Word doc's file size bloated

[Guest]

I am experienced MS-Word user for many years and have written dissertation
using MS-Word cover-to-cover in just one Word doc' file. This is to say, I'm
no beginner as far as using MS-Word. But recently, I am experiencing this
weird effect on a Word document which I inherited from a former colleague.

For your info, I'm currently using MS-Word 2003 (SP1) on Win XP & also om
Win 2000 (SP4). The following is the problem I'm facing...

The file, which is initially around 10 MB or slightly more in file size, got
bloated to about to double or tripple its size, although I only edited a few
lines of paragraph. I noticed, whenever I format several selected lines to be
bullect or numbered list, it seems there occur a follow-up processing in the
background and several seconds later the entire document got formatted with
numberred list. Although after clicking on the "redo" button will restore to
my intended format (with only the selected lines became bullet/numbered
list), but the effect is that the file size got bloated to bouble or tripple!
This also happened when I do some other formating. I checked if there is any
third party Macro attached in the doc, but didn't find any.

Everytime this formatting (& redo) effects occur, the file size got bloated
double or tripple. At one time, it got bloated to over 300 MB just for merely
several paragrahps of editing.

My questions are;
1. What is possibly happening behind the scenes?
2. Is the any utility to shrink back the bloated Word doc file?

I appreciate if anyone can shine some light on this problem. I would like to
thank you in advance.

 

[Anne Troy]

In addition to the tips at the link below, you might want to turn off "Allow
Fast Saves".
http://www.officearticles.com/word/avoid_document_corruption_and_bloating_in_microsoft_word.htm
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com

 

[Guest]

Dear Anne,

Thank you for your lightning response.

Did what you have suggested. And, had read the article at the hyperllink
given by you. I checked on the "Allow Fast Saves". It's already unticked all
the time. I also unticked for the background saving.

To test if the bloating really had been caused by the content of the
document, I actually deleted almost all of it! What's left only 5 pages; With
no graphics of images, no tables, no TOC. Saved it to another file name. The
result is, from 73.2 MB it goes down to only 64.3 MB. How could a merely 5
pages document amounted to 64.3 MB?

For your info, I have scanned with updatd Trend's PC-Cilin. No virus has
been found.

Any idea what other effort I can try?

 

[Guest]

Found the solution here in another thread, posted by Bharat. The best thing
is, it works! Here, I paste the solution...

- Open Word
- File - Open
- Locate your File
- Click on arrow near Open button
- Click on "Open and Repair"

This reduced my file size back to where it should be.

Good lucK!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If this happens again, you might see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WholeDocumentReformatted.htm. Also,
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
(or that "Final Showing Markup" is displayed).
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.
That is, when you insert the graphic, click the arrow beside Insert in the
Picture dialog and choose Link to File rather than Insert or Insert and
Link.

7. Embedded objects: These are even worse than ordinary graphics saved with
the document. If you see an { EMBED } code, the graphic is an OLE object.
Unless you need to be able to edit the object in place, unlink it using
Ctrl+Shift+F9.

8. File format: Make sure you are saving as a Word document; in some cases
..rtf (Rich Text Format) files are significantly larger than .doc files.

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

Sounds like (9) might have been your problem.

--
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.

 

[AmigoDito]

I got rid of file bloat, as well as very sluggish behavior, when I noticed that its characters had such settings as 101% scale and spacing expanded or condensed by 0.05 pt or the like. I performed a search and replace, selecting any character and replacing it with 100% scale and normal spacing. I replaced all, and the file shrank from 1,700 KB to 195 KB!

This file was output from a PDF file, so others may experience the same problem and need the same solution.