Word Hesitates as I type

[jdkoerner]

Running Word 7 and Windows 10:

Word now hesitates between letters when i type, backspace, and delete. In those later two functions, the letters don't more in a continuous, scrolling fashion, and they never get to the point where whole words are being deleted.

I have unchecked "allow background saves", without results. I have run Word diagnostics and passed all five. I have erased the existing normal.docx. Note: this only happens in word and no other word processing program, or here, for example. It never happen before with this version. I can find nothing in task manager to suggest I am overwhelming the memory.

Finally, it is less pronounced when working with .doc documents, but it still exists.

[Guessed]

What addins do you have running? This would be the first place to look.

If you open Word while holding down the Ctrl Key (and elect to open in Safe Mode) do you see the same lagging behaviour? If not, then it is definitely an addin or template causing the problem.

[jdkoerner]

And if yes? I now strongly suspect that the problem has to do with some style changes I that I saved not "only in this document" but rather "new documents based on this template". However, older docx that I have on file, written by someone else, also exhibit this behavior.

[Guessed]

I would be very surprised if the styles have anything to do with the lagging?

So you are saying that the problem persists in safe mode? And it shows up in some files but not others? In that case, post one of these docx files that shows the problem and we can have a look to see if there is something special that might cause the problem.

[jdkoerner]

That won't be possible, as so far the only document to exhibit this behavior should never see the light of day, never mind a public forum. I did create a fresh template from the ground up; the doc in question was using an inherited template, but a doc with all the style changes I always use, so over time who knows what's stuck to it. I then attached the brand new template the problem doc -- and it didn't help. I am now going to start a fresh doc from the fresh template and see how that goes.

Side question: I attempted to get rid of normal.dot to see if that was the problem, and I've always just renamed it so as not to lose it. And yet, when I named it Bnormal, it vanished from the folder, never to be heard from again. Should I have called it normalB? And for that matter, should I dreg up a normal.dot from before the problem started and swap it in for the current normal.dot?

[Guessed]

Details matter in trying to solve your problem - if you can't be accurate in describing your issue and don't want to supply a sanitised sample doc then there isn't much we can do to help.

Your story varies a bit - "so far the only document to exhibit this behavior" vs "However, older docx that I have on file, written by someone else, also exhibit this behavior" & "is less pronounced when working with .doc documents"

Normal.dot implies the template is not Word 2007 in its format. I would expect Word 2007 to be using Normal.dotm
You can rename the Normal to anything you like. If a file with the 'right' template name is not found in the User Templates folder it will be regenerated automatically when opening Word. Word itself is not responsible for a file named Bnormal vanishing from a folder - that is more likely to be a PEBKAC issue or possibly caused by a macro which may have been inadvertently run.

[jdkoerner]

Attached is the sample file with the hesitation issue.

[Guessed]

The file doesn't show any lag when I type into it so I still don't think the styles are the issue.

I'm still of the opinion the problem lies in your attached template or addins. Since you have some files that don't lag and others that do - this is a strong indication that the attached template is the issue rather than an addin.

Your profile says you are using Office 2007 but the attached template is a dot file (the old file format). Perhaps you should try changing the attached template to see if the speed returns.

[macropod]

jdkoerner: Please keep your posts on a single topic in one thread. I've merged the two you created for this.

[jdkoerner]

I did so only because I thought that was the way to make use of the attachment feature.

[macropod]

You can attach files to any post via the paperclip symbol on the 'Advanced' posting screen.

[jdkoerner]

Now that we've cleared that up, did you get the sample doc and can you see what the problem is? I've found that the easiest way to see it is to hold down the delete key and see whether the characters flow to the cursor in a continuous manner, and then delete from word to word, which never happens in the document in question. Conversely, you get the same effect in backspace: a discontinuous flow of characters.

[macropod]

As Andrew already indicated, there was no lag on his system. Likewise on mine. Hence, the document isn't the problem.