word 2003 sp2 memory leak?

[Ben]

Hello,

I have been using MS Office 2003 for years. I have started to notice that
Word is using more and more memory as time goes on. I don't mean time as in
months or years, I mean time as in hours. I open Word in the morning and it
uses 12MB of RAM. As the day goes on I open, modify, and close documents.
By lunch Word is using 20MB of RAM with no open documents. By the time I go
home Word is using almost 30MB of RAM. These numbers are averages. The
amount of RAM used seems to be releated to the number of documents I open
and close. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Office twice and still the
problem remains. I am running Office 2003 SP2 plus all hotfixes. Is there
a memory leak or is this normal?

Thanks,

 

[Tom Ferguson]

I do not know of any memory leak of that description/cause (which is not
to say that there is none).

The memory manager attempts to allocate memory on a best-use basis. This
would not be considered a leak per se unless the memory is not
re-allocated when needed for a higher priority task. You could try
opening several memory-demanding applications and re-check the amount
allocated.

Are you noticing any bad effects? If not, no need to be concerned.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User

| Hello,
|
| I have been using MS Office 2003 for years. I have started to notice
that
| Word is using more and more memory as time goes on. I don't mean time
as in
| months or years, I mean time as in hours. I open Word in the morning
and it
| uses 12MB of RAM. As the day goes on I open, modify, and close
documents.
| By lunch Word is using 20MB of RAM with no open documents. By the
time I go
| home Word is using almost 30MB of RAM. These numbers are averages.
The
| amount of RAM used seems to be releated to the number of documents I
open
| and close. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Office twice and still
the
| problem remains. I am running Office 2003 SP2 plus all hotfixes. Is
there
| a memory leak or is this normal?
|
| Thanks,
|
|

 

[Ben]

I will run the test you suggest tomorrow. I have not seen any bad effects,
but my PC has only 256MB of RAM and about 75% is used at any giving time.
More memory is not an option. I have already asked and been told "NO!". I
am just trying to squeeze every last bit of performance out my PC.

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

You have my sympathy. These days everything is geared up as though memory is
limitless: not just applications but OSs, Anti Virus, Anti Spam, firewall,
etc. all need more memory. I would never recommend anything less than 512MB
absolute minimum to run Office 2003 with Windows 2000 or XP and 1GB is
definitely much better. With the next generation, Vista and Office 2007,
double those figures.

You must really be struggling with only 256MB.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

As does Terry, I feel your pain. What OS are you using?

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


|I will run the test you suggest tomorrow. I have not seen any bad
effects,
| but my PC has only 256MB of RAM and about 75% is used at any giving
time.
| More memory is not an option. I have already asked and been told
"NO!". I
| am just trying to squeeze every last bit of performance out my PC.
|
| Thanks,
|
|
| | >I do not know of any memory leak of that description/cause (which is
not
| > to say that there is none).
| >
| > The memory manager attempts to allocate memory on a best-use basis.
This
| > would not be considered a leak per se unless the memory is not
| > re-allocated when needed for a higher priority task. You could try
| > opening several memory-demanding applications and re-check the
amount
| > allocated.
| >
| > Are you noticing any bad effects? If not, no need to be concerned.
| >
| > Tom
| > MSMVP
| > Windows Shell/User
| >
| > | > | Hello,
| > |
| > | I have been using MS Office 2003 for years. I have started to
notice
| > that
| > | Word is using more and more memory as time goes on. I don't mean
time
| > as in
| > | months or years, I mean time as in hours. I open Word in the
morning
| > and it
| > | uses 12MB of RAM. As the day goes on I open, modify, and close
| > documents.
| > | By lunch Word is using 20MB of RAM with no open documents. By the
| > time I go
| > | home Word is using almost 30MB of RAM. These numbers are
averages.
| > The
| > | amount of RAM used seems to be releated to the number of documents
I
| > open
| > | and close. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Office twice and
still
| > the
| > | problem remains. I am running Office 2003 SP2 plus all hotfixes.
Is
| > there
| > | a memory leak or is this normal?
| > |
| > | Thanks,
|
|

 

[Ben]

I am running XP Pro SP2, Office 2003 SP2, and McAfee 8.0 anti-virus.
Performance is not horrible, but I know it could be better with more RAM. I
am going to try for a new PC next year. Vista and Office 2007 will not be
coming to my current PC.

Thanks,

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Yes, as you say, more memory would be useful. Adding another 256 woujld
be a worthwhile investment for some time in the future. Further increase
to 1GB, while useful, woujld prodice less-noticible speeed benefits. At
the 512 level, the system would be OK with Vista (depending also the the
CPU) but not stellar. If you want to see all the Vista "eye-candy" (eg.
glass effects), a good video card is necessary.

Office 2007, in my experience, is scarcely more memory-demanding than
2003.

All good luck to you.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


|I am running XP Pro SP2, Office 2003 SP2, and McAfee 8.0 anti-virus.
| Performance is not horrible, but I know it could be better with more
RAM. I
| am going to try for a new PC next year. Vista and Office 2007 will
not be
| coming to my current PC.
|
| Thanks,
|
| | > As does Terry, I feel your pain. What OS are you using?
| >
| > Tom
| > MSMVP
| > Windows Shell/User
| >
| >
| > | > |I will run the test you suggest tomorrow. I have not seen any bad
| > effects,
| > | but my PC has only 256MB of RAM and about 75% is used at any
giving
| > time.
| > | More memory is not an option. I have already asked and been told
| > "NO!". I
| > | am just trying to squeeze every last bit of performance out my PC.
| > |
| > | Thanks,
| > |
| > |
| > | | > | >I do not know of any memory leak of that description/cause (which
is
| > not
| > | > to say that there is none).
| > | >
| > | > The memory manager attempts to allocate memory on a best-use
basis.
| > This
| > | > would not be considered a leak per se unless the memory is not
| > | > re-allocated when needed for a higher priority task. You could
try
| > | > opening several memory-demanding applications and re-check the
| > amount
| > | > allocated.
| > | >
| > | > Are you noticing any bad effects? If not, no need to be
concerned.
| > | >
| > | > Tom
| > | > MSMVP
| > | > Windows Shell/User
| > | >
| > | > | > | > | Hello,
| > | > |
| > | > | I have been using MS Office 2003 for years. I have started to
| > notice
| > | > that
| > | > | Word is using more and more memory as time goes on. I don't
mean
| > time
| > | > as in
| > | > | months or years, I mean time as in hours. I open Word in the
| > morning
| > | > and it
| > | > | uses 12MB of RAM. As the day goes on I open, modify, and
close
| > | > documents.
| > | > | By lunch Word is using 20MB of RAM with no open documents. By
the
| > | > time I go
| > | > | home Word is using almost 30MB of RAM. These numbers are
| > averages.
| > | > The
| > | > | amount of RAM used seems to be releated to the number of
documents
| > I
| > | > open
| > | > | and close. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Office twice
and
| > still
| > | > the
| > | > | problem remains. I am running Office 2003 SP2 plus all
hotfixes.
| > Is
| > | > there
| > | > | a memory leak or is this normal?
| > | > |
| > | > | Thanks,
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|