Word 2003 Hangs when changing indents

[Guest]

Recently Word either hangs or is very slow to change or becomes completely
unresponsive when I change paragraph indents (with the toolbar button). It
will also hang when I press the undo button. Any ideas what is going on?

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?Q2luZHlCLg==?=,

Recently Word either hangs or is very slow to change or becomes completely
unresponsive when I change paragraph indents (with the toolbar button). It
will also hang when I press the undo button. Any ideas what is going on?

This is in all documents, or just certain ones?

If it's all documents, try holding down the CTRL key when you start Word, to
go into Safe Mode. Does the problem go away when you're in Safe Mode?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Guest]

Now that you mention it, it seems to be happening only in one document, where
I've inserted bullets and numbers.

Cindy

 

[Guest]

As to starting Word 2003 in safe mode, the problem document still cause the
program to hang. Cindy

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?Q2luZHlCLg==?=,

Now that you mention it, it seems to be happening only in one document, where
I've inserted bullets and numbers.

But bullets/numbers are OK in other documents / new documents? (Just
double-checking)

In that case, this particular document is probably damaged. As this is Word 2003,
try saving to XML format. Close, then open it again and save as a Document (*.doc
- different name so that you don't overwrite the original). Do things work better,
now?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in
the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Guest]

Well now I am noticing that even in new documents Word starts to hang after
I've typed out a page or so. I'm also noticing that whenever I make a
change, such as bolding the font, inserting a tab, changing indents, that the
change is applied to the whole document. I have to use the back button to
get the change I want while returning the rest of the document back to the
format it was in. ( This happens with all documents) Not a problem
initially, but as there gets to be more type the response time slows down and
ecentually hangs.

CindyB

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?Q2luZHlCLg==?=,

Well now I am noticing that even in new documents Word starts to hang after
I've typed out a page or so. I'm also noticing that whenever I make a
change, such as bolding the font, inserting a tab, changing indents, that the
change is applied to the whole document. I have to use the back button to
get the change I want while returning the rest of the document back to the
format it was in. ( This happens with all documents) Not a problem
initially, but as there gets to be more type the response time slows down and
ecentually hangs.

OK, let's try to get the AutoFormatting in hand, then the other problem might go
away.

In the Formatting toolbar you should see a button with two "A" symbols on it, at
the very left, next to the "Styles" dropdown. Click that to display the Styles
and Formatting task pane (or go over the Format menu).

Find the entry "Normal", right-click it, choose "Modify".

You should see a checkbox labelled "Automatically update", and it's probably
activated. Uncheck it, click OK.

Now you should be able to format without Word changing everything?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Guest]

Dear Cindy

Turning off the automatic formatting seems to have done the trick. Now the
only thing I'm noticing is that documents are very slow to save. Also I
notice that Word always makes a backup copy of the document regardless of how
many times I uncheck the box.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?Q2luZHlCLg==?=,

Turning off the automatic formatting seems to have done the trick. Now the
only thing I'm noticing is that documents are very slow to save. Also I
notice that Word always makes a backup copy of the document regardless of how
many times I uncheck the box.

Ahhh. It's been a while since this has come up because MS changed some
installation defaults after Office 97, but I wonder...

If "Journaling" for Word documents is turned on in OUTLOOK, this slow down
saving in Word. The more often you save, the slower it gets, because Outlook is
busy writing and indexing the information. Even if you never use Outlook, if
it's installed it would be worth checking that out.

As to the backup-copy: just to be certain, please tell me where you see the
checkbox. Does it "recheck" itself as soon as you click "OK"? Or only the next
time you start Word?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Guest]

Can't find anything about 'journaling' in Outlook.

Regarding the Word 2003 back up copy, I was going to the "Tools" menu ,
clicking on "options" then clicking on the "save tab", and unchecking the
'make back up copy" box.

It stayed unchecked while the document was opened. Whenever a new document
was opened , or word 2003 was started again the box would appear rechecked.
Except for just now when I opened the program to trace the point and click
steps to the save tab. The "make back up copy" box was clear!

Sure beats me how Word 2003 functions. There are times I'm convinced little
gremlins have taken it over.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?Q2luZHlCLg==?=,

Sure beats me how Word 2003 functions. There are times I'm convinced little
gremlins have taken it over.

Can't find anything about 'journaling' in Outlook.

Then you can't have looked very hard. F1, then type Journal into the search
field. You'll get at least 10 hits. Plus, from the "New" button's dropdown list
there's an entry "New Journal entry". Then there's Go/Journal...

It stayed unchecked while the document was opened. Whenever a new document
was opened , or word 2003 was started again the box would appear rechecked.
Except for just now when I opened the program to trace the point and click
steps to the save tab. The "make back up copy" box was clear!

I'm pretty sure this setting is controlled by the DATA key in the Registry. One
fairly common reason for options "not sticking" is when this key has become
damaged. Deleting it, so that Word generates it again with the installation
defaults, is how to get things more "stable". You'll find instructions on how
to do that on the word.mvps.org site.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The Journaling setting in Outlook 2003 is accessed via Tools | Options |
Preferences: Contacts: Journal Options.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.