Help please?

M

Mike Yorke

ok, this has confused all of us.

We have decomissioned an old server which used to be our
file store. We moved all the files to a new server
(which has a different name of course). This was fine
and everything worked well until we powered down the old
server. When this was done about 20 minutes later we
started getting calls from users who were unable to open
certain word documents. Word would launch but hang, the
file never opened and the application would eventually
stop responding. We cant identify why it is only some
Word doc's and not all. Whenever we restart the server
the problem goes away. The documents could be really old
or very new, and most are likely to have been created
from shared templates. All problem clients are windows
XP/office XP with all the latest service packs and
patches relavent to each.

But, this is where it gets strange.

We installed Windows XP fresh on a new PC and tried to
open the problem files using Wordpad, they opened fine.
Then we install a fresh copy of Office XP and the problem
occoured. It appears Wordpad will open the document fine
on any machine. Once opened on Wordpad we can save the
document as the same name (overwriting the old) and then
Word WILL open it successfully.

What is going on?

It's obviously got something to do with our old server
being on but we don't know what. There are no references
or links in these documents to other documents. The only
connection to this old server is that they were created
from templates stored on it.

This is a tuffie to explain so please e-mail me if you
think you can help but need more info.

any helpful suggestions very welcomed.

Mike.
..
 
B

Beth Melton

Hi Mike,

More than likely the documents are searching for their attached
template and it is unable to located it due to the server change.

btw, WordPad doesn't recognize an attached template so there is no
need to perform the search.

Luckily you using Windows XP and Word 2002 as there is now a hotfix
available for this problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=823372

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
M

Mike Yorke

Beth,

Spot on! this is exactly our problem. I checked the
registry and I alrady have the registry key described in
the Microsoft article. I haven't applied the patch yet
(which needs to be requested and cannot be downloaded).

I tried amending the key but it didn't affect the delay
time as I had hoped. The microsoft article does says the
delay may not be reduced.

When we move one of the problematic documents to a
completely standalone laptop the document opens fine (and
quickly). Why then, when opened from a Pc on our domain,
is it trying to resolve the name of our non-existant
server? We downed the server and removed all reference to
it from our WINS servers but the document is still taking
a long time to open.

Can you suggest what else we could try to reduce the
delay when opening the documents.

Or, is the a script or batch process to amend lots of
Word documents which we could run on our network?

thanks very much for your time, we really appreciate it.

Mike.
 
B

Beth Melton

Hi Mike,

The reason there is no delay on the laptop is because it isn't
connected to the network. If you disconnect the workstation from the
network you'll also find the documents open quickly. Word is smart
enough to not go searching for what can not be found, but without the
patch if the workstation is connected to a network it will search for
the attached template.

You should be able to obtain the hotfix immediately after calling.
I've obtained several of them and the process is fairly easy.

Call 1-800-936-4900 and tell them you are requesting the hotfix
described in KB823372. Obtaining a hotfix is free support.

That would be my first suggestion - since we have begged MS to provide
a fix for this problem. The more that call to obtain the fix the more
that need it justified. :)

Also note the Reg key will not be active if you do not have the
hotfix. Basically the hotfix adds another variable for Word to test
upon opening a file. If the variable is not accommodated within the
Word program then the Reg key will not be recognized or utilized. The
added Reg key without the hotfix doesn't hurt anything - but it
doesn't do anything either.

The Word MVPs came up with a few workarounds before the patch was made
available - but they aren't the best. The most recommended advice is
to recreate the server names and copy the templates so Word is able to
find attached template.

Of course that is not always feasible so the next alternative is to
modify the code in the Workaround section of the KB article to loop
through a folder and change the attached template, however can be time
consuming.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
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