question on Transcriber.
>> I have been using Transcriber 1.5.1 on my XP machine.  I did not experience with any problems with it, although I want some features to be added in the future version.
>> Then, I tried to use it on Vista machine on this Monday.  It caused some problems as I describe below.
>>
>> Transcriber 1.5.1 on Vista.
>>
>> 1. The menu bar disappeared and I could not click "save."  Other software such as Microsoft word also behaved funny at that same time. I was afraid to close the Transcriber since I could not click save, I tried to cut-and-paste-and save all the Transcription in Microsoft Word.  I could cut-and-copy to Word but could not save.  Also, printing was difficult.  It allowed me only quick printing.  Paint software could not be opened.  Anyway, I
>> closed the Transcriber hoping that automatic saving function was working.  I closed.  Then, I opened the Transcriber file that I worked on.  Apparently, Automatic saving Function did not work. Also, I could not find it in "Recent File."
>> These might be just "memory problem" (although the Vista Machine is bought in this January and has enough memory) or "busy problem".
>>
>> 2. After my experience I described in 1, I examined how Transcriber works on Vista.  After 1, other software start to work fine and seemed like no more "busy problem." In the good condition of Vista machine, I found that even I update Transcriber file and saved it, it never show up in "recent file."  I am not sure about automatic saving since when I try to close the file when the Vista is behaving normal, it asks me whether I want to save it or not.  If I say yes, it holds the updated data.  If I say no, it does not hold the updated data even I wait for 10 minutes between updating and closing (the setting for automatic saving is % minutes as default).
>>
>>
>> My questions are;
>>
>> Q1. Do you know whether Transcriber 1.5.1 is compatible with Vista or is there any version that is compatible with Vista?
>>
>> Q2. Do you know any way to make Transcriber works on Vista computer as it does on XP?
>>
>> Q3. Do you think it is safe for me to use Transcriber both on XP and Vista? (I mean sometimes use it on Vista and move the file to XP machine later. I am wondering whether any problems will come up if I get the data transcribed on Vista machine to XP machine. Can it have full specification of Transcriber?  Microsoft word that is created and saved the recent way on Vista machine cannot open on XP machine.)
>>
>> My assistant come see me several times a week (they know Transcriber well) and I want them to use my Vista machine since it is a desktop and the key board arrangement is easier than my XP laptop.  While they are working on Transcriber on Vista, I can do movie editing on my XP machine.
>>
>> Aloha,
>> Ryoko Hattori
>> rhattori at hawaii.edu
>>     
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