Category: Crash

On systems containing ZoomText 9.0, JAWS 7.0 or 7.1, and AVG Anti-Virus software, if ZoomText is running and you click the "Virus Vault" button on the AVG program interface, the PC will crash and display a blue screen.

Note: This problem is related to the presence of JAWS 7.0 or 7.1 on the system

When attempting to start ZoomText the system hangs.

When running ZoomText on a computer that has a Kensington mouse or trackball, and Kensington's MouseWorks software, the system may randomly crash.

On systems containing Windows 2000 or NT4, if ZoneAlarm or eTrust EZ Firewall are running, starting a ZoomText trial will cause the system to hang or crash. When this occurs a ZT.exe error message also appears.

This problem is caused by incompatibility between ZoomText's trial protection mechanism and the firewall software (ZoneAlarm or eTrust EZ Firewall). 

When attempting to install a ZoomText update (via the ZoomText Update Wizard), a “Microsoft VC++ runtime error” will occur if the user does not have rights to the following directory:

C:\Program\Files\Installshield Installation Information\UpdateService\Database

hen a ZoomText update is available, the InstallShield update service (agent.exe) creates and/or writes to the ‘update.ini' file located in this directory. If the user does not have write privileges to this directory, the InstallShield agent crashes and generates the Microsoft VC++ error.

When the demo version of the ScanSoft Steffi speech synthesizer is selected in ZoomText 9.0, ZoomText crashes causing the system to hang.

ZoomText 7.1 does not include built-in support for DCM - a Microsoft technology that provides improved compatibility between multiple assistive technology (AT) aids installed in the same computer. DCM is primarily designed to resolve compatibility issues between screen magnifiers and screen readers. Without DCM support, if other AT aids are installed, ZoomText and/or another AT aid may not run properly. Observed problems include corrupted portions of the screen, partial loss of screen reading output, failure of an AT program to run, and system crashes.

After installing ZoomText on a system configured for multiple display devices (also referred to as Dual Monitors), the following problems may occur:

• When you attempt to start the system, before the Windows desktop appears the system reboots (in a continuous loop).
• When you attempt to start ZoomText, the system crashes.
• When you open the Display Properties dialog and select the Settings tab, the system crashes.

When running ZoomText 8 with JAWS 5.0 (build 812), if you exit JAWS before ZoomText the system will crash, resulting in a blue screen error or instant reboot.

On some systems, if ZoomText is active while attempting to start Microsoft Freecell, the Freecell program will freeze or crash, generating a Window blue screen error.

When running ZoomText with Microsoft Word 2000, XP or 2003, typing or selecting text may cause Word to crash. If Word is used edit email messages in Microsoft Outlook, this problem may also cause Outlook to crash.

BigShot utilizes Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) to track on-screen program activity, such the activation of menus and dialogs and movement of the caret (text entry point). Although MSAA does an excellent job of providing tracking information, it is also known to generate errors or crashes in some applications and dialogs.

Many of MSAA related errors can be eliminated by installing a newer version of the software in which the problem occurs. If a newer version of the software is not available or does not resolve the problem, the problem may be eliminated by disabling BigShot's support for MSAA. 

BigShot can be configured to run automatically each time the system starts up, adding to BigShot's convenience and ease of use. However, there may be times when disabling this feature becomes necessary to resolve or troubleshoot a conflict between BigShot and other system components. Should this occur, there are two methods available for disabling the 'run automatic' feature:

On systems containing Intel 82845/65G graphics adapters, after installing ZoomText or BigShot the system may crash on startup, resulting in a perpetual reboot or blue screen critical error window (a.k.a. “blue screen of death” or BSOD).

When running ZoomText 8 and accessing form controls on the Amazon web site (www.amazon.com), Internet Explorer may suddenly and unexpectedly exit. The exact cause of this problem is currently unknown.