A note about Abacus versions:

We recommend the standalone version of Abacus, Abacus SE, for Word 2003 and 2007. If you have MS Word 2003 or 2007 and wish to use this (add-in) version of Abacus, you will need to make changes to your Word security settings to allow Abacus to work. These changes are outlined in the Abacus FAQ which will be in your Abacus folder when you install Abacus. If you would rather not have to deal with these security issues, you may prefer to use the standalone version, Abacus SE.

Updates for 2009:

Tutorial on installing and starting the Abacus.

For MS Word 2003/2007, please see the Abacus FAQ section on Enabling Macros.
For an expired digital certificate, please the Abacus FAQ section on Digital Certificates.

The Abacus is an MS Word Add-In, written in the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) programming language. This means that it is custom made for MS Word, and that it runs inside Word. It will count lines in any document format that Word allows or imports (such as *.doc, *.wri, *.txt, etc.). There is no need to exit Word to count lines, or to convert Word documents to some other format for counting. Just type up your documents, run The Abacus, and let it record its findings for you. It can count your documents one at a time or all of them at once.

Download our trial version of The Abacus for MS Word free of charge! Yes, we have included some of those nagging registration messages. But if you find the program useful and would like to continue using it, you may purchase a full, unrestricted, nag-free version from us or a 3rd party for $29. After receiving your payment, we will send you the registration unlocking code. If you wish to purchase the program with your credit card, please contact one of our credit card processors: PayPal, NorthStar Solutions or RegSoft.

You can also download the bare Abacus files (without Setup) in zip format. This file contains only the Abacus program files, without the installation or uninstall utility.

Please read me!

After downloading the program's ZIPPED installation file "abacus30exe.zip", double click on it to yield the installation file, "abacus30.exe"; then double click on this file to install Abacus. You can do this from your desktop, using the Windows Explorer file management applet ("Start->Programs->Windows Explorer") or from the Start button ("Start->Run->Browse"), depending on how and where your computer downloaded the file. Then to use the Abacus, start Word and then press the Ctrl-Shift-A keys simultaneously. This will open the Abacus main screen. Before using the Abacus we highly recommend you view the operation instructions in the included file "Readme.wri".

Note: Do NOT try to open the file "Abacus30.exe" as a Word document. It is just the installation file, not the Abacus program.

Abacus Links...

Download The Abacus, version 3.0:
...as a self extracting file.
...as a zipped (then self-extracting) file.

Download and view Abacus documents:
...the Owner's Manual (in htm format), and
...our Site License Schedule (in Word doc format).

Get more Abacus help from:
...our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page, and
...the Line Counting Primer.

Our page of transcriptionists' links.