A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Question about Shorthand expander - Fatigued Fingers

Posted: Jan 08, 2012

When I opened up Shorthand this morning all my entries were gone, nearly 10,000 of them. SHort of manually re-entering them, does anyone have any idea how I can get them back?

CALL YOUR HELP DESK.... - Paisley

[ In Reply To ..]
This happened to me before and I called the help desk after I calmed down and they retrieved them for me. Another time, they were corrupted somehow and they fixed that as well. Other than that, don't know what to do. Good luck!!!

Have you checked your Shorthand Directory? - --

[ In Reply To ..]
Look in your C: directory on computer. Locate SH10 (Shorthand) then open the directory. Look for a file with the extension .SPF and the size of the file should be pretty large with 10,000 entries. (I named my .SPF file using my initials.) You may have more than one .SPF file, so carefully check each file with this extension. You will have more than one .SPF file but carefully check each one to see if your main dictionary w/10,000 entries is there.

Also, go to Google. Set up an email account. Open email, select compose email, place your email account so you will receive message. Attach the .SPF file with your 10,000 entries. This allows you to SAVE your main dictonary all the time. Open the new email once it arrives. You can then go to Shorthand and always convert this file using the same command (convert) via Shorthand. Just a convenient backup. Also, if you're not at home or don't have access to desktop computer, you can still access your dictionary on any computer via the attached file in your email via using convert command in Shorthand.

If a file has been deleted accidentally on your computer, you can also use DOS on your computer to retrieve the deleted file.

Or try search *.spf - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Depending on operating system, with my Windows, I can click the start button, in the search box, type *.spf and it will list all my shorthand files. Perhaps your shorthand directory accidentally was moved or your program is looking for your files in the wrong place.

call your it dept if you have one - experiencedmt

[ In Reply To ..]
My IT guy found mine. I had evidently renamed it and moved it somehow. I also was in a MAJOR PANIC! If your company has an IT dept call them! Good luck.

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