Long delay opening word.docs sent from just ONE person

[JustSomeGuy]

Several of us in our Texas office are finding that the Word.docs emailed to
us from a fellow employee in another state, and saved to our server, take
exactly a minute and a half to open.

However, it only happens with that one field employee's files. No error
messages; Word just goes dead with a static hourglass for 90 seconds, then
his files open up OK.

Re-saving them to other locations - server, desktop, etc. - makes no
difference.

Doesn't seem to be a mapped drive problem; any suggestions welcome

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Do the files have "Automatically update document styles" checked in "Tools |
Templates and Add-ins"? That might cause Word to futilely attempt to locate
the template.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Suzanne, You are definitely on the right track:

1. I created and sent him a .dot file to use in generatiing .docs to send
back to me.
2. He double clicked on the .dot file and generated a file.
3. He sent the file to me.
4. When it arrived, I opened it....it took 1.5 minutes to open.
5. When it finally opened, in Tools/Templates and Add-ins, "automatically
update document styles' was NOT checked. But the template that was used to
create the document, was showing in the "Document Template" box.

If I clear that template entry, and save the file with a new name, the new
file opens immediately.

I thought any file, when it arrives on a person's PC, takes on the user's
NORMAL.DOT template, rather than remembering the path and name of the
template that was used to create it. Why is this person's document
arriving with its original template still specified, rather than just using
my normal.dot template? Does it follow that the 1.5 minute delay is Word,
timing out in a misguided attempt to find the original template

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Forgot to add one point....the template entry that appears in the
Tools/Templates and Add Ins dialog for the problem file, shows the remote
user's server path to HIS copy of the template I sent him....obviously if I
try to open a document in Texas and the path to the template, embedded in
this dialog, is actually a path to a server in Seattle, it's going to take
Word 1.5 minutes to time out in a futile attempt to find the template. The
question is, how to make the remote user's PC stop embedding HIS template
path and filename in all the docs he sends to us.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It does seem odd that only one file (or files from one source) would behave
this way. After all, it can't be that *everyone* else who sends you
documents is basing them on Normal.dot. <g> I do know that Word will search
a lot longer if you're connected to a network than not, but I don't know why
this would be a problem just with a specific document/user.

It seems to me that there is some workaround for this, but unfortunately I
don't recall what it is.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

well, at least in the short term I at least know how to repair any such
files. Thanks for getting me at least near the solution.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

It appears there's a bug in Word regarding opening docs based on network
templates. It seems as though any doc spawned from a networked template may
retain its link to that template even if emailed to someone else, so that
when the recip opens it, Word goes looking for the sender's template, causing
a long delay. It may be the cause of this problem; the fix is actually to
install Service Pack 2 on Windows XP.