CPU at 100% in MS Word 2003 with any/no document open

[Barry]

I just had installed Office 2003 and now Word takes the CPU to 100% by
simply launching the application with a blank document. Other
applications appear to be not effected but I can hear the cooling fan
on the CPU speeding up to compansate for the increase CPU activity.
Other office applications do not show the same effect. Install
details are: Word 2003 (11.6359.6360) SP1. Operating system is
Windows 2000, 5.00.2195, Service Pack 4. Any suggestions?

 

[garfield-n-odie]

Hi, Barry. See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProbsOpeningWord.htm.

 

[Barry]

Thanks for the FAQs and from this, I found a visio... dot file in the
\office\startup folder which was causing my initial headaches. But
now and then the problem returns. I can have a large word doc open
and no problem. Then start messing around with the formatting and
scrolling up and down and the cpu jumps to 100% and stays there. By
closing and re-opening the problem goes away but I have to shut down
Word completely, not just close the doc.

Now here may be a clue... Today, I discovered one document that jumps
the cpu to 100% every time. When I close this doc, it asks me "Do you
want to save the changes to CONTROL2.DOT?" So far, I've always
responded with NO. But nowhere on the web or news groups can I learn
what the CONTROL2.DOT file is.

Barry

 

[garfield-n-odie]

I don't recognize the CONTROL2.DOT name either. I'm guessing it is a
custom template that the creator of the document attached to provide
styles and/or macros and/or toolbars. Try making a copy of the file,
then open the copy and click on Tools | Templates and Addins, remove the
CONTROL2.DOT template from the list of installed templates, save and
close the file, and reopen the file. Is anything messed up or missing?
Does the document continue to cause Word to stop responding? Another
thing you can try is to click on Tools | Templates and Addins |
Organizer, and see what the CONTROL2.DOT template contains.

 

[Beth Melton]

If Control.dot is a global template it can not be removed via
Tools/Templates and Add-ins. It can be disabled for that Word session
but the next time Word starts the template will be loaded again. If it
is a global template then the "Remove" command will be disabled in the
Templates and Add-ins dialog box.

If that case the global template is placed in one of the startup
folders. The location of the Word Startup folder can be obtained by
going to Tools/Options/File Locations. The Office/Startup folder is
located in the installation path for Office. You can also use Windows
Search to find the template.

Once found move it out of the folder to prevent it from loading when
Word starts.

Additionally, considering the prompt to save Control.dot it makes me
think it is the template the document was based on. This can also be
determined in the Templates and Add-ins dialog box. Take a look at the
"Document template" text box at the top. If you see Control.dot there
then delete it. Word will then use Normal.dot instead.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Barry]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and your ideas lead me down the
right direction to find the cause. It turns out that one of my
network printer drivers was causing the cpu to jump to 100%. This was
a printer that was retired a long time ago and I hadn't bothered to
delete the driver on my printer control panel. This didn't seem to
matter until I was upgraded to Office 2003 (from '97). How I
discovered this was that the 100% cpu problem did not occur when I
opened the "effected" document when not connected to the network.
This rang a bell in my head that the suggested FAQ list said something
about print drivers. I deleted the retired printer driver and problem
solved.

Regarding the control2.dot issue, this had nothing to do with the 100%
cpu problem. But checking out the Tools |Templates and Add-ins... I
found that Control2.dot was the selected template for the document. I
changed this to the "normal.dot" templated and the "save control2.dot
.... " question went away. It's a mystery how the control2.dot
template got selected in the first place. What the control2.dot
template is for, the best I can figure is that it is for the Control
Box tools since the control box tool bar would occationally pop up on
the screen

What brave new worlds we live in...

Barry

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Glad you got that all sorted. Good detective work!