word hangs when i am editing end notes

[moose]

i am getting more and more of the swirling ball of death when editing
a document that has about 1500 endnotes. I have tried the new
normal.dot route, the removal of preference list. I am somewhat stuck.
OS version is 10.5.2.

any idea?

 

[John McGhie]

Sorry: Need the Word version as well

i am getting more and more of the swirling ball of death when editing
a document that has about 1500 endnotes. I have tried the new
normal.dot route, the removal of preference list. I am somewhat stuck.
OS version is 10.5.2.

any idea?

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[moose]

Sorry:  Need the Word version as well




--
Don't wait for your answer, click here:http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group.  Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltdhttp://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia.  S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

I am using Microsoft Word 2008.

 

[John McGhie]

Damn! That's what I thought you would say.

OK, this is going to get "difficult". We need to determine whether it is
the "Endnotes" that is causing the problem, or the "Text Formatting.

You say that you have been "editing" the document. Are you using "Tracked
Changes"? If you are, that's the first thing to suspect.

Make a copy of the document and "Accept" ALL of the changes in the document.
We can put the mark-up back in AFTER you have completed the editing, using
Compare Documents. But in a long and complex document in Word:Mac 2008,
Tracked Changes are death.

So: We leave the Endnotes where they are and remove all of the change
marking. If the document comes right, that's what it was.

Sadly, I suspect it's not that. I suspect that it is the Endnotes that have
gone bad. And it's probably only "one or two" of the 1500 Endnotes that are
bad.

Let's prove it: Make another copy of the document, and this time, remove
ALL the endnotes, and save. Try that.

If the document is now fixed, it "was" the Endnotes. Come back and we'll
talk you through how to fix them.

When you come back, I will need to know which file format you are using
(.doc or .docx). It alters the range of options we have.

Cheers

I am using Microsoft Word 2008.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[moose]

Damn!  That's what I thought you would say.

OK, this is going to get "difficult".  We need to determine whether it is
the "Endnotes" that is causing the problem, or the "Text Formatting.

You say that you have been "editing" the document.  Are you using "Tracked
Changes"?  If you are, that's the first thing to suspect.

Make a copy of the document and "Accept" ALL of the changes in the document.
We can put the mark-up back in AFTER you have completed the editing, using
Compare Documents.  But in a long and complex document in Word:Mac 2008,
Tracked Changes are death.

So:  We leave the Endnotes where they are and remove all of the change
marking.  If the document comes right, that's what it was.

Sadly, I suspect it's not that.  I suspect that it is the Endnotes that have
gone bad.  And it's probably only "one or two" of the 1500 Endnotes thatare
bad.

Let's prove it:  Make another copy of the document, and this time, remove
ALL the endnotes, and save.  Try that.

If the document is now fixed, it "was" the Endnotes.  Come back and we'll
talk you through how to fix them.

When you come back, I will need to know which file format you are using
(.doc or .docx).  It alters the range of options we have.

Cheers




--
Don't wait for your answer, click here:http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group.  Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltdhttp://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia.  S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

it was indeed the endnotes. i have been having the problem while
editing in .doc or .docx. the document was started in .doc format (i
got back and forth between MAC and pc).

 

[John McGhie]

OK, this is getting a bit difficult

Going backwards and forwards between Mac Word and PC Word is fine. But
changing formats is OUT.

Each time you convert from .docx to .doc, there's a good chance of sending
the endnotes bad.

OK, so we have proved that it's the "end notes"? Right, now we need to
conduct a "binary search" to see which endnotes are bad.

1) Make a copy of the document.

2) Delete all the text from the bottom half of one copy.

3) Delete all the text from the top half of the other copy.

Now try. If the crashes stop in one half but not the other, you know which
half the bad end-note is in.

Hoping fervently it's only one half that is crashing, do the same again:
save a copy, then remove half the text from each copy.

Keep going until the crashing copy contains only one endnote, and there you
are! The last one standing is the bad one.

This is very time-consuming with 1,500 end-notes. You may decide it's not
worth it.

Hope this helps

it was indeed the endnotes. i have been having the problem while
editing in .doc or .docx. the document was started in .doc format (i
got back and forth between MAC and pc).

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

OK, so we have proved that it's the "end notes"? Right, now we need to
conduct a "binary search" to see which endnotes are bad.

<snipped instructions>

Is it worth trying the Save as Webpage method to uncorrupt endnotes?
It's easier, as a first step, anyhow:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DocumentCorruption.html

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Daiya:

Certainly be worth a try! I discounted it because the Web Page engine in
Word 2008 is so good it is likely to simply pass the bad end note through.

Like you say: It's quick, and it can't hurt...

I am not sure what format the document is in: he's working between .doc and
..docx.

If it's a .docx, it's "already" in web page format. In which case, a save
to RTF might get it back quickly and cheaply...

Cheers

<snipped instructions>

Is it worth trying the Save as Webpage method to uncorrupt endnotes?
It's easier, as a first step, anyhow:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DocumentCorruption.html

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi Daiya:

Certainly be worth a try! I discounted it because the Web Page engine in
Word 2008 is so good it is likely to simply pass the bad end note through.

Ah, did not realize that. Thanks, John.