Slow Word; any tips?

[Paul Moloney]

I'm trying to edit an 1.2 MB 150-page document, with only
1 picture, in MS Word 2002 on a 1200+ Mhz machine with
1GB of memory. Working in Print Layout view is almost impossible,
since every time there is a page repagination, it takes about 2-3 minutes.
During this time, the CPU is still only at 25%-30%, and
memory is hardly used. Is Word reading/writing everything
to and from the hard drive? Can I force it to load the
document into memory, and would this help at all?

Is there anything else I can do to improve performance? Even
when I'm in Normal mode, Word will sometimes repaginate!

Thanks,

P.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I would venture to suggest that a 150-page document, with or without a
picture, should not be 1.2 MB. 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.

 

[Paul Moloney]

Hi Suzanne,

I'm guessing my problem is document corruption, which seems to be happening
a lot. Maybe I have to redo the document template entirely.... thanks,

P.