Handling large documents

[Rhino]

Is there anything I can do to make it easier to scroll within large
documents?

I have a very large document that I am trying to edit in Word. By large, I
mean 1077 pages.

I've only just loaded the document into word but I'm finding it takes a very
long time to scroll up and down with the document; I can click the up or
down arrow on the slider and go away for 10 or 15 minutes only to find the
hourglass still spinning when I come back; my document is still on its
current page and hasn't moved in the desired direction at all.

I've got 512 MB of memory and the computer is running an Athlon 1700 so it
ought to have enough horsepower; I'm guessing that it is Word which is
struggling in trying to move around within the document.

What can I do to make this a much less painful task? I don't actually have
too much editing to do but if I have to wait 15 minutes every time I try to
scroll down a page it's going to take me until retirement to get this done.

Is there anything in the Options that will help with this?

Should I break the document down into smaller chunks, say 50 pages each, and
then link the chunks into a single larger document? (I'm assuming that is
possible in Word; if it isn't, please correct me.)

I still want to be able to see the whole document as one continuous "book"
if at all possible.

--
Rhino
---
rhino1 AT sympatico DOT ca
"There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it
so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to
make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies." - C.A.R.
Hoare

 

[Mike Seddon]

You might like to try reposting this to

microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs

What version of Word are you running?
Does it do this with all documents of this size?

I have an older machine of a similar spec to your and while it would
be slow it is not nearly as bad as yours sounds.

Cheers
Mike

Is there anything I can do to make it easier to scroll within large
documents?

I have a very large document that I am trying to edit in Word. By large, I
mean 1077 pages.

I've only just loaded the document into word but I'm finding it takes a very
long time to scroll up and down with the document; I can click the up or
down arrow on the slider and go away for 10 or 15 minutes only to find the
hourglass still spinning when I come back; my document is still on its
current page and hasn't moved in the desired direction at all.

I've got 512 MB of memory and the computer is running an Athlon 1700 so it
ought to have enough horsepower; I'm guessing that it is Word which is
struggling in trying to move around within the document.

What can I do to make this a much less painful task? I don't actually have
too much editing to do but if I have to wait 15 minutes every time I try to
scroll down a page it's going to take me until retirement to get this done.

Is there anything in the Options that will help with this?

Should I break the document down into smaller chunks, say 50 pages each, and
then link the chunks into a single larger document? (I'm assuming that is
possible in Word; if it isn't, please correct me.)

I still want to be able to see the whole document as one continuous "book"
if at all possible.

DocTidy.

The FIRST and ONLY automatic document formatting fixing tool for Microsoft Word.
Try it for free
http://www.kutchka.com/products/doctidyhome.asp

 

[Rhino]

You might like to try reposting this to

microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs

Thanks for the suggestion; I didn't realize there was a newsgroup
specializing in long documents!

What version of Word are you running?

Word 2002 on Windows XP Pro (SP2).

Does it do this with all documents of this size?

I don't know; this is the first time I've tried anything longer than three
pages I'm new to Word.

I have an older machine of a similar spec to your and while it would
be slow it is not nearly as bad as yours sounds.

The machine works fine for everything else I do so that has me wondering if
Word is prone to having problems with larger documents like the one I'm
working with now.

 

[PopS]

Try breaking the file up into separate documents for editing,
each logically named so you can easily reassemble it, of course.

First, BACK UP the original file, TWICE, to TWO different places,
with TWO different names!. Then add "Editing-your_filename" to
the names on the version/s you are working on. Or some similar
system to keep things straight.

My similar but a little faster system easily but not quickly can
handle 500+ pages, so your idea to break up the file is a good
one, IMO.
I'd start with 500 for a page size unless you have heavy
graphics.
If there are a lot of graphics (in bytes size, not quantity),
you might have to drop to 300 pages each or less, depending.
Start high and work from there. Whichever section has the most
graphics will be the slowest, so might have to be the smallest.

Obviously you'll have to rebuild your toc, index, etc. after you
break it up.
WORK ONLY WITH COPIES, NOT ONE OF THE BACKUPS! Best to Rename
the backups so you don't accidentally open them while you're
editing/breaking things up.

If when you break it up into separate files, if one still seems
terribly sluggish for no good reason, try deleting the very LAST
paragaph mark at the bottom of the file, and Save it to see if
that straightens it out. ONLY the LAST paragraph mark, no
others.

In case you discover Master Documents, do NOT use them except as
a VERY LAST resort. As a newbie, there is an excellent chance
you will damage the document beyond repair by using Master
Document mode: It's buggy in EVERY version of Word.

IFF you've used Headings liberally and know how to use View,
Outline Mode, that can help a lot, and -might-, not -will-, keep
you from breaking the document into pieces.

Whatever you do, back that sucker up TWO times, to files with
slighty different names so you don't accidentally use one of the
backups. It's also a good idea to use a new name for the
versions you're editing, too, like adding "editing" or someting
to its name. Just keep track of it all. <g>

Pop




: You might like to try reposting this to
:
: microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs
:
: What version of Word are you running?
: Does it do this with all documents of this size?
:
: I have an older machine of a similar spec to your and while it
would
: be slow it is not nearly as bad as yours sounds.
:
: Cheers
: Mike
:
:
:
: On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 15:52:51 -0500, "Rhino"
:
: >Is there anything I can do to make it easier to scroll within
large
: >documents?
: >
: >I have a very large document that I am trying to edit in Word.
By large, I
: >mean 1077 pages.
: >
: >I've only just loaded the document into word but I'm finding
it takes a very
: >long time to scroll up and down with the document; I can click
the up or
: >down arrow on the slider and go away for 10 or 15 minutes only
to find the
: >hourglass still spinning when I come back; my document is
still on its
: >current page and hasn't moved in the desired direction at all.
: >
: >I've got 512 MB of memory and the computer is running an
Athlon 1700 so it
: >ought to have enough horsepower; I'm guessing that it is Word
which is
: >struggling in trying to move around within the document.
: >
: >What can I do to make this a much less painful task? I don't
actually have
: >too much editing to do but if I have to wait 15 minutes every
time I try to
: >scroll down a page it's going to take me until retirement to
get this done.
: >
: >Is there anything in the Options that will help with this?
: >
: >Should I break the document down into smaller chunks, say 50
pages each, and
: >then link the chunks into a single larger document? (I'm
assuming that is
: >possible in Word; if it isn't, please correct me.)
: >
: >I still want to be able to see the whole document as one
continuous "book"
: >if at all possible.
: DocTidy.
:
: The FIRST and ONLY automatic document formatting fixing tool
for Microsoft Word.
: Try it for free
: http://www.kutchka.com/products/doctidyhome.asp

 

[Rhino]

Okay, thanks for the suggestions, Pop!

--
Rhino

Try breaking the file up into separate documents for editing,
each logically named so you can easily reassemble it, of course.

First, BACK UP the original file, TWICE, to TWO different places,
with TWO different names!. Then add "Editing-your_filename" to
the names on the version/s you are working on. Or some similar
system to keep things straight.

My similar but a little faster system easily but not quickly can
handle 500+ pages, so your idea to break up the file is a good
one, IMO.
I'd start with 500 for a page size unless you have heavy
graphics.
If there are a lot of graphics (in bytes size, not quantity),
you might have to drop to 300 pages each or less, depending.
Start high and work from there. Whichever section has the most
graphics will be the slowest, so might have to be the smallest.

Obviously you'll have to rebuild your toc, index, etc. after you
break it up.
WORK ONLY WITH COPIES, NOT ONE OF THE BACKUPS! Best to Rename
the backups so you don't accidentally open them while you're
editing/breaking things up.

If when you break it up into separate files, if one still seems
terribly sluggish for no good reason, try deleting the very LAST
paragaph mark at the bottom of the file, and Save it to see if
that straightens it out. ONLY the LAST paragraph mark, no
others.

In case you discover Master Documents, do NOT use them except as
a VERY LAST resort. As a newbie, there is an excellent chance
you will damage the document beyond repair by using Master
Document mode: It's buggy in EVERY version of Word.

IFF you've used Headings liberally and know how to use View,
Outline Mode, that can help a lot, and -might-, not -will-, keep
you from breaking the document into pieces.

Whatever you do, back that sucker up TWO times, to files with
slighty different names so you don't accidentally use one of the
backups. It's also a good idea to use a new name for the
versions you're editing, too, like adding "editing" or someting
to its name. Just keep track of it all. <g>

Pop




: You might like to try reposting this to
:
: microsoft.public.word.formatting.longdocs
:
: What version of Word are you running?
: Does it do this with all documents of this size?
:
: I have an older machine of a similar spec to your and while it
would
: be slow it is not nearly as bad as yours sounds.
:
: Cheers
: Mike
:
:
:
: On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 15:52:51 -0500, "Rhino"
:
: >Is there anything I can do to make it easier to scroll within
large
: >documents?
: >
: >I have a very large document that I am trying to edit in Word.
By large, I
: >mean 1077 pages.
: >
: >I've only just loaded the document into word but I'm finding
it takes a very
: >long time to scroll up and down with the document; I can click
the up or
: >down arrow on the slider and go away for 10 or 15 minutes only
to find the
: >hourglass still spinning when I come back; my document is
still on its
: >current page and hasn't moved in the desired direction at all.
: >
: >I've got 512 MB of memory and the computer is running an
Athlon 1700 so it
: >ought to have enough horsepower; I'm guessing that it is Word
which is
: >struggling in trying to move around within the document.
: >
: >What can I do to make this a much less painful task? I don't
actually have
: >too much editing to do but if I have to wait 15 minutes every
time I try to
: >scroll down a page it's going to take me until retirement to
get this done.
: >
: >Is there anything in the Options that will help with this?
: >
: >Should I break the document down into smaller chunks, say 50
pages each, and
: >then link the chunks into a single larger document? (I'm
assuming that is
: >possible in Word; if it isn't, please correct me.)
: >
: >I still want to be able to see the whole document as one
continuous "book"
: >if at all possible.
: DocTidy.
:
: The FIRST and ONLY automatic document formatting fixing tool
for Microsoft Word.
: Try it for free
: http://www.kutchka.com/products/doctidyhome.asp