Office apps taking a long time to close after 12.2.3

[K.B.]

I'm running 10.6.2 and just upgraded to 12.2.3

I'm noticing that most Office apps take a long time to close (up to 10
seconds at times) and they spike the CPU to 100%.

Anything I can try to troubleshoot this?

-Kevin

 

[CyberTaz]

Not seeing anything like that here... Have you repaired disk permissions
since installing the updates?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[K.B.]

Ok first I did repair permissions....not problems there and it did not help.

After poking around I think I *may* have found what is causing it and I'm
not sure if it's new in 12.2.3 or not.

Basically what I am seeing is, if I open only 1 of the Office apps, and then
close that app, shutdown takes a while. However, if I open more than one
app, I can close each of the apps other than the first one I opened and they
close instantly. Closing that first one takes up to 10 seconds still (and
spikes the CPU).

After looking in Activity monitor I notice something. Whenever you open one
of the Office apps, Office launches the process "Microsoft AU Daemon".
Presumably this is the Auto Update daemon that is launched with whatever app
you open first.

I think the issue is tied to Office trying to close the AU Daemon when the
last app (or the App that the Daemon is tied to, being the first one I
opened) is closed.

This happens on both of my machines, so I know it's not machine specific. I
tried adjusting the Auto Update settings, but nothing changes Office
launching that process when the first app is launched.

Any thoughts?

-Kevin

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Kevin;

You've done some rather extensive research, but I can't say I'm having the
same result here. All Office apps Quit in what I'd consider to be "normal"
time frames regardless of which apps or how many I have open. I've tested it
on my G5 running Tiger as well as my Intel MBP running 10.6.2 with no
discernable difference between the two.

Assuming that there may be some relation to AU one question would be whether
it's fully updated as well. It certainly should be up-to-date but check in:
HD/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU 2.0
to confirm that you have the 2.2.0 version.

Did you update to 10.6.2 from Software Update? If so, you might try fetching
the Combo version from Apple Downloads & installing that over the current
update. The Combos do a much more reliable job of cleaning house... FWIW, I
never let SU update the OS. I always wait for the Combo & retrieve it, which
is exactly what I did this time. I don't know that it will make a difference
but there must be some reason for the delay, and what you're actually
referring to is an OS operation.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[K.B.]

Bob,

I just checked and both machines are running version 2.2.0 of MAU.

I have this happening on both my Mac Pro 2006 and my MacBook.

With my Mac Pro, I did install 10.6.2 via Combo update.
With my MacBook, I installed 10.6.2 via Software update.

For both, I installed the Office 12.2.3 update through MAU. Think I should
try applying the update from the download?

-Kevin

 

[K.B.]

Well...looks like I can't re-install 12.2.3 because the installer won't let
me.

C'mon Microsoft, why?

-Kevin

 

[Diane Ross]

For both, I installed the Office 12.2.3 update through MAU. Think I should
try applying the update from the download?

The download version is much larger. I expect it will go back over older
files and update them.

If you still have problems after this, test in a new User. If it's still
slow in the new User, then I would re-install Office.

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the
New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching. Test Office there.

 

[K.B.]

Diane,

Same exact behavior on a new user created on my MacBook, so it's not a
preference setting in my User.

Sadly, from my previous post, Office installer won't let me install 12.2.3
on top of 12.2.3 (like the OS X Combo updates allow).

I'll probably have to go through re-installing Office to test this.

-Kevin

 

[CyberTaz]

Well, I don't know that doing so would make any difference -- both of my
12.2.3 updates were applied via MAU, so it doesn't seem like that would be
the culprit... I'm just at a loss as to what it might be. I was only
grasping at the MAU straw based on your reference to the possibility of the
Daemon shutting down being related to the program quitting slowly.

Does it seem to be any one program that quits sluggishly?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[K.B.]

Bob, the program that quits sluggishly is always the one that is opened
first.

So if I open (in this order):
- Word
- Excel
- Entourage

I can close either Excel or Entourage and they close instantly. No matter
when I close Word.....it will be slow to close

If I open in this order:
- Excel
- Entourage
- Word

Again, I can close Entourage or Word and they close instantly. Closing
Excel is sluggish.

Opening any ONE program....and closing it, it is sluggish (because it's the
first program open).

I really can't explain it either as seems to have nothing to do with a
particular program, just whichever program is opened first. The other odd
thing is it's happening on 2 different machines.

Anyway.....I'm reinstalling Office on my MacBook to see if that fixes the
issue.

-Kevin

 

[K.B.]

Well, I removed Office on my MacBook. Trashed it. Restarted without login
items.

Installed Office
Installed 12.1.0 from the offline .dmg
Installed 12.2.3 from the offline .dmg

Same thing happening.

I'm at a loss now.

-Kevin

 

[CyberTaz]

Just when you think you've seen it all...

Seriously, though, I don't recall ever having seen anything of a similar
sort. Based on the extent to which you've gone so far it obviously isn't
attributable to any one program or any one user account. I considered the
possibility of a mildly corrupt Entourage Database, but for that to occur on
both systems at the same time is a coincidence that defies my imagination...
The same is true for a possible font issue or anything else that might be
remotely worth consideration. I'm still leaning toward an OS factor but I
haven't a single peg on which to hang that hat.

Please let us know how the reinstallation goes... This one needs to be
dog-eared for the archives

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[CyberTaz]

I just saw this as I sent my last... If by "Trashed" you literally mean
exactly that I'm not surprised that it had no effect. If you don't follow
the prescribed procedure & use the Remove Office utility reinstalling never
does correct anything... It just forces you to reapply all the updates.

If you didn't do the full removal have a look here:

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/RemoveReinstall.html

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[K.B.]

Interesting. I was basically following these directions:
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/install/reinstall_steps.html

Which mimic directions given to me from Dave Pelton at Microsoft back when I
had the 12.1.5 update issue.

Does using the remove Office tool leave all the registration/preferences
intact?

-Kevin

 

[K.B.]

Bob,

Let me be clear that I don't have to have Entourage running to have this
happen. I just used that as an additional program.

I can recreate with just opening:

Word
Excel

And closing Excel first closes instantly. Closing Word is sluggish.

I'm guessing that a partially corrupt Entourage DB shouldn't be a problem if
it's not running?

-Kevin

 

[Diane Ross]

Same exact behavior on a new user created on my MacBook, so it's not a
preference setting in my User.

Do one last test for me. Use Safe Boot to log into your account. Is it
better or same?

Hold down Shift key when powering up your computer.

<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564>

"Remove Office" does not remove everything.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/install/remove_office.html>

I also need to update this for Snow Leopard. You need remove the
com.microsoft....plist files in this folder. (In the Finder toolbar under
Go, paste in this path: )

/private/var/db/receipts

 

[CyberTaz]

Diane's response pretty much answers the remove/install questions, but
either of the described methods are fine. It's just that some users have the
impression that Trashing the Office folder itself is all that need be done
before reinstalling.

As to the Entourage Database, my understanding is that most all of the
Office apps access it in some fashion.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[K.B.]

Diane,

Ok couple of things:

1) I safe booted my MacBook. No change. Still had sluggish issues closing
the first opened app.

2) So the remove Office does what exactly with 2008 on 10.6?

3) Can you describe exactly what you'd like me to do to remove Office and
reinstall? Whatever instructions you give me, can you tell me if it's going
to cause all my prefs and settings to be lost?

Thanks.

-Kevin

 

[K.B.]

Bob,

On the clean user account, there wouldn't have been an Entourage database
because I didn't open it. I just tested with Word and Excel and had the
same issue.

-Kevin

 

[Diane Ross]

1) I safe booted my MacBook. No change. Still had sluggish issues closing
the first opened app.

Shoot! I was hoping that would help and give us a clue on what is causing
the problem.

2) So the remove Office does what exactly with 2008 on 10.6?

You can always look in the trash to see what was removed. This page explains
what's not removed.

3) Can you describe exactly what you'd like me to do to remove Office and
reinstall? Whatever instructions you give me, can you tell me if it's going
to cause all my prefs and settings to be lost?

Before we have you re-install Office, let's look at your base files. What
OS?

If it's Leopard, then download and install the latest combo updater and see
if that helps. If it's Snow Leopard, then re-install Snow Leopard from the
DVD. It installs like a combo. You'll be back at 10.6.0. You'll need to
update using the 10.6.2 combo updater.

Another factor is the font issue and cache files for Snow Leopard.

Mac OS X 10.5.8 Combo Update (For both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs )
<http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mac_OS_X_10_5_8_Combo_Update>

Snow Leopard: Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update (Combo

<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL959>