Hello I am using Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac Pro Edition and Windows 10 to use Dragon Medical to create text for a doctor's office software on the Mac side using speech recognition. I use an external microphone: Olympus RM-4110S. It happens more and more often that the microphone "hangs up". It has a slide switch, when I dictate normally the indicator light is red. If I then - when the system hangs up - move the slide switch back to "off", the indicator light stays on and Dragon no longer responds. I can't close the dictation pad and can't click or change the text (with the keyboard) etc. The system has hung up. Windows 10 can still be operated. The state sometimes lasts 10 seconds, sometimes 5 minutes, several times a day. A real test of patience in the daily routine of a doctor's surgery. What I also notice is that when the problem starts, the CPU spins up because of Windows 10 (shows the "activity indicator" on the Mac side). It then stands at 100 - 150 % CPU. When the problem calms down again, this % CPU also drops back down to 5 - 20 % CPU. Dragon Medical has already been checked: everything is fine. It is an old version (Dragon Medical Practice Edition 4), possibly too old. 2434But before I switch to Dragon Medical One, I wanted to make sure that Parallels or Windows are not the problem. And whether the problem can possibly be fixed. One more note: I changed the microphone a few days ago. The same model (from my colleague), but with a push button instead of a slide switch. It worked perfectly for a few days at first, but has now developed exactly the same problems. I had therefore already considered whether it could be a problem with the microphone in conjunction with Parallels/Windows? Is there a RAM that is running full or something similar? Is it possible to reset a microphone? I was able to run an "Analysis of "Windows 10"" on Parallels, but the file doesn't tell me anything. Many thanks for your help!
Based on your description, the microphone itself is unlikely to be the root cause. Since Dragon Medical Practice Edition 4 is an older product, compatibility issues with current versions of Windows 10 and Parallels Desktop 19 cannot be ruled out. Dragon may be entering a busy loop while processing audio input, which would explain both the CPU spike and the temporary freeze of dictation-related functions. To narrow down the cause, I would recommend the following tests: Check whether the problem occurs when Dragon is run on a native Windows machine (without Parallels). In Parallels, try changing the USB connection mode for the microphone (USB device assigned directly to Windows vs. shared with macOS). Monitor Windows Task Manager during an occurrence to identify whether Dragon (natspeak.exe) is the process consuming the CPU. Review the Windows Event Viewer for application or USB/audio-related warnings at the time of the freeze. Ensure Parallels Tools is fully up to date and reinstall it if necessary. If possible, test with a different USB dictation microphone model to exclude a driver-specific issue. I would not expect a microphone reset or a RAM issue within the microphone itself to resolve this. The symptoms suggest that the software stack (Dragon, audio drivers, USB virtualization, or Parallels) is becoming blocked and temporarily monopolizing CPU resources. If Dragon Medical One is available for testing, a short trial could also be valuable. If the issue disappears completely with Dragon Medical One under the same Parallels and Windows environment, that would strongly indicate that Dragon Medical Practice Edition 4 is the primary source of the problem rather than Parallels or the microphone hardware.
