Total Recall

Frequently Asked Questions

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What is Snowball?

Snowball is a next-generation translation memory program that simplifies your work with an intuitive new interface and a number of automatic features.

Don’t we have enough translation memory programs already?

There are already quite a few translation memory programs available, with “new” ones coming out on a regular basis. But if you look closely, you’ll see that nearly all of them mimic the same interface established two decades ago - and completely unchanged since then, forcing users to go through complex, cumbersome operations to perform tasks that should be simple.

So what’s so different about Snowball?

The basis for Snowball’s approach is that computers are very good at some things that most people could care less about, while people are extremely good at tasks that still lie beyond the reach of computers. Snowball transfers as much work as possible to the computer, especially tedious, routine tasks that don’t require a lot of thought, but do require a lot of processing power. That frees you up to use your full “processing power” for the creative activities the computer can’t handle.

Do I need a new computer to be able to run Snowball?

Because Snowball tries to relieve you of as much drudgery as possible, it does require reasonable computing power and storage space, especially as your database will grow much faster than in other TMs, but if you currently have relatively good performance with your system, you should be OK to start with. It’s recommended that you have at least a 1.5 GHz processer with 512 MB of RAM and 300 MB of free disk space. You may be able to get by with less, but if you are already frustrated with your machine’s performance, your experience with a high-power application like Snowball may not be a rewarding one.

Snowball” should run under the following operating systems: Windows 2000 SP3, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows ME, Windows Server 2003, the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista, and Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Where is my translation memory information stored?

By default, TM databases are stored in the following folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\<Your user name>\Application Data\Total Recall\Snowball\Databases.

There are two files for each language pair, a data file with the extension .sbd and an index file with the extension .sbi. Although the format of these is proprietary, you can export your data to industry-standard .TMX format for use in other translation memory applications (Pro version only).

Does Snowball work in Vista®?

Yes, Snowball works under Windows Vista®, and with MS-Word® 2007.

Why doesn’t Snowball have alignment, word counts, fuzzy matches, filters…?

We’re probably already working on it, but if there’s a specific function you’d like to see soon, please let us know, because we’ll definitely prioritize development of high-demand features.

Does Snowball require a connection to the Internet? Is it spyware?

Snowball is not spyware, adware, or malware. Like most software applications, Snowball needs a connection to the Internet if you want to register automatically, and if you have a firewall installed and are trying to register, you will be asked to allow Snowball to access the Internet. If you prefer you can deny Snowball access to the Internet and perform your registration manually.

We do not monitor any of your activities online or offline, for advertising or any other purposes, nor do we approve of such methods. When registering, the connection is made directly to our registration server and nowhere else, and the only information sent is a machine identification code - this is the code shown on the first page of the registration wizard.

How do I cut and paste in Snowball?

If you select (highlight) text in Snowball’s list, you can copy it by pressing Ctrl-C or cut it by pressing Ctrl-X. Similarly, if you are currently editing a list entry in Snowball (you have started overtyping, pressed F2 or slowly clicked twice on an item), you can paste by pressing Ctrl-V. If you want to copy the current highlighted source item, press Ctrl-Shift-C. To paste directly into a list item without first opening it for editing press Ctrl-Shift-V.

What happens to the contents of the Clipboard when Snowball changes my Word document?

There is no change in the Clipboard contents unless you change them yourself by pressing Ctrl-X or Ctrl-C (or Ctrl-Shift-X or Ctrl-Shift-C) while you’re working in Snowball. This means that you can cut something in your Word document, translate something using Snowball, and then paste the entry you cut without losing any information.

Why does Snowball take forever to display every time I move from one word to the next?

If you are experiencing any unreasonable delays (more than a few hundredths of a second) when working with Snowball and your computer’s performance is otherwise good, please let us know and we’ll try to solve the problem for you, although it is possible that your computer may not be up to the task, especially if you have a large database and your machine is low on resources.

How do I import my special vocabulary lists into Snowball?

Right now, Snowball can import and export TMX format only. If you’ve got your own list format and don’t know how to convert it to TMX, please let us know what you’ve got and we’ll try to work out a solution for you.

Can I use Snowball in combination with other TM programs?

There should be nothing to prevent Snowball from running in conjunction with other translation memory programs. Note, however, that Snowball currently stores its own database, and will not directly share databases (”translation memories”) with other programs. Also, Snowball only works in Microsoft Word, so nothing will happen if you try to use it when a different application (window) has the focus. Please let us know if you experience any unusual behavior.

What happened to the Snowball icon in the Taskbar? Why did Snowball stop running?

While not specifically a Snowball problem, both Windows XP® and Vista® have a tendency to deactivate some System Tray icons. Unfortunately, this Microsoft feature can also sometimes affect Snowball, which is designed primarily to run in the background, and if the Snowball icon becomes hidden or deactivated, Snowball may stop working, even though the program is still running. If this happens, you will have to start the Task Manager (right-click on the Taskbar and select Task Manager or press Ctrl-Shift-Esc), select Snowball in the Processes tab, and click End Process. Your Word document will not be affected, but your latest Snowball data may be lost. Since Microsoft did not fix this known XP problem in Vista, it is unlikely that any solution is forthcoming.

Experience Snowball

Convenient

More Productive

TMX import and export