Microsoft Word 2010 slows down as document progresses

  • Thread starter Thread starter Leslie Coover
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Leslie Coover

Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) Processing speed: Up to 3.30 GHz

When I open a new (blank) Microsoft Word 2010 file it opens and saves quickly.

As formatting on the References tab is added (e.g., Insert Citations, Mark Entry, Insert Index, etc.) or even if the length of the document become long (over 20 pages) the Word 2010 application becomes slower and slower when I save or open it.

This slowness occurs even when all other applications (including Internet browser) are closed. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Leslie Charles Coover "Les"
 
20 pages doesn't sound like a very big document. What does it contain,
except for citations and index(es)? Any large images, for example?

Also, do you keep the document open for a long time, so that there is a lot
of temporary files being added to the hard drive?

How much RAM is installed on the computer?
 
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) Processing speed: Up to 3.30 GHz



When I open a new (blank) Microsoft Word 2010 file it opens and saves quickly.



As formatting on the References tab is added (e.g., Insert Citations, Mark Entry, Insert Index, etc.) or even if the length of the document become long (over 20 pages) the Word 2010 application becomes slower and slower when I save or open it.



This slowness occurs even when all other applications (including Internet browser) are closed. Does anyone know how to fix this?



Leslie Charles Coover "Les"
Click to expand...

Thank you for response Stefan.

It seems that Draft View is much quicker when saving documents, but when I open Word it defaults to Print Layout so opening is always slow. I would use Draft view all the time except it doesn't show where images are placed.

At first I added images as Adobe Photoshop Image Object. Thinking this might be what is slowing down Word I changed the formatting to Bitmap. In either case application was slow opening and responding (Print Layout view).

I do keep the Word document open for the several hours I am working on it. But I always use Disk Cleanup when I close down my computer each day.

Lenovo T530 ThinkPad Processor Speed: Up to 3.30 GHz Total Memory: 4GB DDRS -- 1600 MHz (1 DIMM) Hard Drive: 320 GB, 7200 rpm.

Les
 
My guess is that the pictures are causing the slowness (are there many

pictures?). However, there could also be some left-over temporary files. See

instructions at http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm which

are well worth looking in to (even if Word didn't crash in your case).



--

Stefan Blom

Microsoft Word MVP









"Leslie Coover" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
Click to expand...

Thanks Stefan,

Looks like excellent site, I'll check it out.

Les
 
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) Processing speed: Up to 3.30 GHz



When I open a new (blank) Microsoft Word 2010 file it opens and saves quickly.



As formatting on the References tab is added (e.g., Insert Citations, Mark Entry, Insert Index, etc.) or even if the length of the document become long (over 20 pages) the Word 2010 application becomes slower and slower when I save or open it.



This slowness occurs even when all other applications (including Internet browser) are closed. Does anyone know how to fix this?



Leslie Charles Coover "Les"
Click to expand...

Stefan,

I looked at the information on
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

I don't use Internet Explorer. I use Firefox. Is there a cmd.exe syntax I can use to remove the %temp% files? And, do I need to if I use Disk Cleanup?

It seems there is a difference between wordprocessing software and other types of software that are built to handle many graphics and text (e.g., for a magazine), perhaps I need something other than a word processor.

Les
 
Stefan

After re-reading the information on http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm (the Graham Mayor article) I did the following:

• On the Word Options Save tab I set the “Auto Recover …†to 60 minutes (from 10 minutes) and un-checked the “Keep the last auto saved version if I close without saving.†Mayor did not recommend this but perhaps the new setting will save a little RAM.

• As Mayor did recommend, I checked “Prompt before saving Normal template†but I did not check “Always create backup copy.†I am used to Ctrl + S and thought skipping the backup copy might save RAM.

• Windows Explorer → Organize Folder and Search Options → View:

* Against Mayor’s advice I clicked “Don’t show hidden files, folders, or drives.†I don’t like the “show†option because my screen gets too “cluttered†with hidden files.

* I left “Hide extensions for known file types†unchecked as I like the extensions to identify different files. I also checked “Hide protected operating system files,†again, because my screengets messy if I leave this option unchecked.

• Windows Explorer → %temp%: Deleted everything in folder (as recommended by Mayor).

• Windows Explorer → %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates: There was a file named “NormalOld.dotm.†I must have created it.Sent it to Recycle Bin.

• Windows Explorer → %appdata%\Microsoft\Word\Startup and C:Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office 14\STARTUP both empty.

I visited an MS Chat board. The Tech said, “The processing speed that you have is ok. It could be that there's an add-in loaded in your pc that is causing conflict with word 2010 that's why it's running slow.†Stefan, if you know how to check-out add-ins located on a pc, I could look into this.

On June 14, 2014 Allen Wyatt
http://word.tips.net/T001328_Word_Slow_to_Open_Documents.html

wrote: “There are times when opening a document in Word can be slow.. For instance, if the document is quite large, or if it contains a lot of complex graphics, if it contains a lot of linked data from other sources, or if you have saved it quite often with Word's Fast Save feature turned on.â€

Perhaps the slowness of opening and editing is something Word 2010 users have to get used to. Adobe’s InDesign CS6 might run faster in situations outlined by Wyatt—I don’t know. It seems the Indexingoption (i.e., creating an index for a document) is better in InDesign CS6.However, the referencing options on Word seem superior to those on CS6.

Les
 
Many of Graham's suggestions are intended to help with troubleshooting. For
example, if you choose to show hidden files and folders as well as system
files, it's easier to tell "what is going on" on your system. In particular,
showing hidden files will let you see any left-over "lock" files (= owner
files) that may need deleting. For more on this, look more closely into
Graham's article.

If you want assistance with troubleshooting add-ins, take a look at the
Knowledge Base article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541/en-us/.
Read the instructions for manual troubleshooting of COM and Startup add-ins.
 
Many of Graham's suggestions are intended to help with troubleshooting. For

example, if you choose to show hidden files and folders as well as system

files, it's easier to tell "what is going on" on your system. In particular,

showing hidden files will let you see any left-over "lock" files (= owner

files) that may need deleting. For more on this, look more closely into

Graham's article.



If you want assistance with troubleshooting add-ins, take a look at the

Knowledge Base article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541/en-us/.

Read the instructions for manual troubleshooting of COM and Startup add-ins.



--

Stefan Blom

Microsoft Word MVP
Click to expand...

Thank you again Stefan, I'll check this out.

I think I have come up with a "work around"

Keep one long Word file with everything in it. Then, use a short Word file(identical formatting) to edit or create new information. When a new partis complete copy it from the short file and paste it into the long file.

Les
 
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