[elijahmobile]

Are you saying your Word 2003 OPENS & CLOSES in 1 second or less?

If so, what do you think is going on here - my machine is not slow and the previous version of Word OPENED & CLOSED in just a few seconds or less.

I have thought about installing an older version of Works Suite with it's earlier version of Word 2002 - but I'm not sure if I'd have overlap between the 2 Suite versions.

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Yes, it doesn't seem to matter whether I click Word from the start menu or open an existing document from a folder

You can try the other version of Word, even if you uninstall one version of Word the other version will open the existing documents you have when you install it

[Retired Tech]

Yes, it doesn't seem to matter whether I click Word from the start menu or open an existing document from a folder

You can try the other version of Word, even if you uninstall one version of Word the other version will open the existing documents you have when you install it

[elijahmobile]

Hey Keith, I finally found the culprit.

After completely uninstalling MS Works Suite 2004 and updating to a newer MS Works Suite 2005 that was available to me, I still had the problem, even a couple of seconds slower! I kept trying to figure out what the hey it could be doing all that time - especially in CLOSING.

During my various trials and tribulations I noticed there was a Add/Remove programs entry for: Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Microsoft Word - I went back and checked and it has always been there, but it seemed like something we don't need, and something that could be adding time. So I made a clean Restore Point and tried uninstalling it.

VOILA! I not only fixed the problem, but it beats me what I lost - nothing as far as I can see - certainly nothing we care about.

Before the uninstall - times were: File or No file: 12-15 seconds OPEN/10-12 seconds CLOSE.

After uninstalling the add-in - times are NOW: No File: 1 second OPEN/ instantaneous CLOSE; With a
File: 5-7 seconds OPEN/instantaneous CLOSE.

I don't know why it takes longer than yours to OPEN with a file, but we can live with this. If you have any ideas though, let me know.

I have run the TuneUp cleaners again after the uninstalls so that everything is clean. BTW Norton AntiVirus really didn't like the TuneUp RegistryDefrag - forced me to uninstall/reinstall the whole program - what a pain, especially the 92 (seemed like that many!) updates and corresponding reboots!


Thank you again Keith for your help.

[Retired Tech]

Thank You for letting me know what it was. It seems that Office does not like add ins, understandable with things like NAV but not so understandable with another Microsoft programme

[elijahmobile]

It's better than I thought.

Checking out Word today, I find that unlike before the fix, when the program was completely tied up until the lengthly OPEN was finished (if you clicked on the document it did nothing), NOW on OPEN, once the document is displayed, you can click on it and it's ready to Edit.

So it turns out that all OPENS are 1 second - and all CLOSES are instantaneous. Guess that's pretty close to yours.

What a difference!

[elijahmobile]

One more benefit, Keith - I thought I'd post this so it's available to others as well.

Turns out the annoying Word trait of clearing the active Copy buffer on OPEN wasn't a Word trait at all. With removal of the Works Add-in, that problem is gone. It may seem petty to some - but makes a great difference to us.

Thanks again for the help.

[Retired Tech]

Thank You for the update

[spiderfly]

Wow! Many thanks for this thread. My Word (and Outlook) had been steadily slowing down ever since I got this computer 2 years ago (Pentium 3-point-something gig running XP). It had reached the point where I had to wait, wait, wait for Word to get itself ready for use, and any premature action on my part caused it to lock up. I use Word for my livelihood, too, and working between documents had gotten intolerably inefficient. Though working in one document was OK once Word had cranked up, switching to another document required a long wait, and going back and forth was awful.

But as soon as I uninstalled that apparently less-than-worthless add-in, everything snapped into shape. Word opens and closes practically instantly, with remarkable stability. Outlook is vastly better, too, as it is connected with Word. Other functions, such as boot time—and even web surfing—are also noticeably improved. They apparently had deteriorated, too, but not as perceptibly.

So my computer now operates as fast as it did when I got it. I'm surprised that this problem is not more widespread, since millions of users must have this add-in installed and don't know to get rid of it.

[WestWing]

This thread and it's conclusion were of great help! I'd noticed for the last few days that Word 2002 was taking an inordinate amount of time to close, and the open time had also increased. Additionally, the Format Gallery icon had somehow inserted itself on the toolbar and completely resisted removal. I'd drag it off, only to have it reappear when I reopened Word. I suspected Works (rarely and only recently used) was somehow involved, but the connection to the speed problem eluded me until I finally came across this topic. Since removing the add-in, my Word program opens and closes almost instantaneously, and the unwanted Format Gallery icon has disappeared. Other notable sites for Word didn't have the solution, and I am happy to have found this board.
Thanks!

[rambler]

Must say a very big thank you to elijahmobile! This thread has solved my long running problem too. I was having exactly same symptoms with , very slow open and closing of Word 2002(MS Works suite 2006 component). I've been pulling my hair out for months trying all the MS cures (KB 921541 & others) with no success, including reinstalling both the Works and Word 2002 programmes more than once ,defragging etc. At one time I thought it might be due to my having run Office 2007 beta, which I've long since removed, Can't be sure if that's relevant though!
Anyway I followed the advice to remove the "Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Microsoft Word" and bingo instant cure!
Whilst on a high having put this problem behind me at last, I decided to visit the Microsoft Update site just to check all was in order with the security and update patches. I was amazed to pull in 11, yes eleven priority patches! which I thought was strange as I had only just visited the MS update site before applying the above fix AND I always have my auto update switched on.

Just thought it might be worth mentioning to anyone else going through this experience. I wonder if the Ad-in is masking the need for some updates? OR perhaps more likely it was just me having reinstalled Word yet again - not sure! For the record the updates received were as follows:

Office XP updates : (KB837253 & KB833858),
Update for Office XP: Word Perfect5.x converter (KB873379),
Update for Office XP (KB913471)
Security Update for SharePoint team services (KB911701) ?
Security Update for Office XP (KB914796 & KB920821 & KB920816 & KB934705)
Security Update for Publisher 2002 (KB894541)
Secrity update for Word 2002 (KB934394)

Thanks again your help has saved my sanity.

PS. I wonder why MS haven't picked this one up or Dell for that matter as, they are my OEM I had tried there support site for help too!

[Keep on clickin']

This site is amazing and this cured my problem with my MS Word!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!