"Running Virus Scan..." question: McAfee the problem?

[Will]

I recognize this question has been asked before, but I am still having
trouble with Word 2003 hanging when I open documents or start a new one. I
have McAfee Security Center installed and running. I get the "running virus
scan..." message whenever I start Word or open a document, and as a result it
hangs for a few seconds.

I have tried the following:
-Disable automatic scanning in McAfee
-Disable macro scanning in Word

I cannot find any option in McAfee that would allow me to disable a
Microsoft Office/Word plug-in. I do have Adobe PDF and EndNote add-ins
installed, but I cannot figure out how to disable/uninstall these. These may
be the problem.

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Beth Melton]

I'd say it's the EndNote add-in. It uses an older add-in file type, one with
a *.wll file extension that is known to trigger the behavior you describe.
It's not actually scanning for viruses, they are using the virus scanning
engine to check for macros but since it uses the virus scanning engine, you
see "running virus scan".

To remove the add-in, exit Word and check your Office\Startup folder in the
Office installation path and your Word Startup folder. The location for your
Word Startup folder can be found by going to Tools/Options/File Locations.
If the EndNote add-in is found, move it out of the folder to prevent it from
loading when Word starts. You can also use Windows Search and search for
*.wll to locate the file.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[Will]

Seems to have worked like a charm. Thanks!!

I'd say it's the EndNote add-in. It uses an older add-in file type, one with
a *.wll file extension that is known to trigger the behavior you describe.
It's not actually scanning for viruses, they are using the virus scanning
engine to check for macros but since it uses the virus scanning engine, you
see "running virus scan".

To remove the add-in, exit Word and check your Office\Startup folder in the
Office installation path and your Word Startup folder. The location for your
Word Startup folder can be found by going to Tools/Options/File Locations.
If the EndNote add-in is found, move it out of the folder to prevent it from
loading when Word starts. You can also use Windows Search and search for
*.wll to locate the file.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[Beth Melton]

Glad to hear it worked for you. Thanks for letting us know.

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

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

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

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

 

[Marko]

Hi Beth,

I am getting a similar hanging problem with Word 2007, which also has addins
for Adobe and EndNote. My machine is running Vista Business SP1.
Occasionally, not all the time, I will open up a Word document, and it will
hang for long periods, of up to 5 minutes with the text, "running virus
scan" at the bottom of the word window, and evidently, analysing the Word
template underlying the document. Both of the add-ins are very useful to my
report writing etc, so wasn't keen to permanenatly disable these. If I move
these add-ins will they still work ?

Sometimes Word will hang for long periods for no apparent reason, when I try
to exit. Possibly its related to the same problem?