Vision 486

[AnnetteK]

Besides Xscribe 2001, can another CAT software be installed and used with a Vision 486? Also, can the internal laptop be upgraded from a DOS to windows?

[Michael Smith]

Another CAT software can be installed on the Vision Writer, however, we are unsure if you can use the internal writer with the installed software. Since the Vision has two serial ports you should be able to connect another writer to the vision for realtime.

The internal laptop CAN be upgraded to Windows, provided you can give it enough memory. The default memory size is 4MB. I believe I have seen one Vision upgraded to 8MB. If you want to run Windows 95 or higher however, you will need 16MB at the least. Because of this, it is not a good idea to put Windows on this machine. You can however put Windows version 3.x on the machine. Just keep in mind that no drivers were written for Windows, which means that it might not work at all.

To sum it all up, it is not a good idea put any money in to upgrading the Vision or putting Windows on it. Even if Windows did work, it would run extremely slow and it would be hard to see due to the monochrome LCD.

As for putting another software on the Vision, you could perhaps put an old DOS-based software on, but you would be better off purchasing a seperate computer for it.

Hope that helps.

[tkwmorris]

This forum seems about a inactive as Xscribe these days. Ah, well. Maybe someone will see this and have some idea of what can be done.

Anyone have any idea what to do with a Vision with a lost key? Yes, indeed, we seem to have lost the blasted key. It was on an antique HP Pavilion I was trying to convert to DOS in order to run 2001 on something other than an old Zenith laptop. Long story short, couldn't get DesqView and QEMM installed (BIOS issue, aparently) so we gave up. At the same time, my wife, who is the court reporter in the family, quit taking a live recored when the court swithced to the never to be sufficiently cursed JAVS video system. She was repplaced by an Equipment Operator, but was asked to continue to prepare the transcripts. So, she's been doing that the old fashioned way, off the audio track of the VHS tape or, when the system works as advertised, from AVI files. She hasn't touched the Vision or 2001 in five or six months. Now, she was hired to do a long deposition on a freelance basis - the Vision worked just fine as a writer, when she went to fire up 2001, no key. The old HP system had been given away and neither she nor our son can remember what was done with the key.

So, I just thought I'd see if anyone has a solution. Otherwise, she does have the paper notes (the real old fashioned way) and audio tape of most of the session, but being able to run it through 2001 would save her maybe 15 hours of time. It was a loooong deposition involving a quiet title action.

[Michael Smith]

Hi there,

Forum's not very active but it is still viewed by JM Steno's techs.

I wish I had some better news for you, but the only way of getting 2001 working again is to purchase the program from an individual or business. I'm aware of two businesses that may have a copy left:

www.stenotech.com
www.acculaw.com

You can also try a search for "court reporting forum". Many court reporting forums have a classifieds section where you may be able to pick one up.

If you do locate a copy and are still having difficulties, JM Steno can help. We can either install 2001 on a computer for you)*, or provide a computer with 2001 already installed and working. Both of which require:
QEMM/Desqview, 2001 Key, 2001 Install Disks, 2001 Keymaster Disk.

Laptops for running 2001 are $300. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.