Word for X crashes while in or switching to "Outline" mode

[b]

There may be some problems with Word when it attempts to automatically
reorganize windows and toolbars while switching between viewing modes.
Turning off and/or moving various toolbars ended a series of crashes I
was having. I originally suspected file corruption, but there seemed
to be nothing wrong with the file.

Closing all toolbars and opening the file in question resulted in no
more crashes when switching modes or using outline mode, with this or
other suspect files. I've since added the toolbars back, and
everything is still fine.

My original toolbar layout had two vertical bars that would jostle
each other for position when switching between "Page Layout" and
"Outline" modes. I had moved one of the bars down so that the document
window would not shift horizontally when changing modes. This layout
may have been what was causing the problem.

I now allow Word to place the vertical toolbars and have not tried to
move them. All seems fine. I suspect that there may be a problem with
how Word manages it's windows.

As a side note, other threads mentioning outline crashes cite file
corruption, or the use of custom styles as possible culprits. I use
custom styles extensively, but now have no more crashes.

 

[John McGhie [MVP]]

Yes, I wouldn't disagree with anything you say. Word has a series of
"timing" and "layering" problems they didn't have time to fix for this
version. These are most troublesome when it is doing a lot of work with
windows and sheets. The Formatting Palette is a particular problem: many
things are more reliable if it is hidden.

If your toolbars are docked when a document opens, you will have less
trouble. Floating toolbars stress the system and may cause problems.

Custom styles are fine if you know what you are doing with styles. The
reason I warn people away from them is because you have to do a lot more
work to set them up, and you have to know a lot more about styles and
numbering to set them up properly. And if you don't set them up properly,
they will cause crashes. Obviously, yours have been set up correctly, and
so you are not seeing the problems that other users would.

Personally, I try to steer away from custom styles. I prefer to customise
the built-in styles, and I do that extensively. I find this gives a more
reliable result in corporate service, where I have a lot of users who
haven't a clue about either Word or styles

Badly-defined styles or mangled numbering can lead to file corruption, and
file corruption *will* cause crashes. Under those circumstances, we advise
users to copy all but the last paragraph mark into a new document. This
forces Word to rebuild the internal file structure, substituting the
built-in defaults where it has a problem with the existing definitions.
This usually resolves the problems.

Cheers

This responds to article <[email protected]>,

There may be some problems with Word when it attempts to automatically
reorganize windows and toolbars while switching between viewing modes.
Turning off and/or moving various toolbars ended a series of crashes I
was having. I originally suspected file corruption, but there seemed
to be nothing wrong with the file.

Closing all toolbars and opening the file in question resulted in no
more crashes when switching modes or using outline mode, with this or
other suspect files. I've since added the toolbars back, and
everything is still fine.

My original toolbar layout had two vertical bars that would jostle
each other for position when switching between "Page Layout" and
"Outline" modes. I had moved one of the bars down so that the document
window would not shift horizontally when changing modes. This layout
may have been what was causing the problem.

I now allow Word to place the vertical toolbars and have not tried to
move them. All seems fine. I suspect that there may be a problem with
how Word manages it's windows.

As a side note, other threads mentioning outline crashes cite file
corruption, or the use of custom styles as possible culprits. I use
custom styles extensively, but now have no more crashes.

--
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John McGhie, Microsoft MVP: Word for Macintosh and Word for Windows
Consultant Technical Writer <[email protected]>
+61 4 1209 1410; Sydney, Australia: GMT + 10 hrs