Solved Word slow to open: FIXED

ululator

Member
[FONT=&quot]I have MS Office 2003 & Vista Home Premium. A few weeks ago, Word suddenly became extremely sluggish: it would take more than 10 full seconds to open or close (very aggravating!)

I hunted online for a solution & found several suggestions, ranging from checking for viruses to editing the Registry: I tried them all, with no improvement.

I recall having seen other questions about the same problem, so I thought I’d share what finally worked for me.

I renamed global template: from normal.dot to OldNormal.dot

C > Users > user’s name > App Data > Roaming > Microsoft > Templates

The global template had somehow gotten corrupted. By renaming it, Word had to automatically create a new (clean) global template the next time the program opened. The fix was instantaneous: Word opened properly as soon as I made the change.

The old (corrupt) global template was relatively large: over 2,900kb.
The new (clean) global template is only 35kb.

Once Word had created new (clean) global template & I saw that it worked well, I deleted the old (corrupt) one I had renamed.

Hope this can help someone!!

[/FONT]
 

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Thanks for posting this, ululator. Good tip, one that a user wouldn't normally think of.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion dv5t (Gen. 1)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz)
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
    Graphics Card(s)
    512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
    Keyboard
    built in - HP
    Mouse
    built in - Synaptics TouchPad V6.5 on PS/2 Port
    Internet Speed
    max
    Other Info
    ~ Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card w/Bluetooth ~ Blu-Ray ROM DVD+/-R/RW ~ Integ. HDTV Hybrid Tuner ~ 12 Cell Battery ~ MS Office (Home Premium) 2007 ~
:D Fantastic fix, brought much happiness to life in the UK.
I have noticed that everytime I open a word document, the normal file increases in size so this is likely to be a slowly recurring problem.
Is there a way to avoid the increasing size of "normal"?:huh:
Thanks, Durge
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Mesh Computers
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9850 Quad Core Processor AM2+ (2.5GHz, 4MB Cache,
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N68-VM - AMD HDMI-DVI Mainboard
    Memory
    4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM - (2x 2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    256MB NVIDIA GeForce GPU with HDMI - Integrated Graphics (SM
    Sound Card
    7.1 High Definition onboard sound card - for 8 Channel Cinem
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" Iiyama ProLite E2208HDS-1
I don't have the answer, but it seems to me that if you periodically (say, once or twice a year) use ululator's suggestion and just create a new global template, it really won't matter if the current one increases in size or not, because you'll be deleting it once you start using its replacement.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion dv5t (Gen. 1)
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz)
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
    Graphics Card(s)
    512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
    Keyboard
    built in - HP
    Mouse
    built in - Synaptics TouchPad V6.5 on PS/2 Port
    Internet Speed
    max
    Other Info
    ~ Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card w/Bluetooth ~ Blu-Ray ROM DVD+/-R/RW ~ Integ. HDTV Hybrid Tuner ~ 12 Cell Battery ~ MS Office (Home Premium) 2007 ~
Re. Ululator's advice, after clicking on templates in the list of instructions beginning with C/Users how do you arrive at the global template and change normal.dot to old etc..? If I click on templates I just get a list of word docs ending in .tmp
 
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Durge: I’m glad this helped. I certainly know just how very aggravating that lag time could be!

I really don’t know whether the increased size of the corrupted file was in any way significant. I only mentioned it because the size difference between the corrupt file & the new global template was so noticeable.


Zaniac: Microsoft makes it extremely difficult to locate/see hidden or system files in Vista – it’s hardly an intuitive or user-friendly system.

Try this:
Go into Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options
Click the VIEW tab
Under Files & Folders > Hidden Files & Folders, click SHOW HIDDEN FILES & FOLDERS

Now try following the route I described in my original post:
C > Users > user’s name > App Data > Roaming > Microsoft > Templates
and you should be able to see the normal.dot file.

~ OR ~

Go into Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options
Click the VIEW tab
Under Files & Folders > Hidden Files & Folders, click SHOW HIDDEN FILES & FOLDERS
Then do a regular Explorer search for normal.dot using the search box in the upper right corner.
This WON’T bring up the Global Template… But it WILL bring up an Advanced Search option.

Click Advanced Search.
This opens a panel at the top, offering several new search options.
Click Include non-indexed, hidden, & system files.
Click Search again.

This time, the search should bring up the normal.dot file you need.
Right-click on that file & select Open file location… and there you are!

Let me know if this works for you.
 
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FIXED! Thank you Ululator for the trouble and promptness. However, the instructions for find normal.dot files didn't help. The only way I can locate the FOLDER OPTIONS is by going to CTRL -APPEARANCES & PERSONALIZATION. The hidden files facility is already ticked. Anyone else struggling with this might like to try another suggestion on the Forum of entering Search: %appdata%/Microsoft/Templates. I don't know if this shows the normal.dot files as I haven't tried it as I am now leaving well alone having solved my problem.

My problem was solved by following Ululator's advise above, i.e. C/USERS etc.. I found at the bottom of the temporary tmp files an icon for the Word Program similar to the one on the Start Menu. I don't know how it arrived there but I deleted it and now Word opens and closes in a flash. Thanks for assistance.
 

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