WD97: Optimizing Microsoft Word 97

ID: Q160068

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

The following issues affect overall Word performance.

If you are unfamiliar with a term used in this article, see the glossary at the end of this article.


MORE INFORMATION

System Requirements for Word 97

To use Microsoft Word 97, you need the following:

  • Personal or Multimedia computer with a 486 or higher processor.


  • Microsoft Windows 95 operating system or Windows NT Workstation 3.51 with Service Pack 5 or later (will not run on earlier versions). To use Microsoft Word 97 with Windows NT Workstation 4.0, you must install Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later.


  • 8 megabytes (MB) of RAM for use on Windows; 16 MB of memory for use on Windows NT Workstation.


  • 20-60 MB of hard disk space required; 46 MB required for typical installation, depending on configuration (use the Office Upgrade Wizard during Setup to maximize free disk space).


  • 8 MB of additional memory required to run WordMail.


NOTE: See the product literature or the Ofread8.txt and Wdread8.txt files for a complete list of requirements. Both files are included on your CD in the Office folder.

Increase RAM

The amount of memory Word 97 needs to run at top speed depends on a variety of factors, such as how many other applications are running at the same time and what types of operations Word performs. When other applications are competing for memory, you can usually improve performance significantly by running with more than the required amount.

Word requires 8 MB of memory for use on Windows 95 (8 MB of additional memory required to run WordMail). However, for best performance on Windows 95, if you plan to run additional applications 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 will yield the most dramatic improvement to Word's operating speed. If your computer has 16 MB or more of RAM, Word will run faster, and you will also be able to run another large application (such as Microsoft Excel) at the same time and interact with it from Word.

TIP: Make sure that you aren't using any of your RAM for a RAM drive.

Use Disk Defragmenter to Speed Up Your 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 helps to minimize the area on the disk in that Windows 95 needs to look for information. As with any such utilities, always make back up copies of important files before you run the program. For more information about using Disk Defragmenter or other third-party disk optimization software, see your Windows or third- party documentation.

Optimize Virtual Memory Use

NOTE: Unless you are an advanced user, it is recommended to let Windows 95 manage your 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, an application sees a large, continuous block of primary memory (RAM) that, in reality, is a much smaller block of primary memory supplemented by secondary memory (such as a hard disk). To temporarily free up 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 95 swap file is dynamic, so it can shrink or grow based on available disk space and the operations 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 containing the swap file has ample free space so that the swap file size can shrink and grow as needed.

In Windows 3.x, enhancing performance by changing virtual memory settings is quite common. Because the Windows 95 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've already tried deleting unnecessary files, and you still have a performance problem, try changing the Windows 95 default virtual memory settings.

If you have more than one drive available, you may get better performance if you specify that Windows locate the swap file on a drive other than the default in the following cases:
  • If the default drive doesn't have much free disk space, and another local drive has space available.


  • If another local drive is available that is faster than the current drive (unless that disk is already heavily used).


You also may get better performance if you specify the minimum disk space available for virtual memory to be at least 25 MB minus available RAM. For example, if a computer has 12 MB of RAM, you should specify at least 13 MB of virtual memory. You may want to specify more if several large applications will be run at the same time.

For information about changing Windows 95 virtual memory settings, see the "virtual memory settings" topic in Windows 95 Help.

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

The more fonts installed in Windows, the slower Windows and many applications 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. 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, when Word needs to perform some complex actions, fonts use additional memory and file resources.

Consider Setting Your Monitors to Use Only 16 or 256 Colors

Set your computer's 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 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 16 to 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 video memory requirements for different video resolutions in Windows 95, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q132328 Description of Video RAM Required for Higher Resolutions

Work with Word and Files on Uncompressed Drives

You can use DriveSpace or other third-party utilities to compress both hard and floppy disks to create more free space for files. While these utilities increase the disk space available to you, they can slow performance of software 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 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 most likely will not experience performance degradation after compression software is installed.

For additional information, please see your third-party documentation or if you are using DriveSpace, the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q97741 Optimizing DoubleSpace on Your Computer

Work with Files on a Local Disk, Not From Floppy Disk

Running Word from or working with files located on a floppy disk may be slower than working from a local hard disk. Avoid working on files located on a floppy disk. Copy them locally instead.

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

For converted documents, turn off Use Printer Metrics to Lay Out Document 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 on by default in converted documents to preserve exact Word 95 or 6.x 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 the Compatibility tab.


  2. Select Microsoft Word 6.0/95 from the Recommended Options for box.


  3. Select or clear the Use printer metrics to lay out document check box.


Don't Use Wallpaper on a Low-Memory Computer

If the Windows desktop has a wallpaper (full-screen background) bitmap and the computer has only 8-12 MB installed memory, replace the wallpaper with a solid color or pattern bitmap, or no bitmap at all.

Use Background Save and Background Print

Background Save:

To continue working in Word while you save a document, turn on the background save option. Keep in mind that background save uses additional system memory; if you need to conserve system resources, you may want to turn off background save. To change the background save option:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Save tab.


  2. 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.

    NOTE: If Word can't save a document in the background (for example, if you don't have enough hard disk space or if you're saving a document to a floppy disk), Word saves the document in the foreground instead.


Background Printing:

Select the Background Printing option that best fits the way you work. With Background Printing turned on, your document prints a bit more slowly, but you can continue working in Word while your document prints. With Background Printing turned off, your document prints quickly, but you cannot work in Word until the print job is finished. To change the Background Printing option, do the following:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Print tab.


  2. Select or clear Background printing check box.


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. Clear the Check spelling as you type and Check grammar as you type check boxes.


Saving to Word 95 or 6.x

You may find the need to save your Word 97 documents to Word 95 or 6.x format, so you can share documents with users of those versions of Word. In Word 97, you have the option to save the document using the Microsoft Word 6.0-95 converter. However, if you want to increase speed when dealing with Word 95 or 6.x documents, you may want to install the Microsoft Word 97 converter on the computer using Word 6.0 and 95. This way the conversion is done in Word 7.0 for Windows 95 or 6.x; this method of conversion may be faster than saving to Word 6.x/95.

To use the Word 97 converter after you install it, start Word 7.0 or Word 6.x, and then open a Word 97 document. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q162214 WD: How to Obtain the Word 97-2000 Import Converter

Change Your View and View Settings

View:

In Word, work in normal view instead of page layout view whenever possible. In page layout view, Word takes longer to redraw the screen and repaginate the document. To change to normal view, click Normal on the View menu.

View Settings:

Use Picture Placeholders if your document contains extensive graphics. This option displays a blank box in place of each graphic in your document. To change the Picture Placeholders option, follow these steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab.


  2. Select or clear Picture Placeholders check 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, graphics as empty boxes; this option is only available in normal view.

To change the Draft Font option use the following steps:
  1. Switch to normal view (on the View menu, click Normal).


  2. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab.


  3. Select the Draft font check box.


Adjust Your System to Speed Up Printing

If you print large documents that take several minutes to print, disable any screen savers during the print job or switch to a blank screen saver.

Animated screen savers use computer processor time that you can allocate to a print job. For more information, see your screen saver Control Panel program or documentation.

Print 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).

NOTE: Some printers do not support this option.

To change the Draft output option, follow these steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Print tab.


  2. Select or clear Draft output check box.


If you don't need to continue working while Word is printing, turn off the Background Printing option in Word.

This option allocates processor time to Word during a print job so 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 you work. With Background Printing turned on, your document prints a bit more slowly, but you can continue working in Word while your document is printing. With Background Printing turned off, your document is printed quickly, but you cannot work in Word until the print job is finished. To turn off the Background Printing option, use the following steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Print tab.


  2. Clear the Background printing check box.


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. In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Options.


  3. Click the Journaling tab.


  4. Clear all of the check boxes in the dialog box.


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. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Settings and click Control Panel.


  2. Double-click Mouse.


  3. Click the Pointers tab.


  4. Set the Scheme to None.


Increase Cache Size

Increasing the cache size from the default amount of 64 kilobytes (KB) may allow you to check spelling and edit documents across a local area network.

To use the RegOptions macro, follow these steps:
  1. On the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins.


  2. Click Add. Select the following folder:
    Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Macros


  3. Select the Support8 template (Support8.dot). Click OK twice.


  4. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.


  5. Click to select the RegOptions macro, and then click Run.


  6. Click the Word 8.0 Options tab. Click to select CacheSize. In the Setting box, type "1024" (without the quotation marks). Click OK.


  7. Quit and restart Word.


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 graphic 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.

conventional memory

The base RAM on your computer, typically the first 640K. Conventional memory is the only kind of RAM that MS-DOS-based applications can use, unless you use an expanded memory manager (EMM). Compare expanded memory, extended memory.

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 applications use to display information on the screen and to print information on your printer.

expanded memory

A type of physical RAM, up to 8 MB, usually used by MS-DOS-based applications that support its use. Windows does not use expanded memory. In Windows, if you run an MS-DOS-based application (such as Microsoft Word 6.0 for MS-DOS) that requires expanded memory, Windows emulates expanded memory (if you are running in standard mode, Windows uses the EMM386.EXE device driver to emulate expanded memory). The use of expanded memory is defined by the Expanded Memory Specification (EMS). Compare conventional memory, extended memory.

extended memory

Physical RAM beyond 1 MB, accessible when your computer is operating in protected mode (the mode that supports multitasking). Extended memory operates through a memory manager such as MS-DOS Himem.sys. Windows uses extended memory. Extended memory is not typically available to MS-DOS- based applications except through a device driver such as Emm386.exe. The use of extended memory is defined by the Extended Memory Specification (XMS). Compare expanded memory, conventional memory.

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 Windows creates on your hard disk that it 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 applications can process files that would otherwise be too large to fit in physical RAM. Windows uses swap files to create virtual memory.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

www.microsoft.com on the World Wide Web

Check http://www.microsoft.com for additional information, tips, and tricks.

Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit

The Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit has a chapter devoted to performance tuning that discusses topics such as the relation of performance to processor type, hard disk speed, memory (RAM), and conventional memory tuning. This chapter is a good resource for understanding the issues involved in configuring your PC for optimal performance. Other topics include Installation, Networking, Systems Management, Systems Configuration, Communications, Windows 95 Reference, Windows 95 Appendixes, a Guided Tour for Administrators, and Resource Kit Utilities. 

   Microsoft Corporation
   1348 pages with one CD
   ISBN: 1-55615-678-2

Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit

Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit is the definitive guide to installing, configuring, and supporting Office in your organization. Designed for system administrators, consultants, and power users, this guide offers complete coverage whether you're running Office in Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation version 4.0. 

   Microsoft Corporation
   1008 pages with one CD
   ISBN: 1=57231=329=3

Additional query words: configure optimize optimal set up enhance performance

Keywords : word97
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: July 12, 1999
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