Speed up task switching under Windows 2000 (XP?)

Majination · Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 8 Location: Northern Calif.

I use DragonDictate with Windows 2000, and quickly found that any task switching done by voice was painfully slow. After some time of putting up with it I decided to try to come up with something that would help speed the process up. What I ended up doing was modifying the [Task 1] through [Task 10] commands so that the Start Menu was brought up by clicking on it rather than simulating a Ctrl-Esc keystroke. This worked, and task switching via "Bring Up Task #" is as speedy as ever.

If you're experiencing the same slow down and are fed up, here are the steps to modifying your own commands. I should note that this script only works if your task bar is positioned on the bottom of your screen and is not set to auto-hide. If you have a different task bar configuration and you'd like help, just post a note.

Say "Bring Up", <b>pause</b> , then say "Task 1". Next, say "Oops", and when the [Task 1] command is hilighted say "Modify Word".

Note: If you find that you're editing the [Bring Up <Bring Up>] command, cancel out and do it again, without forgetting to pause between words (or use the Find Word command from the Voice Menu).

The default script for the [Task 1] command is as follows :

Michelle · Site Admin Joined: 01 Jan 1970 Posts: 19

Thanks Magination, that's going to be the very first thing I do when I set up DragonDictate under Windows XP!

Michelle

Victor · Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 3 Location: Malaysia

Great tip, Majination! I am also running Win2K and modifying the commands has really helped to speed things up.

By the way, do you know of any macros to restart/shut down Windows by voice in Win2K? I used to be able to do it in Windows 98 but they don't seem to work anymore in Win2K Sad

Victor

Michelle · Site Admin Joined: 01 Jan 1970 Posts: 19

DragonDictate is (for the most part) running smoothly under Windows XP, thanks to the "speedy task switching" solution. One other problem I found, though, was that bringing up a task always brought up the task after the one I wanted. I don't know if it was because of Windows XP, or just an eccentricity of my particular computer, but if anyone else encounters it, here's how to fix it.

I followed Magination's instructions above, but before saving the changes to each command, I modified the last line. For instance, the last line of the script for [Bring Up] [Task 5] would look like this:

Jeff · Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 2

Y'all using DD2.5 or 3, because i couldn't get my [Next Window] command to do anything but minimize & maximum one of the available choices after making the changes. Win XP & DD 2.5 here

Jeff

Majination · Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 8 Location: Northern Calif.

I'm using 2.52, and have the same experience with [Next Window] and [Previous Window] under 2000. Basically, I just avoid them completely and use [Bring Up Task #]. It's more of a mouthful to say, but it's working for me.

It's unfortunate that there isn't a more in depth tutorial on the syntax of the scripting language. I just saw yesterday for the first time that you can have variables. If there are _global variables_ then I can make several commands work, and create some new ones too! Michelle, do you mind posting where your repository of macros and vocabularies can be found? If I have some examples to look through maybe I can learn something new to play with. =)

Jeff · Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 2

Kind of bizarre. I've never used the "task" commands. I've always liked the "next window" and "previous window" commands. Just tried the "bring up task ?" commands, but hesitated after "bring up" because that, for me, became more accurate for bringing up a certain named program than the complete "bring up 'program name'". And the "bring up" command activates the start menu. Adding "task ?" then brings up a certain window, which I guess is what it's supposed to do. Still like my "next window", "previous window" commands. Just need to figure out how to speed them up.

Jeff