Slow down in track changes on WORD 2007

[kph]

Whenever I operate under the review tab, I have typing slow down. Most of
the time the delay is of the half-second type (that is, I type and a
half-second--give or take nano time one way or the other--my typing appears),
but sometimes I have to wait up to 1-3 seconds for my typing to appear in a
comment box or in the document section of the paper. Since a large part of
my Word activity involves reviewing and making comments on others documents,
this is extremely bothersome.

As I noted I am using WORD 2007. I am not using any add-ins such as
EndNote. I am using track changes in the print layout view. I am displaying
change/comment balloons ("show revisions in balloons"). This is the entire
reason I use Word for reviewing other's documents. I do not use the
"reviewers pane." I store the documents on my local drive. I have the same
problem when starting in safe mode. I have service pack 1 for office
installed. I do not have this problem if I am not tracking changes or adding
comments. It is this feature which causes the slow down. I run this on a
system with 4 gigs of RAM and an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU @ 2.4 Ghrz.

Is there something I can do? Is there a solution or has MS addressed this
problem?

 

[Aeneas]

All of our computers running Word 2007 (2-4 gb of memory; dual core chips)
have the same problem when both of the following conditions are met: (1)
track changes is turned on and (2) the Review tab is selected. The problem
disappears on all computers when any tab other than the Review tab is
selected. Who knows why? Hope it works for you.

 

[kph]

Since I don't have the slow down unless I am in the review tab, I was forced
to find the keyboard shortcuts and stay out of the review tab: (CTRL+SHFT+E)
to turn on track changes and (ALT+CTRL+M) to add a comment. This, although,
is somewhat unsatisfiying as a solution; I'm left feeling as if I "duct
taped" a leak rather than fixing it. My sentiment is that if I am reviewing
a document, I ought to be able to do so under the tab which was designed for
that function. Perhaps if I were using freeware or shareware I would not
feel this way, but Microsoft Word is not exactly one of these.

 

[John Hanley]

I am far from an expert, but to educate myself I created a Word 2007
document and did some typing with the Review tab open and with Track Changes
turned on, etc. Cannot reproduce your problem, typing seems normal.
Perhaps there is another factor involved? You might try Googling for the
problem...

 

[Aeneas]

I can assure you that the problem is reproducible. I just can't figure out
why it happens on some computers and not on others; I've located one computer
on the same network with nearly identical hardware and software where this
problem is not reproducible.

As soon as you select the Review tab, CPU usage spikes in all cases when
you start typing; this doesn't happen when another tab is selected
This happens even if you start Word in safe mode (hold down CTRL when
starting Word and confirm)
This happens with no add-ins of any sort active
This happens with files saved on a local drive or on a network drive
This happens whether or not the computer is connected to a network
This happens whether or not balloons are turned on when track changes is
turned on
This happens regardless of what view is selected for track changes
This happens even if tracked changes is not turned on (contrary to my
statement in a previous post)
This happens even if the document is newly created, contains nothing but text
This happens regardless of what view (Print Layout, Draft, etc.) is selected
This happens even after Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 installed
This happens whether document is saved in .doc or in .docx format
This happens when McAfee firewall, AV, etc. is installed and even when all
its features are turned off
This happens with Vista – all updates installed
I've turned on and off dozens of Word options and I cannot make it
stop.

Any suggestions from anyone would be appreciated.

 

[kph]

I am pleased that in your case, John, you do not have the same problem. I,
however, just to reproduce a similar experiment, opened a blank document and
typed. Under the "home" tab, I have no problems. Under the review tab,
whether I have track changes on or off, I experience a slight delay from type
to appearance. I can switch to "home" and the delay disappears. Granted the
delay is primarily in the "half-second" class, but when I have to type 30
plus comments, and make various suggested changes througout a document, and
wait for my own typing to catch up in order to make sure that I did not
mistype something myself, the delay becomes extremely annoying. And if I
happen to mistype, I have to again wait through the delay as I delete my
typing in a comment box. With one or two comments this delay is nothing, but
over a long document with 30 plus comments, this actually can be a
significant delay, and then over a week with 50 or more such documents, it
becomes ridiculously inefficient. So, I will have to live with the somewhat
unsatisfying solution of using keyboard shortcuts to avoid using a tab that
was seemingly created to do exactly what I do: review documents.

 

[Aeneas]

I have eliminated the problem but you probably will be no more enthusiastic
about the answer than I am. I installed P. Schmid's RibbonCustomizer
(pschmid.net) (not the free version). After some experimentation, I
determined that the existence of the Protect group on the Review tab is the
culprit. I simply removed the Protect group from the Review tab. The problem
went away. Good luck!

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Aeneas,

Unusually odd, even for Word

Does it only happen on Vista machines? I wasn't able to duplicate the slow down in the review tab with tracked changes on in a
Windows XP in an Admin account. Using an AMD single CPU, not 64bit OS.

Are you using any restrictions on style use or other input within the document?

==================
I have eliminated the problem but you probably will be no more enthusiastic
about the answer than I am. I installed P. Schmid's RibbonCustomizer
(pschmid.net) (not the free version). After some experimentation, I
determined that the existence of the Protect group on the Review tab is the
culprit. I simply removed the Protect group from the Review tab. The problem
went away. Good luck! >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Aeneas]

There were no restrictions of any sort on any document affected.

Using a virginal Normal template, I can recreate the problem using, say
=rand(10,2) ENTER, clicking the Review tab and typing.

Unfortunately, all machines running Word 2007 are Vista machines (our XP
machines are still running Word 2003).

Moreover, if I delete the Protect group from the Review tab (Schmid's
add-in), add a tab with only the Protect group on it, select that tab and
start typing, the high cpu utilization and the "slow typing" occur. If I open
the Protect Document dialog box and switch to the Home tab, Insert tab, etc.,
the "slow typing" does not occur. It has to have something to do with the way
the Protect group interacts with something. I just don't know what it is.

I realize there's no way you can help if you can't reproduce the problem. If
you read back through my previous post, you can see I've taken all sorts of
measures and cannot stop it unless I remove the Protect group. The "slow
typing" is annoying even on a machine with 4 gigs of memory and an extremely
fast chip.

Hopefully, some time in the future you'll find an answer that doesn't
involve P. Schmid's add-in; I know others have had the same problem.

 

[Aeneas]

Failed to mention -- there were not restrictions whatsoever on styles or
anything else in the Restrict tab of the Manage Styles dialog box.

 

[Aeneas]

It should also be noted that the same problem re "slow typing" occurs when
the Developer tab is selected and disappears when the Protect group is
removed from the Developer tab.

This clearly has nothing to do with whether or not track changes is turned on.

 

[kph]

In addition to the wonderful input of Aeneas, I have noticed that if I
minimize the ribbon I do not have the slowdown. I have been able to
reproduce this problem on a Vista machine (listed previously in this post),
and one of two XP machines (On a 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 with 2 gigs of RAM
running XP, I have the slow down; on a notebook Intel Centrino Duo 1.83 GHz
with 1 gig of RAM, I do not have the slow down). Why it occurs on one of my
XP machines, but not the other, I do not know. And though somewhat
unsatisfactory as solutions go (the use of keyboard shortcuts to avoid the
review tab, the removal of the protect group, or the minimization of the
ribbon), these at least offer temporary reprieve of the frustrating slow down.

 

[Aeneas]

Thanks. I confirm that minimizing the Ribbon with either the Review tab or
the Developer tab selected eliminates the problem. Good luck!

 

[Fritz]

One work around that seems to be pretty efficient is to minimize the ribbon.
You can still access the review tools by typing alt, r (or any other set of
tools by typing the appropriate Alt, key combo. After you have used the tool
you want, the ribbon then minimizes automatically. This not only solves the
problem with slow typing, but gives you a bit more real estate on the screen.

You can minimize the ribbon by right clicking on the tool bar and choosing
"minimize ribbon." Or you can type ctrl+f1 with the same result. This is a
toggle.

I have just discovered this and have not tested it extensively, but it seems
to work very nicely and with the advantage of not having to customize
anything.

 

[grammatim]

Or doubleclick on any of the tabs.

 

[Fritz]

When I double click on the ribbon it seems to open it again "permanently."
That is the ribbon stays open when you go back into the document and you are
faced with the slow typing problem in the review pane.

Whereas if you type the alt + key combo or use ctrl+f1, the ribbon closes
automatically once your cursor is back in the document.

Again, I haven't tested this extensively, so I may be missing something.

 

[gochief]

I have exactly this same problem on my Sony Viao running Vista and Word 2007.
The cursor becomes irritatingly slow when Track Changes is turn on and the
ribbon is up (i.e., not minimized), but speeds up again when the ribbon is
minimized. These work arounds are inconvenient, but I guess that's all we
can do.