Word repaginates endlessly and then hangs?

[Guest]

When I edit a Word document it sometimes begins a repagination process that
seems to go on forever and then Word hangs. Document size is <14MB and I use
WXP Pro. What is this 'repagination' and why is this happening. It didn't
before...

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?c2FmZXR5dmFsdmU=?=,

When I edit a Word document it sometimes begins a repagination process that
seems to go on forever and then Word hangs. Document size is <14MB and I use
WXP Pro. What is this 'repagination' and why is this happening. It didn't
before...

It sounds like this document's internal file structures have become damaged.
Unfortunately, you don't mention which version of Word you're using...

If this is Word 2000 or later, try saving as HTML, close the file, then open it
again. Can you edit it, now?

If this is Word 2003, you might try saving as XML.

For any version of Word, you could try saving as RTF, or as Word 6/95. But be
aware you could lose some things when going to this file format.

Another possible way to recover, if Word will allow it, is to copy everything
EXCEPT the last paragraph mark into a new document.

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]

Thanks for your response, Cindy. I use Word 2000. I tried your first
suggestion and I can definitely now work with the document, however as this
file is part of a book and now in a different file format, what now?

Also, can anyone explain 'pagination' and why my computer wants to indulge
in a drawn-out 'repagination' process to me? Is it something to do with RAM?

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?c2FmZXR5dmFsdmU=?=,

Thanks for your response, Cindy. I use Word 2000. I tried your first
suggestion and I can definitely now work with the document, however as this
file is part of a book and now in a different file format, what now?

You can know save it again as a real Word document. Round-tripping over HTML
has managed to get rid of the "junk" in the file's internal structures.

Also, can anyone explain 'pagination' and why my computer wants to indulge
in a drawn-out 'repagination' process to me? Is it something to do with RAM?

Pagination is the process of laying out the text on the page, with the
resulting line and automatic page breaks. Every time you edit the text, Word
is doing this in the background. Normally, unless a document is very large,
has lots of graphics, newspaper columns or tables, we don't notice it. But
even then it takes a finite amount of time.

But when the document's internal structures get mixed up, Word can't read them
correctly. It will try to lay out the document but can't resolve all the
instructions... and never finishes.

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