Word freezes when I try to paste in Web content

[EPDaniel]

Very recently, I've had a problem with Word freezing up every time I copy
content from a Web Page and try to paste it into a doc. I'm using IE6.0, Word
2003, and Windows XP SP2 (Home Edition), and I've downloaded all of the
latest Windows and Office critical updates. I've also cleared my IE history
and temp files and defragmented my hard drive. But none of that helped. Any
ideas?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Is it really freezing or just stalling? My experience is that pasting Web
content (even plain text) takes an appreciably longer time than pasting text
from another document.

 

[EPDaniel]

Hmm. Well, it may be just stalling, but it's much much longer than ever
before. I've tried to let it run for a while (about 15 minutes) just to see,
but I couldn't afford to wait any longer than that since I can't use Word at
all during that time, even other open docs. I just have to close it down
through CTRL+ALT+DEL.
When I do that and then reopen Word and try to open the doc I was working
on, it tells me the doc is locked for editing and can only be opened as Read
Only. (Restarting the computer seems to solve to unlock it.) So, in the
meantime, I'm retraining myself (pretty unsuccesfully) to paste Web content
into Notepad first and then into Word.
I wonder if this is somehow related to the Clipboard. I always opt to hide
it because I don't like to use it. Seems unlikely, though, since I haven't
had any other copy/paste problems with Word.
Thanks for responding, Suzanne. Let me know if you have any other theories.
EPD

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Yes, I would assume it had hung long before 15 minutes was up! The stalling
I see is on the order of seconds (ten seconds can seem like an eternity in
computer time). Sorry for the red herring.

 

[HN]

I wish I could provide an answer/solution but unfortunately I can't. Can
only chime in to say that I too have experienced the same problem buth with
Win 2000 and Word 2000 with all updates up-to-date. Problem only cropped up
after I made a slew of Win 2000 updates last week. Not only does Word lock
up, but so does the whole system. Can't even shut down with a CTRL+ALT+DEL;
have to actually pull the plug on the machine. I also have the related
problem (seen elsewhere on this site) of being unable to save to floppy, but
it only seems to be a problem when coupled with copy/paste from a web page.
Will experiment with the Notepad "work-around". Thanks for that suggestion.

Somewhere else it has been suggested that it could be anti-virus program
interferrence; and Microsoft opines that as a possibility. FWIW, I
uninstalled AVG Free anti-virus and still had the same symptoms. Installed
Norton AV 2005. Lock-up problem still exists. Don't think antivirus
software is the culprit.

Some have suggested that the Win 2000 Rollup (KB891961) is the culprit; that
the save-to-floppy problem was resolved by removing this update. Haven't
tried this--yet. This rollup includes MANY prior patches/updates; don't know
that I want to "undo" it. Hopefully, someone from MS reads these postings to
track common problems.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Quite a few users are reporting this. So far I am not seeing it (have Win
2000 all updated but am using Word 2003).

 

[Beth Melton]

FWIW I suffered from the same issue: Word 97 and Word 2000 locking up
when pasting content from the Web. I spent hours attempting to find a
resolution. :-(

The only thing that 'fixed' the problem was to use Word 2002 or Word
2003.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[EPDaniel]

Beth, did your issues with Word start recently? Like, since the July release
of the latest updates to Windows and Office?
I'm really starting to suspect it's related to a recent security update of
some kind, especially given HN's post. I'll keep my eyes peeled for fixes in
the KB -- and maybe bug some of my old Microsoft buddies.
Thanks for chiming in, all!

 

[Beth Melton]

The problems I encountered go way back - back to around 1997.

My point was there are known issues with pasting web content in prior
versions of Word.

However, since you just started encountering it then you may find a
resolution. Since the content is retrieved directly from the web a
firewall could cause an application hang since it's attempting to
authenticate the transfer. Larger chunks of data copied from the web
can also be a factor. If I copied smaller portions then I could paste
web content. You can also try using Edit/Paste Special and try other
formats, such as RTF.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[GeoSiebert]

I use Word 2002 and I have not changed anything and suddenly this same
problem has popped up. Has anyone found a "fix"?

 

[EPDaniel]

Believe it or not, I think I found the fix for my problem. Not sure if it'll
work for any of you, but it's worth a shot. We recently uninstalled the
version of Norton AntiVirus protection that came preinstalled in our Dell
Dimension 8400. I can't remember what version of the product it was. It
seemed to be giving us problems with a lot of other software too.
We have replaced it with ZoneAlarm Antivirus and all seems to be well again
with Word.
If you have a Norton product, you might consider briefly turning it off and
seeing whether you can paste without problems again. It's risky, I know, and
it may necessitate a restart. But it's an idea.
By the way, I checked with my MS buddy and he has not heard of any
Word-related problems resulting from the latest security patches for Windows
or Office.
Thanks, everyone.