Microsoft KB Archive/239431

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PSS ID Number: 239431

Article Last Modified on 12/11/2003


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 2000


This article was previously published under Q239431

For a Microsoft Word 97 version of this article, see 160068.


SUMMARY

This article explains items that affect the overall performance of Microsoft Word.

If you are not familiar with a term used in this article, please see the glossary at the end of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

System Requirements for Word 2000

To use Microsoft Word 2000, your computer must meet the following minimum requirements:

  • Processor: Pentium 75 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor, or a compatible processor.
  • Operating system: Microsoft Windows 95 operating system or later, Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or later, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows XP.
  • Memory for Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me): 16 MB of RAM for the operating system, plus an additional 4 MB of RAM for Microsoft Word.
  • Memory for Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 Service Pack 3 or later, or Microsoft Windows 2000: 32 MB of RAM for the operating system, plus an additional 4 MB of RAM for Microsoft Word.
  • Memory for Windows XP: 128 MB of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported) for operating system, plus an additional 4 MB of RAM for Microsoft Word.
  • Available hard-disk space: 146 MB for Microsoft Word 2000. This figure indicates a default installation; your hard-disk usage varies depending on your computer's configuration and the options that you choose to install. Choices made during a custom installation may require more or less hard disk space.
  • Disk drive: CD-ROM drive
  • Monitor: VGA or higher-resolution monitor; Super VGA recommended
  • Pointing device: Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse, or compatible pointing device

To use all of the features available in Word 2000, it is recommended that you have the following additional items and services:

  • Internet connection through DSL, cable, or modem: 9,600-baud modem minimum; 14,400-baud modem or higher recommended.
  • Multimedia: Multimedia computer required for sound and other multimedia effects
  • E-mail: Microsoft Exchange client or Microsoft Outlook required to run Office e-mail
  • Additional memory: 8 MB of additional memory required to run Office e-mail
  • Internet: Some Internet functionality may require Internet access and payment of a separate fee to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Local charges may apply.

Increase RAM

The amount of memory that Word 2000 needs to run at top speed depends on a variety of factors, such as how many other programs are running at the same time and what types of operations Word performs. When other programs are competing for memory, you can usually improve performance significantly by running with more than the required amount of RAM.

Word requires 4 MB of memory (8 MB of additional memory required to run Office e-mail with Word as your e-mail editor). However, for best performance on Windows or later, if you plan to run additional programs simultaneously, additional memory may be required.

If you regularly work with large documents (50 pages and larger) or use many graphics or embedded objects in your documents, adding RAM yields the most dramatic improvement to the operating speed of Word. If your computer has 32 MB or more of RAM, Word runs faster, and you also can run another large program (such as Microsoft Excel) at the same time and interact with it from Word.

TIP: To ensure that all of your computer's RAM is available for use by the operating system and software programs, make sure that you are not using any of your RAM for a RAM drive.

For additional information about how to increase the RAM on your computer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

259184 How to Increase the Memory Capability of Your Computer


Use Disk Defragmenter to Speed Up the Hard Disk

You should occasionally use a utility such as the Windows Disk Defragmenter to defragment the hard disk. You can use Disk Defragmenter to rearrange files and unused space on your hard disk, so that programs run faster. This and other third-party disk optimization software help to minimize the area on the disk in that Windows needs to look for information. As with any such utilities, always make backup copies of important files before you run the program.

For additional information about the Windows Disk Defragmenter utility, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

186171 Description of the Disk Defragmenter Tool in Windows 98/Me


227463 Disk Defragmenter Limitations in Windows 2000


294743 How to Provide Event Logging for the Disk Defragmenter Utility with Windows Script Host


305781 HOW TO: Analyze and Defragment a Windows XP Disk


309191 OFFXP: Office Stops During Setup: Troubleshooting Steps on Windows XP


231176 Running Windows Disk Defragmenter Requires Administrator Privileges


Optimize Virtual Memory Use

Note Unless you are an advanced user, it is recommended that you let Windows manage the Virtual Memory Settings option on the Performance tab of the My Computer property sheet. You should use the default virtual memory settings whenever possible.

With virtual memory, a program sees a large, continuous block of primary memory (RAM) that, in reality, is a much smaller block of primary memory that is supplemented by secondary memory (such as a hard disk). To temporarily free space in RAM, blocks of data (called pages) are moved between RAM and a swap file located on the hard disk.

By default, the Windows swap file is dynamic, so it can shrink or grow based on available disk space and the operations that are performed on the system. Also, the swap file can occupy a fragmented region of the hard disk with no substantial performance penalty. A dynamic swap file is usually the most efficient use of resources. The simplest way to ensure high virtual memory performance is to make sure that the disk that contains the swap file has ample free space, so that the swap file size can shrink and grow as needed.

In some earlier versions of Microsoft Windows, enhancing performance by changing virtual memory settings is quite common. Because the Windows swap file is dynamic, the need to change virtual memory settings is less common. However, in some situations, adjusting virtual memory settings can improve performance. If you already tried deleting unnecessary files, and you still have a performance problem, try changing the Windows default virtual memory settings.

If more than one drive is available, your computer may perform better if you specify that Windows locate the swap file on a drive other than the default drive in the following cases:

  • If the default drive does not have much free disk space, and another local drive has more space available.
  • If another local drive is available that is faster than the current drive (unless that disk is already heavily used).

Your computer also may perform better if you specify that the minimum disk space available for virtual memory is at least twice the size of available RAM. For example, if a computer has 20 MB of RAM, you should specify at least 40 MB of virtual memory. You may want to specify more if you want to run several large programs at the same time.

For information about changing Windows virtual memory settings, see the "virtual memory settings" topic in Windows Help.

For additional information about optimizing virtual memory in Windows XP, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182086 How to Clear the Windows Paging File at Shutdown


307886 HOW TO: Move the Paging File in Windows XP


123747 Moving the Windows Default Paging and Spool File


199340 OFF2000: Office Programs Require Virtual Memory


Set Your Computer to Use Fewer Fonts or to Use a Font Organizing Utility

The more fonts that are installed in Windows, the slower Windows and many programs start, because these programs read the entire font list at startup. Word does not process the font list at startup; however, the impact of a large number of fonts may be felt at other times, such as the first time you print or preview your document. In addition, certain dialog boxes (such as the Font dialog box or the Insert Symbol dialog box) take longer to appear the first time in a session with a large number of fonts installed in a system. Furthermore, Word may use additional memory and file resources when it needs to perform some complex actions when multiple fonts are used.

Consider Setting Your Display Monitor to Use Only 256 Colors

Set your computer monitor to use the correct video driver for faster screen display. You may not need the highest resolution video driver and the up-to-16-million colors that your video driver supports. Additional color support in a video driver can dramatically decrease the speed of screen updates when you scroll or update graphics.

For writing reports and working with spreadsheets, you may need only 256 colors, so you can switch to a video driver that supports a lower resolution and fewer colors. You can always switch back if there is no change in performance or if your work requires additional video capabilities.

For additional information about memory requirements for different video resolutions in Windows, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

132328 Description of Video Ram Required for Higher Resolutions


For additional information about changing your display settings for troubleshooting purposes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

173570 Troubleshooting: How to Change to 640 x 480 x 256 Colors


Work with Word and Files on Uncompressed Drives

You can use DriveSpace or other third-party utilities to compress both hard disks and floppy disks to create more free space for files. Although these utilities increase the disk space available to your computer, they can slow performance of software that is running from that drive, especially if the compression utility is not optimized.

The primary reason for performance degradation while running compression software such as DoubleSpace or DriveSpace is that each time a read or write is made from or to the hard disk, data must be decompressed or compressed. This decompression or compression of data places additional demand on the processor in your computer. Computers with faster processors may not experience performance degradation after compression software is installed.

For additional information about how to determine whether your computer has a compressed hard disk, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

193051 How to Determine If a Hard Disk Is Compressed


For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307987 HOW TO: Use File Compression in Windows XP


Work with Files on a Local Hard Disk

Running Word from a floppy disk or network drive or working with files located on a floppy disk or network drive may be slower than working from a local hard disk.

Always avoid working on files located on a floppy disk. Instead, copy the file to your local hard disk and then open the copy on your hard disk in Word to make changes. After you complete work on the file, save your changes and close the file before you copy the file back to its original location.

To Improve Scrolling Speed, Turn Off "Use Printer Metrics to Lay Out Document"

For converted documents, turn off the Use printer metrics to lay out document option to improve scrolling speed. With this option off, Word scrolls faster because the program does not need to check printer settings to calculate formatting and layout.

Note This option is turned on by default in converted documents, in order to preserve exact Word for Windows 95 or Word 6.0 for Windows document formatting. Turning off this option may cause minor changes in line wrapping or document pagination.

To change this option, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click to select the Compatibility tab.
  2. Select Microsoft Word 6.0/95 in the Recommended Options for box.
  3. Click to clear the Use printer metrics to lay out document check box.
  4. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

For additional information about the "Use Printer Metrics to Layout Document" option, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

193266 WD2000: Word Compatibility Options Described


Do Not Use Wallpaper on a Low-Memory Computer

If the Windows desktop has a wallpaper (full-screen background) bitmap, and the computer has only 20 MB of installed memory, replace the wallpaper with a solid color or pattern bitmap, or no bitmap at all.
To change the selected wallpaper, follow these steps:

  1. In Windows, right-click on the desktop.
  2. Select Properties on the shortcut menu.
  3. On the Background tab, choose a solid color wallpaper, or select None for no wallpaper at all.
  4. Click OK.

Use Background Saves

To continue working in Word while you save a document, turn on the Allow background saves option. Keep in mind that background saves use additional system memory. If you need to conserve system resources, you may want to turn off Allow background saves. To change the background saves option, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Save tab.
  2. Click to select or clear the Allow background saves check box.

Note When Word saves a document in the background, a pulsing disk icon appears on the status bar. If Word cannot save a document in the background (for example, if you do not have enough hard disk space or if you are saving a document to a floppy disk), Word saves the document in the foreground instead.

Turn Off Background Spelling and Grammar Checking

Background spelling and grammar checking allows Word to show you misspellings (red wavy underlines) and grammatical errors (green wavy underlines) while you are typing. On some systems, this can cause your system to respond slower than normal.

To turn off background spelling and grammar checking, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
  2. Click to clear the Check spelling as you type and Check grammar as you type check boxes.
  3. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Use the Word 97-2000 Converter Instead of Saving to Word for Windows 95 or Word 6.0 for Windows

You may need to save your Word 2000 documents to Word for Windows 95 or Word 6.0 for Windows format, so that you can share documents with users of those versions of Word. In Word 2000, you have the option of saving the document as Word 6.0/95 (*.doc).

However, if you want to increase speed when you share files with Word 95 or Word 6.0, you may want to install the Microsoft Word 97-2000 converter on the computer that is running Word 6.0 or Word 95. This way, the conversion is done in Word 7.0 for Windows 95 or Word 6.0; this method of conversion may be faster than saving as Word 6.0/95 (*.doc).

To use the Word 97-2000 converter after you install it, start Word for Windows 95 or Word 6.0 for Windows, and then open a Word 2000 document.

For additional information about the Word 97-2000 Import Converter, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

162214 WD: How to Obtain the Word 97-2000 Import Converter


Change the View in Word and View Settings

Use one or more of the following suggestions to optimize the view in Word and your view settings:

  • Work in normal view instead of print layout view whenever possible. In print layout view, Word takes longer to redraw the screen and repaginate the document. To change to normal view, click Normal on the View menu.
  • Use Picture Placeholders if your document contains extensive graphics. This option displays a blank box in place of each graphic in your document. To select the Picture Placeholders option, follow these steps:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click to select the View tab.
    2. Click to select the Picture Placeholders check box.
    3. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
  • Use the Draft Font option to speed up screen display in documents with extensive formatting and graphics. This option displays most character formatting as underlined and bold, and graphics as empty boxes. This option is only available in normal view. To select the Draft Font option, follow these steps:
    1. On the View menu, click Normal.
    2. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click to select the View tab.
    3. Click to select the Draft font check box.
    4. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Adjust Your System to Speed Up Printing

Use the following suggestions to optimize your system for printing.

  • If you print large documents that take several minutes to print, turn off any screen savers during the print job, or switch to a blank screen saver. Animated screen savers use computer processor time and may take time away from the processing of your print job. For more information, see your screen saver Control Panel program or documentation.
  • Print by using the Draft Output option. This option prints the document with minimal formatting, which makes the document print faster (this option is ideal for printing proofs).

    To change to the Draft Output option, follow these steps.

    Note Some printers may not support this option.
    1. On the Tools menu in Word, click Options, and then click to select the Print tab.
    2. Click to select the Draft output check box.
    3. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
  • Select the Background Printing option that best fits the way that you work. With Background Printing turned on, your document is printed somewhat more slowly, but you can continue working in Word while your document is printed. With Background Printing turned off, your document is printed quickly, but you cannot work in Word until the print job is finished.

    This option allocates processor time to Word during a print job, so that you can continue working while Word is printing; however, this means less processor time is available for printing. Select the Background Printing option that best fits the way that you work.

    If you do not need to continue working while Word is printing, turn off the Background Printing option in Word by following these steps:
    1. On the Tools menu in Word, click Options, and then click to select the Print tab.
    2. Click to clear the Background printing check box.
    3. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
  • Printing speed in Microsoft Windows 95/98 is measured in one of two ways:
    • Return to application (RTA) speed. This is defined as the length of time from when you click Print to when you regain control of the system.
    • Printer page drop speed. This is defined as the length of time from when you click Print to when the print job is complete.

    You can affect each of these speeds by changing spool settings. To change spool settings, follow these steps:

    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
    2. Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Properties.
    3. Click to select the Details tab, and then click Spool Settings.

    For faster Return To Application speed, follow these steps:

    1. Click Start printing after first page is spooled.
    2. In most cases, click to select EMF as the spool data format.

      Note PostScript printers support only the RAW spool data format.

    For faster printer page drop speed, do either of the following:

    • Click to select Print Directly To The Printer.

      Note If the local printer is being shared, Print Directly To The Pinter is unavailable. To resolve this, stop sharing the printer.

      -or-
    • Click Start printing after last page is spooled. In some cases, this option prevents laser printer engines from turning on and off during a print job.

Turn Off Outlook Journaling

Outlook journaling tracks documents as they are closed or saved. On some computers, this may create a noticeable delay during the close or save process. Outlook journaling is turned on by default when Outlook is installed. To turn off Outlook journaling, follow these steps:

  1. Start Microsoft Outlook.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. On the Preferences tab, click Journal Options.
  4. Click to clear all of the check boxes in the Journal Options dialog box.
  5. Click OK to close the Journal Options dialog box.
  6. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Change the Windows Desktop Theme

Changing your Windows Desktop Theme may increase system performance, although the increase may not be noticeable on some systems. To change the Windows Desktop Theme, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Desktop Themes.
  3. Change the Theme box to Windows Default.
  4. Click OK.

To change the Windows Desktop Theme in Windows XP, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Change the computers theme.
  3. In the Theme box, select Windows Classic, and then click OK.

Turn Off the Mouse Scheme

Turning off the animated mouse scheme increases system performance, although the increase probably is not noticeable. To turn off the mouse scheme, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Mouse.
  3. Click to select the Pointers tab.
  4. Set the Scheme to None.
  5. Click OK.

To turn off the mouse scheme in Windows XP, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware.
  3. Click Mouse.
  4. In the Mouse Properties dialog box, click the Pointers tab.
  5. In the Scheme box, click (None), and then click OK.

Increase BitMapMemory

The BitMapMemory option allows you to set the maximum size of the Word bitmap cache (in KB). If you use many graphics in your documents, a larger bitmap cache may improve scrolling and screen redraw speed. When this option is set to 1, Word automatically adjusts the bitmap cache size.

Note The BitMapMemory option depends on the total amount of RAM that is installed on your computer system. It is possible to increase the BitMapMemory option too much, which may result in degraded system performance in Word.

Use the RegOptions macro that is contained in the Support9.dot file to change the BitMapMemory option. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. In Word, click Open on the File menu.
  2. In the Open dialog box, change the Look in box to the following folder:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Macros

  3. Click to select Support9.dot and then click Open.

    If the following Security Warning message appears, click Enable Macros:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Macros\Support9.dot

    contains macros by
    Microsoft Corporation

    Macros may contain viruses. It is always safe to disable macros, but if the macros are legitimate, you might lose some functionality.

  4. In the Support9.dot file, click Sample Macros, and then click Registry Options.
  5. On the Word 2000 Options tab, click to select BitMapMemory. In the Settings box, type the amount that you want to increase the BitMapMemory to, and then click Close.

    For example, type 1024 and then click Close.
  6. On the File menu, click Close to close the Support9.dot file.
  7. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Word.
  8. Restart Microsoft Word 2000.

For additional information about the Support9.dot file and how to install and use it, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

237356 WD2000: How to Access Sample Macros for Word 2000


Increase Cache Size

The CacheSize option allows you to set the size of the Word file cache (in KB). You may be able to improve the speed of file I/O and other operations in Word by increasing the cache size. The minimum and default cache size is 64 KB.

Note The CacheSize option depends on the total amount of RAM that is installed on your system. It is possible to increase the CacheSize option too much, which may result in degraded system performance in Word.

Use the RegOptions macro that is contained in the Support9.dot file to change the CacheSize option. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. In Word, click Open on the File menu.
  2. In the Open dialog box, change the Look in box to the following folder:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Macros

  3. Click to select Support9.dot, and then click Open.

    If the following Security Warning message appears, click Enable Macros:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Macros\Support9.dot

    contains macros by
    Microsoft Corporation

    Macros may contain viruses. It is always safe to disable macros, but if the macros are legitimate, you might lose some functionality.

  4. In the Support9.dot file, click Sample Macros, and then click Registry Options.
  5. On the Word 2000 Options tab, click to select CacheSize. In the Settings box, type the amount that you want to increase the cache size to, and then click Close.

    For example, type 1024 and then click Close.
  6. On the File menu, click Close to close the Support9.dot file.
  7. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Word.
  8. Restart Microsoft Word 2000.

Download Web Pages Faster by Not Generating Graphics Images

This procedure is recommended if your document will be viewed in a Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later, that supports VML (Vector Markup Language). When graphics files are not downloaded each time you open a Web page, the document takes less time to save in HTML, uses less disk space, and takes less time to download in a Web browser.

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
  2. Click Web Options, and then click the Pictures tab.
  3. Under File formats, select the Rely on VML for displaying graphics in browsers check box.

Glossary

Bitmap: A graphic made up of a collection of colored dots. The computer stores the graphic as one or more bits of information for each dot; hence the name bitmap. Some file name extensions for graphics files that are bitmaps include .pcx, .tif, .bmp, and .gif.

Compressed drive: A drive that has had its data compressed to take up less space. Special software must be running in the system to read from and write to a drive that is set up this way.

Driver (Windows printer or video driver): Software that Windows loads at startup. Drivers give Windows specific instructions about your video card and printer that Windows and Windows-based programs use to display information on the screen and to print information on your printer.

Pagination: The arrangement of a document's layout, specifically where page breaks fall within a given document.

RAM: Acronym for random access memory. This is the memory on semiconductor chips in your computer, not on the hard disk. The more RAM you have, the more programs you can run at the same time and the faster your programs may run.

Swap file: A file that Windows creates on your hard disk and uses to swap information into and out of memory. Windows uses the swap file to create virtual memory.

Virtual memory: Also called disk memory. Virtual memory is not in the RAM chips. It is space on the hard disk that your computer uses as if it were RAM. With virtual memory, your programs can process files that would otherwise be too large to fit in physical RAM. Windows uses swap files to create virtual memory.

REFERENCES

Microsoft Web Site

For additional information, tips, and tricks for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Word, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com


.

Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit

Microsoft Corporation
1,348 pages with one CD
ISBN: 1-55615-678-2


Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit

Microsoft Corporation
1,792 pages with one CD
ISBN: 1-57231-644-6


Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit

The Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit is designed for administrators, information technology (IT) professionals, and support staff who deploy and support Microsoft Office 2000. It features a comprehensive set of tools to assist you with installation, configuration, and Web services, as well as in-depth documentation of strategies and techniques that you can use to support Office 2000 in your organization.

Microsoft Corporation
875 pages with one CD
ISBN: 0-7356-0555-6


Note There is no resource kit for Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me).

Microsoft Windows XP Resource Kit

http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/5566.asp


Microsoft Press, CD, 1699 Pages
ISBN: 0735614857 Copyright: 2001



Additional query words: configure optimize optimal set up enhance performance

Keywords: kbinfo KB239431
Technology: kbWord2000 kbWord2000Search kbWordSearch kbZNotKeyword2



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