SYSTRAN 5 Desktop FAQ

This document contains answers to frequently asked questions about SYSTRAN 5 products.

Installation Questions

Plugin Questions

Activation Questions

Translation Questions

Dictionary Questions

Other Questions

Installation Questions

I want to add some language pairs to the existing installation How can I do that?

Due to the cross-platform nature of the installation programs, it is necessary when installing multiple installer packages to install the second, third, fourth, etc., twice. That is, after installing the first language pair, install the second, then run the installation again. Do the same for the third and other languages.

During the repetition of each installation you will be asked if you'd like to modify, repair, or remove the program: choose modify, then, in the next step, if there is a red 'X' beside an item labeled 'LPs', click on the 'X' and select 'This feature will be installed on local hard drive' – the 'X' should disappear and the installation resume.

What should I do if the installation file is damaged or incomplete, probably as the result of a download problem?

Downloads of SYSTRAN products are handled by our online retailer, Digital River. Download problems are not uncommon due to noise on telephone lines and other technical issues; is accustomed to dealing with this kind of thing and they should have no difficulty getting the software to you. They also offer a CD backup that you can purchase if the download continues to give you problems.

You may contact by sending an email by clicking here or by calling one of these numbers:

Office in US: ++1 952 253 1234
Office in UK: ++44 118 934 6150
(++ stands for the country exit code, which is 00 in most countries.)
If you call from the US or Canada, you may also dial the free number +1 952 908 4150.

During the installation, my computer connects to Internet and says that it can't download a file called InstMsiW.exe or InstMsiA.exe.

The error you see during installation indicates that an older version of Microsoft installer is not installed on your computer. You'll have to download version 2.0 from the sites below. Please install appropriate Microsoft installer prior to installing SYSTRAN product.

Instmsia.exe for Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition

Instmsiw.exe for Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP

To install the Windows Installer engine, double-click on the file InstmsiA.exe on Windows 9.x /ME or InstmsiW.exe on Windows NT/2000. The installation will not display any dialogs with the exception of a progress bar indicating the installation progress.

Why do I get an error during the installation that it is impossible writing module `C:\program files\systran\5.0\standard\htmlparser.dll.hresult-2147220473` ?

Please download and open the following file:

PH9850251.exe

Note: This problem only occurs on Windows 98/ME.
Note: This solution works for SYSTRAN Office Translator, SYSTRAN WebTranslator, and SYSTRAN Personal.

What should I do if the installation file is not responding during "Configuring Windows installer"?

At this stage the installation file is being unzipped, which might take up to 15 minutes, depending on the type of computer being used.

I don't have Microsoft Office, but still want to use the other SYSTRAN applications.

MS Office is marked as a prerequisit on the box. However, it is still possible to install SYSTRAN on a machine without Office. To do this you'll have to install the Microsoft ActiveX Control Pad (SETUPPAD.exe) from the following site:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms968493.aspx

I have problems with SYSTRAN after I have installed the XP service pack 2.

We have seen cases, where Service Pack 2 uninstalls Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 3.0, which is necessary for v5 desktop products.

Solution: Uninstall and reinstall SYSTRAN.

Plugin Questions

Why can I not use the Microsoft Office plugins?

If your computer had an upgrade from Office 97 to Office 2000/XP/2003, SYSTRAN's installation will not be able to detect the new version of Office on your computer.

Please check if the file OfficePlugins.dll is in the folder C:\Program Files\SYSTRAN\5_0\SYSTRAN_PRODUCT_NAME. If you have a file Office8Plugins.dll instead, then SYSTRAN has detected your Office version as Office 97. If this isn't correct, that's due to an incorrect Office key in the Windows registry, which might happen with newer versions of Office, especially with Office 2003. To fix this problem you will need to edit the registry.

Note: Editing the registry improperly can cause damage to the operating system. It is recommended that the registry be backed up prior to making any modifications.

Close all SYSTRAN and Office applications
If the SYSTRAN server (the blue 'S' in the lower right corner of your desktop) is running, then right-click its icon and select 'Quit'
Click on Start, then Run
Type "regedit" in the box labeled "Open"
Open the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\
Rename the key BinDirPath to BinDirPathOld (We've never experienced any harm to Office's operation by deleting this key.)
Uninstall SYSTRAN and install it again.

If you have a mixed Office installation (e.g. Word 2000 and Excel 97) and you want to use both plugins, please contact our Technical support team.

After installing, the translate button is not visible on Internet Explorer. How do I access it?

Internet Explorer will hide the systran translate button in the toolbar.

To fix this go into View -> Toolbars -> uncheck "lock the toolbar"

In Outlook, the original message is blank after the translation when the SYSTRAN toolbar is activated. How can I avoid this?

Please do the following:

Download the following patch from our Web site :
Extract the archive to a temporary folder.
Then click on Patch_Premi.vbs (Patch_Stand.vbs/Patch_OffTr.vbs respectively), you should get a message " DllRegister in ... succeeded."
Then you can delete the temporary folder.

In Outlook, I get the error message "The method '~' of the object '~' failed". How can I avoid this?

Word may not be the default mail editor. Uncheck 'Use Word to edit text messages' in Options->Mail format. If this does not help, please run the patch in 2.2. of our FAQ.

SYSTRAN crashes, when an Office application is closed. How can I avoid this?

There seems to be a conflict of the SYSTRAN plugin with another plugin in the Office application. There is a known conflict with Adobe PDFMaker, there could be conflicts with other plugins, too. To be able to use SYSTRAN, please desactivate all other plugins and try again. Also, please contact our Technical support team to report this conflict.

Activation Questions

What should I do if I get the error « activation not possible: activation server not reachable »?

This could be caused by a firewall or proxy server. Please contact your network administrator for assistance. You'll have to allow SYSTRAN to send and receive http requests during the internet activation. Alternatively, you can activate SYSTRAN via telephone. To do this, follow the branch "by telephone" in the activation dialog.

What should I do if I get the error « activation not possible: Maximal number of activations exceded »?

You can activate your software three times without contact to our Support team. After that, you will have to contact us specifying the reason for your reactivation.

Please note that one license for a SYSTRAN Desktop product only allows one activated installation at the same time.

Note: You can test your installation before activating it by specifying "Activate later". NB: Do not "Cancel" or close the activation dialog, this will produce errors.

How can I force the activation?

Quit SYSTRAN server, the small blue S icon in the icon try. (Alternatively, you can reboot the machine.) Then lauch a translation from anywhere. If you don't get the activation screen popping up and your translation succeeds, the software is properly activated.

Translation Questions

Why doesn't my product translate big files?

There are limitations on the size of files that can be translated with different SYSTRAN products: Personal translates up to 5Kb (about 2 pages) of text, OfficeTranslator up to 5 pages, and Standard has a 2 MB limitation.

Why does a translation in Microsoft Outlook open up another copy of the toolbar?

Please close and reopen Outlook. This problem does not interfere with translation. We are working to resolve this issue.

How should I write my documents to improve the quality of their translation?

Please read our « Quick Tips for Writing » document.

Why do I get the error « Following error occurs when translating with Office plugins: »

Run-time error 7 - Out of memory
Run-time error -2147418105(80010007): Automation error.

This problem happens in non-English OS or Office. You will need to install Microsoft ActiveX Control Pad to solve this problem. Please install the Microsoft ActiveX Control Pad (SETUPPAD.exe) from the following site:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms968493.aspx

Dictionary Questions

What does this error mean: « Error: Custom Dictionary with the same name doesn't exist. » when adding new word from STPM or Word plugin?

This problem occurs when there is a space character in the dictionary filename. To resolve this problem, please perform these tasks:

Open dictionary and select "File"->"Save As" from the top menu.
Type in new filename without any space character.
Repeat 1 and 2 for all user dictionaries.
Open File Explore and navigate to UserDicts folder.
Delete old User Dictionaries (the ones with space character in them). You should delete both files, type SDM and DCT.

How do I add not found words to the dictionary in version 5?

Please go to the review panel, then choose "terminology review".

I get the error "Error stop recording" when saving a dictionary.

This error occurs when you have a line which is longer than 500 characters. Currently entries with lines of this length are not supported.

I have problems importing a tmx file that was exported by Trados.

This error is due to Trados tmx not being compatible to standard tmx. We're working on a fix, please contact our Support team for details.

I have an older version, can I get a discount for an upgrade?

If you would like to upgrade to our current release, version 6.0, you will receive a 50% discount. If you would like more information, you can contact our sales department by phone at 1-858-457-1900 x443, or via email from here.

I've made a support request, why don't get a reply?

Submitting information about your problem, does not automatically open a support request. This is just background information for us to understand the situation on your computer. You have to go here and fill in the form to contact us.

Did you receive an automatic answer right after you filled in the form? If not, you might have misspelled your email address. If you filled it in correctly, you should get an answer within a few days. After that, please don't hesitate to call.

I'd like to attach documents to the support form or send a file which is not translated correctly with its translated file, how do I do this?

When you complete the support form, you'll get an immediate automatic response. Please reply to this mail and attach your file to the email.

After the installation, Internet explorer is becoming slower and crashes. This does not occur when SYSTRAN is deactivated.

Do not use the automatic detection of languages, but use a fixed language instead. (In the box for the source language, change e.g. "(auto) English" to "English".) This should resolve the problem.

I have problems running XP service pack 2.