[bksvol-discuss] Re: I am back and with problems.
- From: "Mayrie ReNae" <mayrierenae@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:59:22 -0800
Hi Roger,
You can't run anything from your old hard drive on your new computer. All
of the installations of software are for the hardware in your old machine.
What you need to do is connect your old hard drive as an external hard drive
to your new machine as folks have suggested, go into each specific
application's folder for storage and remove and transfer the related saved
files like your scanned books and your saved mail to the new hard drive.
Sorry for the unhappy news.
Mayrie
_____
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2011 12:53 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: I am back and with problems.
If Open Book 6 is incompatible with Windows 7 then is it possible to connect
the old hard drive to my new computer and run Open Book with Windows XP
which is still on the old hard drive. If so then I may have to ask for
further instructions on that. I would not know how to switch operating
systems for a temporary task. Right now, though, I think I will have to
figure out how to get the old hard drive out of the computer before I can go
further.
From: Evan Reese <mailto:mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2011 3:24 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: I am back and with problems.
Hi Roger,
Mike already answered your question about using your old hard drive as an
external drive.
To answer your other questions, you cannot connect your old computer to your
new one and transfer files without power coming to the old one.
In regards to OpenBook 6, I cannot say for certain, but I strongly suspect
that your are correct that the problem with installing it on your new system
is that it will not run under Windows 7. That version came out even before
Windows Vista, so it is very unlikely that it will run under 7. However, you
could call FS on Monday and see if they have a patch you can install that
will allow your version of OB to operate under Windows 7. I wouldn't hold
out much hope for that though.
Two options for you to consider. Firstly, you could see how much they want
to let you upgrade to the latest version of OB. Or, you can see whether
Kurzweil is still offering that substantial discount for OB users to switch
to K1000. When I switched over 5 years ago, however, that substantial
discount still left the price tag at $600, which I suspect would be beyond
your means, even if that discount is still in place.
Secondly, I do not recall what screen reader you are using, and I have very
little familiarity with these programs, but you might consider the
possibility of buying a commercial scanning and OCR package such as Abbey
FineReader. They are much cheaper than the specially designed programs, at I
think $100 or less in some cases. I do not know how many people are using
these off the shelf programs with screen readers, but I seem to recall that
I've heard on the Window Eyes users list that a few people have had some
success with them, although you won't get the user friendly experience you
had with OpenBook. Perhaps if there is anyone using one of these programs
with a screen reader on this list they could chime in with their experience.
Evan
----- Original Message -----
From: Roger Loran <mailto:rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx> Bailey
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2011 1:50 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] I am back and with problems.
I suppose that no one noticed that I have been missing for a while. My aging
computer has been developing more and more problems, but finally the power
switch stopped working. I could not turn it on. I called a repair shop and
asked how much it would cost to fix that. I was asked how old the computer
was. Uh, coming up on nine years now. The repairman said that it was not
worth repairing. Eek! I must be one of those Internet addicts because I
started to go into a kind of shock at the prospect of being off line for an
indefinite time. I can't afford it, but I had to buy another computer
immediately. I will have to cut back on other expenses. Oh well, I can stand
to lose some weight anyway. Cutting back on food is good for me. The
computer store offered, for an additional fee, to transfer all my files to
the new computer. They could not transfer software because of copyright
issues. The trouble with that was that some of my most important files were
in software applications. Specifically, I lost a ton of emails that were
stored in Outlook Express. Also, none of the scanned books that were in Open
Book were transferred. That includes the one I was working on and was almost
finished with. When I went to pick up my new computer I was given both the
new one and the old one. I was told that they had replaced the hard drive
back into the old computer. I asked the woman I was talking to if it was
possible to use the old hard drive as an external hard drive. Somehow my
mind went blank when she answered me. I remember her saying, "Oh yes." Then
she kept talking and my brain did not register a thing she said until she
finished with, "Then just connect it with a USB cable." So here is my first
question. Question one: Does anyone here know how to turn an old hard drive
into an external hard drive? I expect that my Open Book along with the book
I was working on is still there and if I could connect it as an external
hard drive I might be able to recover it. Question two: Might it be possible
to connect the old computer with no power coming to it to the new computer
and do my recovery that way? Now, with that said, it might not be possible
for me to resume working on the book anyway. I never actually installed Open
Book on my old computer in the first place. Back in early 2003 when I
ordered the computer I also ordered the software that I wanted with it and
had it delivered with Open Book 6 already installed. The only time since
then that it has been installed again was when my hard drive corrupted and I
brought my software disks to the repair shop and they reinstalled it for me.
Now, though, I have been trying to install it on my new computer. I have
tried twice unsuccessfully. The first time it installed, but would not work.
After trying over and over I decided that my own incompetence caused an
incomplete install. I uninstalled it and tried again. This time there came a
point that it said something like, "Searching for components." Then, after a
few minutes, it said something like that it could not find a video something
or other. Then the installation just stalled and it would not do anything
else. I am thinking of calling Freedom Scientific technical support, but I
am suspicious that my antiquated Open Book 6 is just not compatible with my
new operating system, Windows 7. Question three: Am I correct that Open Book
6 is not compatible with my new system? If this is the case I just might
have to quit scanning books. The computer was expensive enough without
buying new scanning software too and I can only cut back on other expenses
so much. If all that I have said here is completely bad news for me then
here is my next question. Question four: What can I possibly do?
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