Diagnostic Test #5: Program Interference

Step 1: Disable Windows Advanced Text Services:
 
Windows XP™
 
  • Open the Control Panel (Start > Control Panel, or Start > Settings > Control Panel)
  • Open Regional and Language Options
  • On the Languages tab, click Details
  • Under the System Configuration section on the Advanced tab, place a checkmark in the box labeled Turn off advanced text services
 
Windows Vista™
 
  • From the Control Panel, open Regional and Language Options
  • On the Keyboards and Languages tab, click Change keyboards
  • In the Installed Services section of the General tab, remove all installed services except the one for your default keyboard and language
 
Step 2: With your CAT program open and configured according to our instructions, launch a realtime translation.
 
Step 3: Open a web browser such as Internet Explorer, and log into your Realtime Coach™ account.
 
Step 4: Launch an exercise, and write a paragraph or two. You should get one of three results:
 
  • No text appears (If you passed Test #2, most likely user error)
  • Make sure your CAT file is open and ready for realtime output. Verify that your writer is turned on and properly connected. Make sure the exercise window has focus (cursor in Practice area).
  • For DigitalCAT™, wait up to 30 seconds for the text to begin feeding.
  • If you have not passed Test #2, perform it now until passed. Repeat Steps 2 through 4.
  • Text appears correctly
  • Congratulations! Your CAT software is communicating properly with Realtime Coach™!
  • Dropped, partial or stuck-together words (program interference)
  • If you completed Test #2 successfully (i.e. your text appeared properly in that test), the issue is likely the result of some other program, process or plug-in besides Advanced Text Services interfering with your browser. You can troubleshoot further by continuing to Step 5 below, or go to Test #6 for a potentially faster solution.
 
Step 5: Turn off all other unnecessary programs, processes and browser plug-ins.
 
This can be a technically challenging and time-consuming task, so unless you have a lot of time and feel confident in your technical skills (or have a computer- savvy friend handy), you may want to just skip to Test #6.
 
To turn off unnecessary programs and processes, do the following:
 
  • Launch the Windows Task Manager (Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc)
  • Click the Processes tab
  • Sort the processes by clicking the User Name column header
  • For each unnecessary process listed for your User Name (with the exception of your CAT program and internet browser), right-click the process, select End Process Tree, and click OK to confirm. To know if the process is necessary or not, you can look up its Image Name (from the first column) on a website like www.processlibrary.com. Test with Steps 2 through 4 above after each process is disabled until the text input is correct. Then you'll know which process was at fault
 
Some processes in particular that are suspected of causing text input issues include the following:
 
  • Java Runtime Environment and Java Console Programs associated with AOL
  • Processes associated with Windows Media Center Windows Defender
  • Speech recognition services
  • Some anti-virus or anti-spyware programs
 
To turn off unnecessary browser plug-ins, do the following:
 
Internet Explorer
 
  • Launch Internet Explorer
  • Click Tools > Manage Add-ons > Enable or Disable Add-ons
  • Select each Add-on in the list of enabled Add-ons (with the exception of the Shockwave Object or any Adobe Flash related Add-ons), and click Disable below
  • Click OK to return to Internet Explorer.
  • Re-enabling these Add-ons is the same as disabling, you just go through the list of disabled Add-ons, and click Enable
 
Firefox
 
  • Launch Firefox
  • Click Tools > Add-ons
  • Click the Extensions icon at the top
  • Select each item, and click Disable
  • Click the Plugins icon at the top
  • Select each item (with the exception of the Shockwave Flash item), and click Disable
  • Close the Add-ons window to return to Firefox
  • Re-enabling these items is the same as disabling them, you just click Enable instead
 
Test with Steps 2 through 4 above after each Plugin, Extension or Add-on is disabled until the text feeds correctly. Then you'll know which Plug-in, Extension or Add-on was at fault.
 
If the culprit was a background program or process, you'll need to disable it from the Startup tab of the System Configuration Utility (Start > Run, type msconfig, and click OK) to make sure that it doesn't load each time you boot your computer.