Search Feature Freezes

[BPB]

I have a 135-page document. I and other users are using Word 2007, but we
save the doc as a Word 2003 file.
We seem to be able to search for everything without problems, except for the
three letters "fec" (for Forward Error Correction). This search causes the
doc to freeze, and the search to generate endlessly – but there are some
oddities:
- The search runs fine until the middle of page 18, then freezes.
- If you stop the search at the last successful Find (at the top of page
18), then skip down to the end of page 27, you can continue the search
without problems. (The doc is a collection of tables built from a template
that’s been used many times, with no known differences in the content or
structures in this section.)
- When this section (pg 18 – 27) is removed, there are no problems. When
this section is put into a new doc by itself, the search freezes.
- The freeze only occurs when you search Down or All. When searching Up,
there is no issue.
- The freeze only occurs when searching for “fec†(small case). When
searching for “FEC†(upper case) with “Match case†selected, there are no
problems.

I can certainly re-create the problematic text elsewhere and insert it into
the original document. But in case we find another word that causes the same
problem . . . any suggestions?

 

[finalword]

If there are tables in this "bad" section, you could try converting the
tables to text, changing the style formatting to normal, and then converting
the text back to a table.

Also, you could have a bad section break or two in this area causing the
problem. You can see section breaks best in Normal or Draft view. You could
try deleting the section breaks and then add them back in. WARNING...your
headers and footers may get screwed up a little if you remove the section
breaks.

 

[BPB]

Using the process of elimination, I discovered that one empty paragraph was
the culprit. When I deleted it, all was well. I still don't know why it was a
problem. I tried searching in Draft view as you suggested (doesn't seem to be
a Normal view in 2007), but nothing showed up. I even tried converting to an
unfiltered .htm format to look at the Source view, but the problem didn't
occur in that format. So no clear solution, but at least a workaround: track
it down and wipe it out .
Thanks for the suggestions!