ClaroRead

Disabling Spellcheck in ClaroRead for exams

You may need to disable the spellcheck features in ClaroRead, for example if you are using it for exams. You can disable it in Settings, or install ClaroRead SE instead (it has no spellcheck: contact Support to get a copy if you have ClaroRead Standard or Plus). But you might want to disable it and prevent the user from being able to turn it back on.

You have two options: first, you can run a simple program that locks spellcheck off and password-protects it. You don’t need to be an admin, but this only turns it off for the current user. Second, you can set a per-machine registry key that disables spellcheck for any ClaroRead running on that machine. This is suitable for network administrators who want to disable ClaroRead using something like Group Policy.

The two options are detailed below. See also Exams for more about using Claro products in digital exams.
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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Installing Claro software on your network

Customers owning a site licence or multi-user licence version of a Claro product are able to distribute that product over multiple computers. This could be done by visiting each computer with the installers on a USB pen drive, and manually installing the product, but this would be very time-consuming. If the computers are connected on a network however it is possible to use Microsoft networking tools to distribute the software from a central location.
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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Fixing problems with starting up

Symptoms

  • “I try to start ClaroRead or WordRead but it only gets to about 75% of the progress bar and the form never actually appears.”
  • “ClaroRead just won’t start: it flashes then disappears.”
  • “Nothing happens when I double-click the ClaroRead icon.”
  • “ClaroRead or WordRead crashes with a message about LHCOM02w.dll.”
  • “Save to audio crashes.”

Diagnosis

  • Run ClaroRead, will not start up.
  • ClaroRead uses speech: broken speech systems will stop ClaroRead working. Try the tests on Fixing Problems with Speech and fix any problems you find first.
  • If you are on Windows Server, and/or receive a Windows error message about an application error (rather than the program hanging), or you receive a Windows error message about “Data Execution Prevention”, or you see the exception code 0xC000041D in Windows Application Event log, see Cure 2
  • Download and run SAPI4Test.exe, get error message “Component ‘Xvoice.dll’ or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid.” or one or more voices do not work. See Cure 1
  • If ClaroRead displays a message “Invalid Hard Disk!” while loading and will not go any further then you may have the Windows Script Host disabled or broken, see Cure 3.
  • If ClaroRead gets about one-third of the way loaded and then hangs, and also you cannot play any audio on your computer, then see Cure 4.

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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Fixing problems with speech

Symptoms

  • “It’s not reading anything any more!”
  • “I press Play and everything flashes really quickly in Word but no speech”
  • “I’ve installed a new piece of software and now ClaroRead/WordRead will not work”

Diagnosis

  • Make sure you can hear non-speech sound – try Windows Media Player, or go to YouTube, and play a CD or any sound. If you can’t, then you have to fix your sound first.
  • Download and run SAPI5Test.exe – none of the voices work.
  • Open Control Panel > “Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices”> “Speech”. The panel does not appear. Try Cure Number 2 first.
  • If it does appear, switch to one of the Microsoft voices (for example, Sam, Anna, or Hazel). Click the Preview button: no sound is produced, or an error message results. Try Cure Number 3 first.
  • 32-bit Windows machines only: If a Microsoft voice works, but some or all of the Claro voices (e.g. ScanSoft Daniel_Full_22kHz or Vocalizer Daniel) do not speak, then go to Cure Number 4.
  • 64-bit Windows machines: our Claro voices will not show up in the Speech dialog in Control Panel. However you can launch the 32-bit Control Panel window by downloading and running our Speech Control Panel program. Go straight to Cure Number 4.

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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Claro Software & Windows 8 Compatibility

Quick Summary: Claro Software programs work fine on Windows 8 / 8.1 machines.

We have tested all of our products with Windows 8 / 8.1, and all of our products below work fine with Windows 8 / 8.1 when using it on the traditional desktop where non-Modern UI apps like Office, Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader run:

  • ClaroRead (Pro*, Plus*, Standard*, SE) V6
  • ScreenRuler V3
  • ClaroView
  • ClaroCapture V2 **
  • ClaroIdeas V2
  • WordRead V6
  • Scan2Text V2
  • SymPrint
  • Oska WordBanks
  • Tactix Touchpad
  • Oska V2
  • Claro FaceMouse

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By Claro Software Admin, ago

ClaroRead in Arabic (and Hebrew)

Claro Software has Arabic and Hebrew versions of ClaroRead and other software. However, support for right-to-left languages has many limitations, in Windows and other software, especially older versions. Arabic and Hebrew users will know many of these: these are generally not problems with ClaroRead, but problems with other programs and with Windows.
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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Using Microsoft XML tags with SAPI5 TTS voices

When you press the Play button ClaroRead or WordRead uses the same speech settings (voice, volume, speed) for all of the text it reads out. Everything will sound the same. You might, however, want to put in pauses, or make some text louder, or lower-pitched, or use a different voice halfway through. ClaroRead lets you use Microsoft’s XML Tags to do this. You can alter which voice is used, put in pauses, change pitch and speed and many other things as ClaroRead speaks. This works for both text read out and text saved to audio files.

Since writing this, Microsoft SAPI 5.2 and later versions have introduced support for the W3C standard Speech Synthesis Markup Language SSML so you may want to use that instead of the Microsoft-specific XML detailed here. The mechanisms to employ SSML (start with a < left-angled bracket) are the same, however.
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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Online Activation Error Messages (and what they mean)

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Error Message Cause/Solution
Your system clock appears to have been
changed, possibly in an attempt to defeat the
security system on this program. Please correct
your system clock before trying to run this
program again. If your clock is already correct,
rebooting the system may fix this problem,
otherwise contact the author of this program for
instructions (report code CCB-A).
-or-
Your system clock appears to have been set
back, possibly in an attempt to defeat the
security system on this program. Please correct
your system clock before trying to run this
program again. If your clock is correct, please
contact the author of this program for
instructions on correcting this error (report code
%1).		 This is an uncommon error caused by the
computer?s system clock changing too much. To
fix this, contact Claro for a ?FixClock? key and
further instructions.
By Claro Software Admin, ago

64-bit Windows Issues

ClaroRead on 64-bit Windows

The following will not work on ClaroRead 5.0 – 5.6 on 64-bit Windows machines:

  • Speak-with-control-and-hover in 64-bit applications. So if you are running 32-bit Internet Explorer and 32-bit Office then this works just fine. If you are running the 64-bit versions then you will hear nothing. (Fixed in 5.7)
  • Speaking calculator. You can start the 32-bit Calculator in C:WindowsSysWOW64calc.exe if you need it. (Fixed in 5.5)
  • Click-and-play does not work on 64-bit Internet Explorer. You must select with the mouse instead (Fixed in 5.5)

Update ClaroRead to the latest version 5.7 to fix all 64-bit problems (July 2011)

Voices on 64 bit Windows

All our voices are 32 bit packages and will work with the Claro software with which they are sold on both 32 and 64 bit systems however on a 64 bit system the voice may not work in third party programs and will not be shown in the Windows Speech Control Panel or in the Narrator voice selection panel.

In order to display the 32 bit Windows Speech Control Panel on a 64 bit version of Windows…

Windows Vista & 7

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By Claro Software Admin, ago

MathML

MathML is a way to put complex mathematics and equations in web pages and other documents. We recommend getting the free MathPlayer plugin, which means that ClaroRead will then speak the maths when you point the mouse at it. You can also right-click on MathML equations and see many more Read more…

By Claro Software Admin, ago

Using the pronunciation editor to speak non-Western characters

You can make ClaroRead speak non-Western characters using a Western voice, for example reading Greek characters in chemistry using RealSpeak Daniel. You need to be an administrator, you may need your Windows installation CD, and only one non-Western language can be supported in addition to English – English and Cyrillic, or English and Greek are fine, but not Greek and Cyrillic.

  1. Open Control Panel > Regional and Language Options.
  2. Select the Advanced tab.
  3. In the “Language for non-Unicode programs” section select the language for the characters you want to read, for example Russian.
  4. Restart your machine.
  5. Open ClaroRead and Word.
  6. Select and copy one character to be spoken, e.g. “?”.

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By Claro Software Admin, ago

Making non-English Prediction Dictionaries

Below are steps to take to create a Russian prediction dictionary from a Russian Word document. These instructions can be used for any language.

  1. Ensure you have the latest ClaroRead Settings Editor (v2.2.0.10). If not, download from here and replace the old one in C:Program FilesClaro SoftwareClaroRead Plus V5.
  2. Change the “Language for Non-Unicode programs” setting in Regional and Language Settings in Control Panel to “Russian”.
  3. Start Advanced Settings Editor.
  4. Go to Prediction Training tab.
  5. Click Save As and give “Russian dictionary” as the new prediction dictionary name.

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By Claro Software Admin, ago

ClaroRead V5 Feature List

Contents

Toolbar

  • Locks on to any window.
  • Customisable layout.
  • Button size can be changed
  • Three different skins.
  • Can be docked to the top of the screen.
  • Can be positioned manually.
  • Tray icon and Pause button allows you to show and hide the toolbar if it gets in the way.

? Back to Top

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By Claro Software Admin, ago