Ballooning document

[Scott Shively]

Hi,

We are using Word 2000. I have a simple one page document not a template
that I update weekly and do a 'Save As' to save the updated version when I'm
finished. I do a 'Save As' to preserve the previous weeks documents since we
refer back to them from time to time.

At the beginning of the year the document was 23 KB and now that same
formatted one page document is 1019 MB. What it looks like it is doing in
most cases is saving the previous document and adding the new document 23KB,
50KB, 75KB and so forth. However, when you open the document all you see is
the one page document. Why is it doing that and how do I stop it?

Thank you,

Scott

 

[Margaret Aldis]

Hi Scott

Are you automatically saving versions, perhaps? (File > Versions to check).
Or have you got 'Fast Saves' enabled (Tools > Options).

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

There are a number of reasons for excessive file size, including:

1. Fast Saves: Disable this at on the Save tab of Tools | Options.

2. Preview Picture: Clear the check box on the Summary tab of File |
Properties.

3. Versions (File | Versions): Make sure "Automatically save version on
close" is not turned on.

4. Revisions (Tools | Track Changes):
Highlight Changes: Make sure "Highlight changes on screen" is turned on.
Accept/Reject Changes: If "Accept All" or "Reject All" is available then
revisions are present; accept or reject all changes, then turn Track Changes
off.

5. Embedded True Type fonts (Tools | Options | Save); embedding fonts should
be avoided wherever possible.

6. Embedded graphics: When feasible, it is preferable to link the graphics.

7. Document corruption: See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Bob]

I also have a similar problem. I've already tried
checking each of the suggestions you mention below. I did
not have any of the options set you mentioned. However, I
do have a number of graphic images embedded. I've tried
to make each of these gif files which are relatively small
in size. Ideally, I would like to keep these in the
document because:

1. this document is used for documentation in an "on-line"
format, and
2. the images are critical to explaining the use of
functionality within the system referenced.

Background Info:

This document I'm creating is organized in outline format
(i.e., various heading levels numbered followed by normal
text under each level that may or may not contain
additional bulleted or numbered lists). This document
also contains a number (approx 20-30) gif images.

It seems that the more text I add to this document, the
larger it becomes which is reasonable up to a point.
However, that point has been reached. Initially, this
document stayed at a very manageable size for some time
(approx 50-200K). I then quit monitoring it on a regular
basis. The next thing I new, it took me a long time to
make changes in the document, save the document, and
finally, Word quit responding at all when I attempted to
make a change. Now, the doc is very large (55 meg). The
document is currently 47 pages long. I'm using MS Word
2000 9.0.4402 SR-1.

I've found that if I do a Select All > Copy and paste to a
new document and Save, the new document is approx 770K in
size. I then keep working (editing and adding text and
some additional graphics (all gifs relatively small in
size) and my document starts ballooning to Fat Albert
dimensions again. This happens over time (1-2 weeks), and
I haven't monitored it closely each day. The other
problem with this "so-called fix" is that each time I
create a new doc using the Select All > Copy > Paste, all
my outlining gets messed up. I end up with paragraphs
that are no longer indented appropriately for the outline
level and other similar formatting glitches.

Would really appreciate some help on this ASAP.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Word does not save embedded graphics in gif format but rather in Word's own
(much larger) format. Put your gif files in the same folder as your document
and insert-link them in. Then edit the links to remove the paths for the
files. When you move the document, you'll have to move the gif files, too.
This may take as much disk space as embedding the files (because of
sector-size overhead) but any download time should be a lot less.

Also be aware that the bullets and numbering will almost certainly appear
differently on other people's computers unless you followed careful
procedures in linking your list styles to paragraph styles.

--
See: How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
document
<URL: http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html>. This
is based on ...

Word's Numbering Explained
<URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm>


--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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