Window resize + display bug

[Getevla]

I'm experiencing two very irritating bugs with Word 2004:

1) I often can't resize the window. Sometimes clicking on "+", i.e. the
resize button, works, but not always.

2) When scrolling through a document it often does not display properly


The resize bug reveals it's ugly head when opening an old document.
Instead of the document being displayed using the entire document
window a large blank space is left at the bottom

The scrolling bug makes the text unreadable. The same line is repeated
over and over again. Sometimes selecting the text will reveals what's
really there, but even that does not always help.

These two bugs make Office 2004 a real stinker. If I wasn't forced to
use Office occasionally I'd stick to TeXShop...

I'm using Mac OS X 10.4.3 and the latest Office update on a PowerBook
G4, but I've experienced these with earlier versions of Mac OS X and
with Office v.X

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

#2 is a known issue--the screen refresh has issues and they are maddening.
Usually, Page Up Page Down or the reverse order will jack the text back into
place.

Re #1--I'm not understanding you. In fact, you seem to be saying two
different things. Can you explain again?

The only thing I can think of is that my old documents all open up using
just a fraction of the screen because they were created on a different
computer with a different resolution, but text fills the entire document
window for that document.

How old are these documents? What version of Word?

I'm experiencing two very irritating bugs with Word 2004:

1) I often can't resize the window. Sometimes clicking on "+", i.e. the
resize button, works, but not always.

 

[Getevla]

What happens is that Word seems to be confused as to where the document
window ends. The part that displays the document text ends an inch or
so above the bottom of the document window. It's like someone took a
graphic program and pasted in a white space instead of the thin line
between the document text and the horisontal scroll bar.

The bug seems to be of a random kind, sometimes it happens and
sometimes not, and I haven't found a foolproof recipe for making this
strange thing happen

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Is it possible that you're switching between Normal View and Page Layout
View? In the former, there should be no blank space between the bottom of
the text and the bottom of the window; but in the latter, there is. This is
because Page Layout View shows the document's margins (and Header/Footer
areas) while Normal View doesn't.

Word will automatically switch to Page Layout View when a document has
floating graphic elements (graphics which have text wrapped around them, for
instance); otherwise, in Normal view, these graphics won't display. Perhaps
this is what you're seeing? To find out, click on the View menu when you
see the blank space. If the check mark is next to Page Layout, that's
what's happening.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
(If using Safari, hit Refresh once or twice ­ or use another browser.)
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Getevla]

I understand your thinking but this is not it. In the page layout view,
the area outside the page should be blue, but in my case even that area
is white.

I'm beginning to suspect, however, that this bug has something to do
with using multiple screens. I frequently use an external screen, i.e.
a 17 inch flat screen at my desk or various video projectors when I
give lectures. A possible explanation is that the bug appears when the
updating frequency is not adjusted properly to the screen used. Perhaps
Word makes an investigation on its own as to what kind of screen is
being used and then gets confused if the system has not really realised
what's going on.

Next time the bug appears I'll try "search for screens" and possibly
also changing the updating frequency manually to see what happens.

PS
the other bug, which apparently was well known is a real stinker, since
the counter measure (going up and down in the text) you described not
always work. E.g. if the text is short or if one is close to the end of
the text one might have to move up and down, resize the window a few
times, before it is possible to read the text. Not especially
convenient if one has to read many reports from students...

I must say I was really surprised when I had installed the 2004 version
that bug was STILL there.
DS

PS 2
There is of course another workaround, a workaround that often works
also when word accidently corrupts files: Open document in NeoOffice
and resave... Care should be taken if special Word features are used:
Many but not all features are present in NeoOffice.
DS

 

[Elliott Roper]

I understand your thinking but this is not it. In the page layout view,
the area outside the page should be blue, but in my case even that area
is white.

I'm beginning to suspect, however, that this bug has something to do
with using multiple screens. I frequently use an external screen, i.e.
a 17 inch flat screen at my desk or various video projectors when I
give lectures. A possible explanation is that the bug appears when the
updating frequency is not adjusted properly to the screen used. Perhaps
Word makes an investigation on its own as to what kind of screen is
being used and then gets confused if the system has not really realised
what's going on.

Google the group. You are not the only person to report this error, and
it does seem to be related to multiple screens.

Next time the bug appears I'll try "search for screens" and possibly
also changing the updating frequency manually to see what happens.

I suspect it is screen size, or the difference in size between the two
screens. The bigger the screen and the bigger the difference between
them, the more often the bug is reported. ( small sample size. Beware)

PS
the other bug, which apparently was well known is a real stinker, since
the counter measure (going up and down in the text) you described not
always work. E.g. if the text is short or if one is close to the end of
the text one might have to move up and down, resize the window a few
times, before it is possible to read the text. Not especially
convenient if one has to read many reports from students...

I must say I was really surprised when I had installed the 2004 version
that bug was STILL there.

Me too. I use two screens, 1024*768 and 1280*1024 and have never seen
your first bug {1], but this one gets me once every few days. I'm
usually in page view, with zoom-> page width. A couple of page ups,
then page downs is usually enough to fix it. I guess if you have a few
hundred one or two page documents from students, page up then down is
not always helpful.

1. I wonder if differing screen *shapes* is more likely to bring it on?
F'rinstance, both mine are 4:3 and I don't get hit by it.

Does anybody get the half-drawn screen problem with fewer than 2
screens?
What about with all screens being the same aspect ratio?

 

[Clive Huggan]

Elliott,

I may have mentioned this before, but maybe the extra detail in response to
your queries will help: I connect my 17" PowerBook (but only before I boot)
to a current wide-screen 20" Apple LCD display, or to a [much better for
Word documents] deeper 20" Apple display about 2 years old. I don't see
this problem, so in *not* having the problem different aspect ratios don't
influence things.

I operate in Normal view, occasionally jumping into and out of Page Layout
view (by keyboard shortcut) to force repagination or whatever. I change
zoom values now and again ­ usually to 125%, 130% or 150%, the first via
macro, the other 2 by clicking in the zoom button on the toolbar and typing
the new value.

Hope this might help ­ though I suspect it won't.

Cheers,

Clive
[Brizzie Airport, big tropical storm delaying flight, glad to be on the
ground] :-\
======

I understand your thinking but this is not it. In the page layout view,
the area outside the page should be blue, but in my case even that area
is white.

I'm beginning to suspect, however, that this bug has something to do
with using multiple screens. I frequently use an external screen, i.e.
a 17 inch flat screen at my desk or various video projectors when I
give lectures. A possible explanation is that the bug appears when the
updating frequency is not adjusted properly to the screen used. Perhaps
Word makes an investigation on its own as to what kind of screen is
being used and then gets confused if the system has not really realised
what's going on.

Google the group. You are not the only person to report this error, and
it does seem to be related to multiple screens.

Next time the bug appears I'll try "search for screens" and possibly
also changing the updating frequency manually to see what happens.

I suspect it is screen size, or the difference in size between the two
screens. The bigger the screen and the bigger the difference between
them, the more often the bug is reported. ( small sample size. Beware)

PS
the other bug, which apparently was well known is a real stinker, since
the counter measure (going up and down in the text) you described not
always work. E.g. if the text is short or if one is close to the end of
the text one might have to move up and down, resize the window a few
times, before it is possible to read the text. Not especially
convenient if one has to read many reports from students...

I must say I was really surprised when I had installed the 2004 version
that bug was STILL there.

Me too. I use two screens, 1024*768 and 1280*1024 and have never seen
your first bug {1], but this one gets me once every few days. I'm
usually in page view, with zoom-> page width. A couple of page ups,
then page downs is usually enough to fix it. I guess if you have a few
hundred one or two page documents from students, page up then down is
not always helpful.

1. I wonder if differing screen *shapes* is more likely to bring it on?
F'rinstance, both mine are 4:3 and I don't get hit by it.

Does anybody get the half-drawn screen problem with fewer than 2
screens?
What about with all screens being the same aspect ratio?

 

[Elliott Roper]

Elliott,

I may have mentioned this before, but maybe the extra detail in response to
your queries will help: I connect my 17" PowerBook (but only before I boot)
to a current wide-screen 20" Apple LCD display, or to a [much better for
Word documents] deeper 20" Apple display about 2 years old. I don't see
this problem, so in *not* having the problem different aspect ratios don't
influence things.

I operate in Normal view, occasionally jumping into and out of Page Layout
view (by keyboard shortcut) to force repagination or whatever. I change
zoom values now and again ­ usually to 125%, 130% or 150%, the first via
macro, the other 2 by clicking in the zoom button on the toolbar and typing
the new value.

Hope this might help ­ though I suspect it won't.

It's good to know. As Karl Popper said, the best theories are the
potentially falsifiable ones. (in rather more words)

That's mine down the plughole.

Cheers,

Clive
[Brizzie Airport, big tropical storm delaying flight, glad to be on the
ground] :-\

Indeed. Brizzie knows how to do rainstorms.