word 2007 contacting the server for information press esc to cancel

[scanner2001]

We are getting this message when trying to open a word document from a
sharepoint library:
contacting the server for information press esc to cancel
Then the document takes about 5-10 minutes to open. During this time, we
cannot close Word, or end it using the task manager.

This does not happen all of the time, and does not happen with every file. I
noticed that the document templates, .dot, point to non-existent templates.

This started after we moved our documents from a server to a sharepoint
library. I have tried to recreate the template and save it on my local disk.
Still does not work There are many thousands of files that have invalid
templates in them. This used to work on the old server, but I do not see
how. We still have the file server up and running. We can open the document
without a problem if we open MS word first.

We have sharepoint 2007, office 2007 with the latest service packs. Server
2003. Everyone has the same default printer.

Any suggestions on what to look into would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Terry Farrell]

My guess is that the document is still looking for its attached template on
the old server. You may be able to use the redirect command on the old
server pointing to its new location but I suggest that you get some advice
from an engineer that understands migration to SharePoint.

 

[scanner2001]

Well, that seems to make sense. Not every document has one of the unknown
templates. The confusing part is that there is a template that does not
exist on the old server, that points to a directory that does not exist. The
path is somethink like "C:\Documents and Settings\[unknown user]\Application
Data\Microsoft\Templates\[unknown tempate].dot
So, how could it have ever worked?

In the meantime, we are changing the templates to something that works as it
comes up.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Does it really say "[unknown user]"? Or, does it list a user name you don't
recognize. It sounds as if the user left the company and their account was
removed, along with their files.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Well, that seems to make sense. Not every document has one of the unknown
templates. The confusing part is that there is a template that does not
exist on the old server, that points to a directory that does not exist.
The path is somethink like "C:\Documents and Settings\[unknown
user]\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\[unknown tempate].dot
So, how could it have ever worked?

In the meantime, we are changing the templates to something that works as
it comes up.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[scanner2001]

No, it does not literally say "[unknown user]" and "[unknown template]".
What was intended by the sentence was that a user, say jdoe, was listed, but
this person has not been at the company for a few years, maybe 5. The
"[unknown template]" is a template name like jdoetemplate.dot. These
templates do not exist on the original server, and I cannot find them on
anyones computer.
My original question really has to do with does this scenario cause
documents to open very slow, like 5 minutes, after moving to the sharepoint
site? Then the secondary question is how are people able to open these
documents with the errors in the underlying templates?

Thanks,

Does it really say "[unknown user]"? Or, does it list a user name you
don't recognize. It sounds as if the user left the company and their
account was removed, along with their files.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

Well, that seems to make sense. Not every document has one of the unknown
templates. The confusing part is that there is a template that does not
exist on the old server, that points to a directory that does not exist.
The path is somethink like "C:\Documents and Settings\[unknown
user]\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\[unknown tempate].dot
So, how could it have ever worked?

In the meantime, we are changing the templates to something that works as
it comes up.

Thanks,
Jeff

My guess is that the document is still looking for its attached template
on the old server. You may be able to use the redirect command on the
old server pointing to its new location but I suggest that you get some
advice from an engineer that understands migration to SharePoint.

--
Terry Farrell - MSWord MVP

We are getting this message when trying to open a word document from a
sharepoint library:
contacting the server for information press esc to cancel
Then the document takes about 5-10 minutes to open. During this time,
we
cannot close Word, or end it using the task manager.

This does not happen all of the time, and does not happen with every
file. I
noticed that the document templates, .dot, point to non-existent
templates.

This started after we moved our documents from a server to a sharepoint
library. I have tried to recreate the template and save it on my local
disk.
Still does not work There are many thousands of files that have invalid
templates in them. This used to work on the old server, but I do not
see
how. We still have the file server up and running. We can open the
document
without a problem if we open MS word first.

We have sharepoint 2007, office 2007 with the latest service packs.
Server
2003. Everyone has the same default printer.

Any suggestions on what to look into would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,