Microsoft Word Tips, Tricks & Templates » template

How to Reduce Huge Microsoft Word Documents

Editor — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:41:00 +0000

Last week we showed you how Bullet Lists can crash MS Word documents, especially if you cut and paste from several different documents. We outlined some techniques to reduce the file size, mostly by creating pre-formatted bullet lists and re-creating bullet lists the correct way.

How to fix Corrupt & Damaged MS Word files

But what happens if you’re given a document that’s already oversize and looks like it will damage your Word settings?

Here’s what to do.

Open the document in Microsoft Word.
Cut and paste every graphic from the document into an image-editing tool, such as Snagit. Create a naming convention, (e.g. Page1-A.gif, Page1-B.gif etc) and name each graphic using the same naming convention.
WARNING: DON’T SAVE THE FILE YET!
In Word, select File, Save As HTML.
Name the file with an HTML extension, e.g. Proposal.html and then Exit Word.
Re-open Word.
Select File, Open and open the Proposal.html file.
Now, save the file using File, Save As. In other words save Proposal.html with a .doc extension, e.g. Proposal.doc.
TIP: This process of converting the Microsoft Word file into HTML and back into Word, removes unnecessary (usually corrupt) code in the file and will significantly reduce the file size.
Insert the images back into the document.

I’ve seen Word files larger than 20 MB reduced to less than 3MB in less by using this technique.

Might be worth a try!

The reason you don’t save the file at Step 2 is because this would trigger Word into action (e.g. I WILL now save this file etc) and as it.

Did this work for you?

Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter.

How to Force Word to Close after it Crashes

Editor — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:05:00 +0000

Word crashed. But when you go to re-open it, it refuses to do so. What’s happening here and how do I fix it.

How to Force Word to Close after it Crashes

When Word crashes, the Winword.exe file may still be running behind the scenes. I know.

If it is running, why won’t it open? There is no easy answer to this but here’s how you can get it re-started.

What you have to do is close this the Winword.exe before you re-open Word as otherwise system conflicts may arise, i.e. you may not be able to open Word, as the system sees that Winword.exe is currently running.

To close Winword.exe let’s use the Task Manager

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the Windows Security dialog box, click Task Manager.

2. On the Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe, and then click End Process.

3. Close the Windows Task Manager, and then re-start Word.

Final Tip

One final tip here is that when you re-open Microsoft Word, make sure that the files you were looking for can be opened.

If you have difficulty with this, please take a look at this very detailed tutorial over on the Klariti site.

How to Open and Repair a Damaged Word file

Editor — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:46:51 +0000

You can “force” Word to recover a document after it has crashed. Microsoft Word tries to automatically recover a damaged document if it detects a problem with the file. Here’s how.

Microsoft Word tries to automatically recover a damaged document if it detects a problem with the file.

When this happens, it will re-open Word and show you a version of the document – before it crashed. It may also show you a second version of the document, which will be a second version of the document, usually recovered with the ‘autosave’ function.

How to Recover Text from a Crashed Word file

1. Open Word, and in the File menu, click Open.

2. In the File of type list, click All Files *.*.

3. In the Open dialog box, select your document.

4. Point to the arrow on the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

This will open the Word file.

The style and formatting may be slightly damaged but you will have most of the text and can, at least, use it to rebuild a new document.

One final suggestion is to copy the material into a new Microsoft Word document, just in case there is some gremlin in the recovered document.

Does this work for you?

Let me know if your system is different. I’m on XP and use 2003 & 2007. Maybe XP is different.

Office 2003 to 2007 User Interface Guides

Editor — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:06:11 +0000

If you’ve just moved to Microsoft Word 2007 and wondered, “where are all the file menus gone?”, then these reference guides might help.

Reference Guides

You can find more helpful Word guides and tips here: John R. Durant’s WebLog

RichEdit hyperlinks, automatic hyperlinks (autoURLs) and friendly name hyperlinks

Editor — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:03:20 +0000

Murray Sargent’s blog, Math in Office, focuses on mathematics in Office along with some posts on RichEdit. For those who use math calculations, Murray’s insight is worth reading.

RichEdit has two kinds of hyperlinks

Automatic hyperlinks (autoURLs) —automatically recognized by RichEdit as a hyperlink and is displayed as a URL.
Friendly name hyperlinks — this hyperlink has a name, which is displayed, and a hidden instruction part that contains the actual URL.

The first autoURLs appeared in RichEdit 2.0, which shipped with Office 97, and have the usual web form, such as, http://www.msn.com.

The permitted URL protocols were http:, file:, mailto:, ftp:, https:, gopher:, nntp:, prosper:, telnet:, news:, wais:, and outlook:.

RichEdit 7, which ships with Office 2010, adds recognition for spaces in URLs without needing enclosure in <>. It also adds recognition of telephone numbers, drive-letter paths, email addresses, and URLs enclosed in ASCII double quotes “”.

Link:

Read more about Automatic RichEdit Hyperlinks here.

http://blogs.msdn.com/murrays/archive/2009/08/31/automatic-richedit-hyperlinks.aspx

3 Reasons Why Microsoft Word Documents Become Corrupt

Editor — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:53:29 +0000

Here are three reasons why Word documents become corrupted.
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1. Round-tripping

One of the main causes of document corruption is when a document is converted from one format to another and back repeatedly. Word to RTF to Word or Word to Excel and back into Word.

This is called round-tripping. It gives Word a nervous breakdown. Avoid Round-tripping at all cost!

If not, your chances of document corruption increase greatly – it is no longer if the document will corrupt, it’s when.

2. Copying from Disks/CDs/Flash Disks

Another common cause of document corruption is storing, accessing, and saving a file from CD or flash drive. A CD is useful for transporting files, but once you are ready to work on the file again, be sure to save the file to your computer’s hard drive.

3. Word Macro Virus

Another sign that will appear to be indicative of corruption can actually be the result of infection by a macro virus. A macro virus works like a conventional computer virus, but takes advantage of Word’s structure and functionality to replicate and trigger when certain events occur.

Many macro viruses are only nuisances and don’t cause any damage, but some can be quite dangerous.

How to create your first Word template

Editor — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:51:43 +0000

How do I get Word to open with my favorite font and the exact size that I want refer to use? The easiest way to do this is to create a new template. It’s very easy. A template lets you create your own custom settings and get straight into writing your docs without having to waste time select fonts, sizes, heading and what not. Here is how it works.

Open Word 2003.
Click File New or Ctrl + N.
On the pop-up window, select the Template box under ‘Create New.’
Click OK.
Create your new blank template. Change the headings, fonts, bullet points etc
Click CTRL + S to save the template.
Name the template and click OK.

Use this file the next time you start your documents.

Open a blank document.
Create your new blank template. Change the headings, fonts, bullet points etc
Click CTRL + S to save the template AND then
Select ‘Word Template’ next to the ‘Save as type‘ drop-down option.
Name the Template and click OK.

The next time you want to use this template, open it from where you saved it and then name the file when you want to save it. The new file will be a regular .doc file, while your template will be a .dot file.

If you ever ‘lose’ your template, search your PC for *.dot.

The * means everything and the .doc is for the template. This command search across all drives in search of that elusive file.

Any problems, drop me a line.