Computer Registry Problem -- Fixed It!

CCleaner 2.06.567 to the rescue!
Why do these things always happen when you've got pages waiting for you to scope? Murphy rears his ugly head once again. I thought I should post this experience on my blog for anybody else who is experiencing the same computer problem.

Last Wednesday evening the Java update notification popped up at the bottom of my computer screen. So I clicked on it to update to the latest version of Java, something I have done two or three times since getting my latest ThinkPad laptop late last fall. After it did its thing, a message box appeared with Error 1316, which means it didn't install properly.

Okay, great. I'm on Windows XP, so I went to Control Panel, Add/Remove Hardware, and I removed the updated version. Then I got busy with work and forgot about the update. The next morning I booted up my computer and it wouldn't stop making that sound that it does when it's looking for files. It was driving me nuts, even though it's pretty quiet, because I knew it meant something was wrong. A reboot, a defrag, an Ad-Aware scan, and a virus scan did not help, but I had pages to churn out so had to leave it at that for a while. However, the computer was running quite slow and there was the odd weirdness happening with files.

Friday morning I devoted a couple of hours to figuring out what was wrong. It was then that I narrowed it down to the Java update problem being the culprit. I ran a Hijack This report and removed anything to do with Java. I also found a couple of previous versions of Java in the Add/Remove Programs list, and I removed those, too. No dice, the noise was still there.

I downloaded Windows Install Cleaner and ran that. Nope. I finally decided to tackle the registry, even though I was a little bit afraid of screwing things up worse. There are scads of registry-cleaner software products available, and I didn't know which one to choose. So I called a local computer store and asked for the tech department. I asked if they could recommend one. He suggested I go to www.hippofile.com and download ccleaner (originally Crap Cleaner). H said it was a freeware program and is very simple to use.

So I took a deep breath and downloaded and installed CCleaner, then ran it. I'm happy to say that it worked. It cleaned up my computer registry and the annoying sound was gone. I'm so happy I could scream.

So if you have problems with the latest Java update, or if your computer is running slow or sounds like it's looking for files all the time, you might want to give CCleaner a whirl. It worked for me!

Realtime Scoping

My scoping specialty is providing daily trial copy for official court reporters in both federal and state courts. I have seen a few forum posts here and there about realtime scoping, where the scopist is either at the same location as the court reporter, or is working from a remote location. I have been hoping that one of my clients would get involved in this, as I love to try new things and was quite interested in how this all worked. This week, my wish came true.

One of my clients took a seminar a week or two ago and now we are starting to experiment with it. We are using GoToMyPC. She is set up as the host computer and I log in to her account. Once I am logged in, a screen comes up that shows whatever she is seeing on her computer at that moment. We both use Advantage Total Eclipse CAT software, and I can watch the steno notes appear in the notebar to the right of the screen as she is writing them, and the translated text appears in the usual place to the left of that. The audio is streamed in and the quality is very good. There are options for the screen appearance, and we are using the split screen. I use the top half to go in and edit what she has just written.

I am very excited about this technological advancement and actually find it quite fascinating to participate in! Not only is realtime scoping more interesting to me than regular scoping, but the page rate is considerably higher. It's like getting paid to play!

I'd enjoy hearing from other scopists who are scoping realtime for their clients. Please feel free to contact me through this blog or e-mail me at scopist@accuratescoping.com.

What is Scoping?

For those of you who have arrived at this page and are not familiar with the world of court reporting and/or scoping, I guess I should probably explain what a scopist is really all about!

Scoping is a bona fide profession that not too many people outside of the court-reporting venue know about. In short, a scopist supports court reporters by editing their transcripts.

Nowadays, the court reporter writes in steno code, just like before, but now the transcript is stored on a computer file instead of the old paper "cash register" tapes that were in use previously. These files are then transcribed into English with the use of software known as CAT (computer-aided transcription) software, such as Advantage Eclipse IV.

Due to a variety of reasons, the transcript never translates perfectly into English. Therefore, someone must manually scan through the transcript, or "scope" the work to correct these problems. Enter the scopist, who is also responsible for formatting the transcript and ensuring that it has the correct formatting, as well as proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Many court reporters use scopists on a regular basis, and some use them on a part-time "overflow" basis when they get backed up. However, studies have been done to show that a court reporter can increase their income by a good percentage with the use of a good scopist. This is because the reporter makes more money in the courtroom or depo suite than they do sitting in the office editing their jobs.

By sending their day's work to the scopist, they can be out the next day on another reporting job, earning their regular income, instead of staying in the office and editing. Even though they are paying a page rate to the scopist for editing their previous day's job, they are more than making up for that expense by doing more reporting.

For an in-depth look at the scoping profession, please visit Judy Barrett's scoping blog.