Phraseexpress, ftw and Microsoft Word NOT WORKING together

viccin7 · 23 Dec 2020

I am currently using Phraseexpress for Medical Transcription, along with the ftw transcriber (a stand-alone player) and trying to transcribe into word documents (365 subscription).

I have tried everything in my knowledge base including researching for hours on-end and cannot figure out why:
PhraseExpress (expander program) just quits. No specific time, no apparent reason, just typing along at a fast pace and it completely stops. The program then absolutely will not work until I shut it down, and after so many times of that just to complete ONE report, I have to eventually uninstall and reinstall to get it going again.

Support is of NO HELP for either Phraseexpress or ftw. I have been using PE for over 18 years. I have a paid subscription (not cheap!) that basically is not working correctly and I had to switch back to the free program. I have over 19,000 entries.

This is my RIGHT HAND tool but I simply am losing money due to the time it is taking to complete reports, whereas in the past normally I can fly through reports when it is working correctly.

I even bought a brand new PC thinking it would help, and it seems worse than ever.

No one has been able to help me. CCleaner has not worked, bypassing McAfee on these programs has not worked. Multiple settings have not worked.

It has to be something in Word...

Right now, the PE expander is working perfectly. As soon as I open up a Word document, it will shut down.

I have tried so many settings in Word. I do not use the autocorrect, it is shut off.

When I do transcribe for another company on their platform, PE works fine.

I am not sure if it is the ftw transcriber or Microsoft Word, but something is negatively interfering.

Does anyone have ANY idea what is going wrong or happening? I have been a Medical Transcriptionist for close to 30 years and this is the worst issue I have ever had. Back in the 'old days' I worked for the hospitals and support was there whenever need, but now as an Independent Contractor, no such luck. I am on my own.

Berton · 23 Dec 2020

Is your Word the online or fully installed version? I've had a client who had problems [probably different program] and going back to Office 2016 worked better.

viccin7 · 23 Dec 2020

Thank you Berton for responding. It is the 365 subscribed edition in which I have no control over basically but not sure I would be able to uninstall as it is a paid-for program... ? I was wondering about that as well only not sure how I could get around that... any suggestions?

Berton · 23 Dec 2020

No suggestions at the present time, have managed to stay away from Microsoft 365 but may have to get involved with it in the future, mostly if my clients decide to change.

sygnus21 · 24 Dec 2020

viccin7 said:

Thank you Berton for responding. It is the 365 subscribed edition in which I have no control over basically but not sure I would be able to uninstall as it is a paid-for program... ? I was wondering about that as well only not sure how I could get around that... any suggestions?

If it's a paid subscription (Office 365), it's tied to your Microsoft Account, and can be removed and reinstalled without issue. Been there done that.... a few times.

You can "get around that", by visiting your Microsoft Account, going to "Services & Subscriptions", click on "Installs", look for the device you have Office installed on, click "Sign out". That will remove the install from the server so it knows the product isn't installed on your PC. Next is to simply uninstall from your PC via Control Panel, Programs and Features, find Office 365, uninstall.

Once the uninstall is done, go back into your Microsoft Account and go back to the same "Installs" page and click "Install Office" and this will reinstall Office back to that PC.

Writing these instructions is more time consuming than doing what I posted. And it's simple and easy.

Hope this helps. And yes, I'm running Office 365.

viccin7 · 06 Jan 2021

Hi Berton! I just decided to check back and found your updated message. Just now I am giving this a try (uninstalling and reinstalling Office 365) and will keep my fingers crossed this works! Had a miserable day today, PhraseEx quit on me 6 times while trying to get through just a few reports, and I even eventually had to uninstall it and reinstall it to no avail. There went all my earnings for the day!

Office is downloading now...

Since getting my new PC, not sure I actually downloaded office on it because everything just 'ported over' from my laptop if that makes sense. I plugged it in and it all my files and everything just showed up on here. I will not pretend to know exactly how everything works - I spend so much time researching but sometimes the more in know, well, the more I have to learn and there is not enough time in the day.

This is why I appreciate so very much your help. Support from PE has been limited and since they are in Germany, it has been very hard to even get started with them (time difference, accents). Also, they assume everyone is computer trained. Their website has a lot of information, only if you do not know exactly what your problem is, it is not helpful to sift through hours of pages of FAQ etc.

Downloading is taking super long so I will check back another time and let you know what happens.

A thousand thanks!

Berton · 06 Jan 2021

Glad to have helped. I've been seeing there are issues between installed programs and online programs cooperating with each other.

viccin7 · 06 Jan 2021

Well, I thought I was going good but I do not seem to be able to reinstall Office. I am signed in and it is attempting to download but is basically doing nothing... Oiye!