Increase in file size from Word 97 to Word 2003

[Newmanart]

I took a Word 97 document, about 600k file with graphics and tables and
styles that we use at my company and put it on a floppy disk to take home for
a simple test to see what affect if any it would have opening it in Word
2003. I wanted to see what would happen when I bought it back to work and
opened it in Word 97, since there are some areas at work that will not be
converting to Word 2003. I added 3 spaces to the document and tried to save
it back to floppy. There was not enough space on the floppy to save the
document back on the floppy so I put it on my hard drive to see how big the
file was. With just adding the spaces into the document it grew to over 3M.
I didn't have much time last night to go through all the setup options to see
if there were any setting I could change, but I will be doing more testing at
home with this document. Has anyone else seen this increase in size when
working with Word 2003? If you have is there a way to keep the file size
down. If not this is going to increase the amount of space we will need on
our servers by 2-4 times. Please respond if you know of a solution.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

First, a caveat: don't ever try to save a Word doc directly to a floppy or
use one directly from the floppy. Word creates a number of temporary files
when you open a document, and these can quickly fill a floppy. Always work
with the file on the HD, then copy to the floppy.

That said, there are a number of reasons for excessive file size, including:

1. Fast Saves: Disable this at on the Save tab of Tools | Options.

2. Preview Picture: Clear the check box on the Summary tab of File |
Properties.

3. Versions (File | Versions): Make sure "Automatically save version on
close" is not turned on.

4. Revisions (Tools | Track Changes):
Highlight Changes: Make sure "Highlight changes on screen" is turned on.
Accept/Reject Changes: If "Accept All" or "Reject All" is available then
revisions are present; accept or reject all changes, then turn Track Changes
off.

5. Embedded True Type fonts (Tools | Options | Save); embedding fonts should
be avoided wherever possible.

6. Embedded graphics: When feasible, it is preferable to link the graphics.

7. Document corruption: See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.

 

[art]

I do apprciate all the information, I do have my setting as you have stated.
As I become more use to the 2003 version I notice that it seems to be the
tables that mostly increased in file size. Larger tables (more than a couple
of pages big) do seem to slow down my computer and increase the file size the
most. It doesnt sound like you have this problem.