Re: Word freezes, then crashes

To reiterate some of Webriders advice: you must test this with a completely fresh start as your current tests are inconclusive. If you need to reuse your old text, please copy and paste it into a text editor (Notepad, for example) to remove all legacies of the previous Word styles and templates. Then copy/paste or insert the .txt file into a new Word document and format it with either the built-in styles or newly created styles.

If the problem persists, then I have to suspect a hardware problem and I suggest that you will need a test utility such as SiSoft Sandra that will thoroughly test all elements of your system.

Terry

"Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:3482C19E-7B9E-48C5-96D1-4D0586E8B1CD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello Terry, and Hello Webrider,

A quick update on the freeze/crash problems following your prior comments,
which are much appreciated.

I followed Terry’s advice and checked the video driver, but it was
up-to-date. I followed Webrider’s advice, and ran full scans for viruses and
spyware, but nothing came up.

I tried saving one of the problematic documents as and ‘.htm’ file, then
converting this back to a ‘.doc’ file. But, as in Webrider’s experience, this
did not work: the document still crashed after a while.

I then followed Webrider’s advice and let Word create a new ‘normal.dot’
template, and I worked from this new ‘normal.dot’ file. However, since I have
a great deal of ongoing work, I could not re-type everything; this would have
just taken too long. I tried to compromise by cutting and pasting the text
from the old document which had been crashing, but I cut and pasted only the
text, while leaving the paragraph marks within the old file. (I read
somewhere that documents corruptions are often stored in the paragraph marks).

In order to format the document, instead of recreating all the styles, I
imported styles I had already created using the style ‘organiser’ function.

Perhaps this cutting and pasting and importing of styles defeats the purpose
of creating a new ‘normal.dot’ template. However, given the length of the
things I’m working on, it was the only viable possibility open to me.

This new document, based on the new ‘normal.dot’ template, worked fine for a
while. Quite a while actually. Then, last night, just before I stopped I ran
into problems again.

I had been working on the new document based on the new ‘normal.dot’
template. And I had left another old document open which had been crashing.
With this new and this old document open things went smoothly, and Word did
not crash.

Then, just before quitting, I had to open another old document, which had
crashed in the past. I cut a small amount of text from it, without the
paragraph mark, and pasted it into the new document based on the new
‘normal.dot’ template. Then, when I began typing again in the new document,
Word froze and crashed again. I experienced the same pattern. Quick typing,
and then a freeze, followed by Word scrolling automatically, followed by
almost 100% CPU usage, then a crash, with no error message.

Although up until that point I had been slowing my typing down, as you
suggested, I seemed to be typing quickly and inaccurately again, and using,
at the moment of the freeze, the SHIFT+Number keys, and also the CTRL+Arrow
keys (which might explain Word’s scrolling up or down the document. Also,
I’ve tried to recreate the crash with keyboard shortcuts, but I haven’t been
successful).

Also, I’m wondering if opening an old document could have brought on the
crash of the new document based on the new ‘normal.dot’ template. In any
case, as you’ve said before, it’s bizarre. And, unfortunately, Word is
becoming very difficult to work in: sometimes it works, and then sometimes it
crashes unpredictably.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Steve

"Terry Farrell" wrote:

So it sounds like rapid navigation using keyboard shortcuts is the possible
trigger for the lockups. That would certainly point towards a couple of
possibilities: a graphics driver problem or hitting the wrong keyboard
combo. Check with the graphics support site to see that you have the latest
driver and try installing or reinstalling the graphics to eliminate that
from the problem.

I guess when you navigate, you are using the arrow keys and Ctrl+End,
Ctrl+Home and similar combinations to navigate. How about try using the
mouse to navigate for a while to see if that stops the problem. If it shows
that it is the navigation that is the problem, maybe we can find a keyboard
combination that is the root cause.

Terry

"Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2CC5FCCB-8F71-462B-A6FE-03E6FFAE674E@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hello Terry,
>
> And thanks again for your prompt reply. I had found Graham Mayor's > pages
> about 'What to do when Word crashes'. I did follow his tips, as you
> suggest,
> and today again, as I said, while working in 'Safe mode', I experienced
> the
> same freeze and crash.
>
> I'm no expert, but I agree that it seems strange indeed.
>
> The machine I'm experienceing the problem on is a fairly new laptop > which
> stands alone and is never hooked up to any network (only the Internet). > I
> run
> XP home SP2.
>
> Is there a pattern to the crashes? A good question. Perhaps there is. > Here
> is what I've noticed.
>
> It seems to me that the freeze always happens at more or less the same
> moment. I can end up typing very quickly, but also quite badly, in the
> sense
> that I often hit two or more keys at the same time. As I'm doing this, > I'm
> thus backtracking within the line and/or paragraph to correct my > mistakes,
> and I do so using keyboard shortcuts. Sometimes it seems like I hit the
> arrow
> key at the same time as the Ctrl key on my keyboard, or another key, > and
> then
> everything freezes and Word scrolls quickly up or down the screen,
> stopping
> and freezing again before crashing. What I'm trying to say is that any
> 'pattern' I seem to detect is related to this rapid typing, to the keys
> used
> quickly and together, and sometimes perhaps not very precisley. This is
> the
> only 'pattern' I can detect, but it is nevertheless a pattern.
>
> Would this be enough to corrupt the document 'in progress', and even in
> 'safe mode'? Would there be some vicious, hidden shortcut that brings > this
> on?
>
> To answer your other queries: only one problematic file contains a > table,
> and a very short table at that (two tables in fact, spanning a total of
> two
> pages out of a grand total of 60 pages in the file). All the documents
> exhibiting the problem are 'similar' in that they contain the same
> personalised paragraph and character styles, and have text and > paragraphs
> copied between them. Again, the freeze and crash occurs even in safe > mode,
> and even with all the temp stuff that G. Mayor mentions cleaned up.
>
> If I'm following things correctly, the question seems to be: What on > earth
> is causing the document to corrupt?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Steve
>
> "Terry Farrell" wrote:
>
>> It doesn't sound like virus or malware - but then I'd never guarantee
>> that!
>>
>> However, this is really a strange problem. It would suggest that the
>> document is corrupting at some point. Is there any pattern to when >> this
>> happens? Are you maybe creating or working on similar documents with >> long
>> tables? Is this all on a standalone PC or a networked PC?
>>
>> As you have had the problem occurring frequently, I suggest that the >> next
>> step is to clean up your system of any abandoned temp files. See the
>> following FAQ for how to clear up after Word.
>>
>> http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm
>>
>> Terry
>>
>> "Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:DC70C562-109E-47A6-B238-59E9BF9A60FA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > Hello again Terry,
>> >
>> > News just in... I tried exactly what you suggested, and booted Word >> > in
>> > Safe
>> > mode, and worked like that for a while. But Word appears not to be >> > any
>> > more
>> > stable in Safe mode. After about an hour or so, I encountered the >> > same
>> > problem: Word freezes up, hitting any key makes the program scroll
>> > rapidly
>> > through the document, the screen freezes again, it's impossible to >> > do
>> > anything, and then Word just shuts itself down, closing all open >> > Word
>> > documents.
>> >
>> > No warning is given, and no error messages shows up.
>> >
>> > Also, I'll add that if I go into task manager (or whatever it's >> > called
>> > in
>> > English) by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, this program will indicate to >> > me
>> > that
>> > Word is not responding. But, again (and even in Safe mode), it >> > crashes
>> > all
>> > on
>> > its own and I get no error message.
>> >
>> > I've just downlowded Microsoft's malware removal program (as Charles
>> > suggested) and run a full system scan, but no infected files were
>> > picked
>> > up.
>> >
>> > I'm baffled.
>> >
>> > Steve
>> >
>> > "Terry Farrell" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Steve
>> >>
>> >> That makes a big difference <g>
>> >>
>> >> Try starting Word in Safe Mode and testing it to see if it is >> >> stable.
>> >> That
>> >> should narrow down the field of possibilities. To start in Safe >> >> Mode,
>> >> from
>> >> Start, Run, type in
>> >>
>> >> winword /a
>> >>
>> >> and press enter. Word will start in Safe Mode where it bypasses all
>> >> add-ins,
>> >> templates, macros or any other third party changes or >> >> customisations.
>> >> Try
>> >> opening and working on one of your documents now to see if it this
>> >> stabilises Word. This will give us a better idea of the area of the
>> >> problem.
>> >>
>> >> Terry
>> >>
>> >> "Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> >> news:26F3D046-C524-40BF-ADE4-4ADF49EF22F1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> > Hello Terry,
>> >> >
>> >> > And thanks for your quick reply.
>> >> >
>> >> > Unfortunately, my comment about the printer was completely
>> >> > misleading.
>> >> > I
>> >> > added it (a little too hastily) just before I hit 'post', and I >> >> > what
>> >> > I
>> >> > meant
>> >> > to say was that I'm not connected to a NETWORK printer. I was
>> >> > reading
>> >> > on
>> >> > the
>> >> > MVP help page entitled 'Problems Opening Word' that a network
>> >> > printer
>> >> > can
>> >> > sometimes be the source of problems, and I wanted to make it >> >> > clear
>> >> > that
>> >> > it
>> >> > wasn't so in this case. I do have a default printer, whose driver >> >> > is
>> >> > up
>> >> > to
>> >> > date. And, in any case, Word opens fine, and works fine for a >> >> > while,
>> >> > before
>> >> > it decides to freeze and then crash, quite erratically. (It >> >> > doesn't
>> >> > do
>> >> > it
>> >> > every time, just sometimes, and just enough to make it very >> >> > annoying
>> >> > indeed,
>> >> > because Word doesn't always 'recover' the documents I'm working >> >> > on
>> >> > after
>> >> > it
>> >> > crashes).
>> >> >
>> >> > Any other ideas would be much appreciated.
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks in advance.
>> >> >
>> >> > Steve
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > "Terry Farrell" wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> Uninstalling and reinstalling is usually a complete waste of >> >> >> time.
>> >> >> But
>> >> >> from
>> >> >> what you say, printer seems to be the probable cause. Word MUST >> >> >> see
>> >> >> a
>> >> >> default windows printer to work correctly. So make sure that you
>> >> >> have
>> >> >> the
>> >> >> latest driver and install a printer and set it as the Windows
>> >> >> default.
>> >> >> Let
>> >> >> us know if this is resolves the problem or if you need further
>> >> >> help.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> -- >> >> >> Terry Farrell - MS Word MVP
>> >> >>
>> >> >> "Steve" <Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> >> >> news:1B273DB7-6582-41F4-A21D-3D85FB71B03F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> >> > Hello,
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > I’ve been using a version of Word contained in Office 2000
>> >> >> > Professional
>> >> >> > for
>> >> >> > about 4 years now without any problems (except the ‘usual’
>> >> >> > formatting
>> >> >> > headaches, for which I’ve found help here). I first used it >> >> >> > on
>> >> >> > Win
>> >> >> > 98,
>> >> >> > and
>> >> >> > I’m now using XP Home SP2.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Recently, Word started acting strangely indeed. As I type, the
>> >> >> > program
>> >> >> > suddenly freezes, without any warning. Then, hitting any key
>> >> >> > appears
>> >> >> > to
>> >> >> > make
>> >> >> > Word scroll very quickly through the document, until it >> >> >> > suddenly
>> >> >> > freezes
>> >> >> > up
>> >> >> > again. The program then appears to take up most of the CPU >> >> >> > usage,
>> >> >> > and
>> >> >> > the
>> >> >> > computer’s fan turns up to high speed. It’s impossible to >> >> >> > do
>> >> >> > anything
>> >> >> > in the
>> >> >> > document and, within a few seconds, or perhaps longer (it >> >> >> > seems
>> >> >> > to
>> >> >> > depend),
>> >> >> > the program just crashes without any warning, and all open >> >> >> > word
>> >> >> > documents
>> >> >> > close.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > I de-installed Office, as well as its the corresponding >> >> >> > registry
>> >> >> > keys,
>> >> >> > and
>> >> >> > after shutting down the computer, etc., I re-installed Office. >> >> >> > I
>> >> >> > thought
>> >> >> > this
>> >> >> > would make the difference... but it didn’t. My Word >> >> >> > documents
>> >> >> > still
>> >> >> > exhibit
>> >> >> > the same behaviour. And it’s become very annoying indeed.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > After de-installing and re-installing Office I was a little
>> >> >> > surprised
>> >> >> > to
>> >> >> > see
>> >> >> > that, when opening Word after the re-installation, my old
>> >> >> > customised
>> >> >> > toolbars
>> >> >> > were showing instead of the default ones (nothing fancy, just
>> >> >> > reduced
>> >> >> > down
>> >> >> > to
>> >> >> > the icons one uses most often). I didn’t quite understand >> >> >> > why
>> >> >> > this
>> >> >> > was,
>> >> >> > but
>> >> >> > might it be a clue as to why Word is still acting in the same
>> >> >> > way?
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > I’ve checked out some comments and some help pages linked to
>> >> >> > through
>> >> >> > the
>> >> >> > discussions here (‘Corrupt documents’ and ‘What to do >> >> >> > when
>> >> >> > word
>> >> >> > crashes,
>> >> >> > etc.), but I can’t seem to find anything similar.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Thanks in advance,
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Steve
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > (P.S.: I’m not connected to a default printer).
>> >> >>
>> >>
>>


.

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