December 21, 2005

• I'm assuming during all of what you listed above you rebooted the machine? If not, give it a try.
• Alas, machine has been rebooted time and again. Apparently, this has been going on for weeks - I'd thought it solved, but it was just the co-worker not complaining about it.
• When the text finally shows up, does it catch up to you? In other words, does it show everything you've typed since you started, or just the stuff you typed since it's decided to start typing?
• Just the stuff typed before the clicking, backspacing or entering, in that case. As for showing up on its own, it does that at its own pace. It never shows real-time typing (except the rare occasion, such as [sometimes] in a fresh document, or right after an Option has been changed, but that's only for a few words).
• *cough* buy a mac.
• sexyrobot, we have a critical piece of software which has not been upgraded for four years. Macs aren't even not in the cards; there aren't any cards.
• Use the Windows task manager go to the processes tab, sort by CPU usage, and see what is busy in the lag-time. If, for instance, it's MS Office Shortcut and CPU eater, disable that. If it's your Anti-Virus software (temporarily) disable that. If it's fast-find indexing, kill that. If it's gator, get anti-spyware apps and use them like ID uses religion.
• Found this article that says it may have something to do with the anti-virus software. Other things to try: -Log into the PC as a different user and see if it happens. -Start word in safe mode. That is, run "winword.exe /s". -Update the video drivers? (Long shot, but any display related things always make me want to update the display drivers...)
• Okay, here's what happened: - Disabled Anti-virus, no change - Updated video drivers, no change - Logged in as Administrator, and even though there were a couple of delays, it worked well. However, that's the first time Administrator had logged on to that computer, and Word had to configure itself before running. The delays on Administrator went away after one key was held down for a few seconds & letter was repeated for a line or so. I logged back into the user's account and tried the same thing. It worked, but only until Enter was pressed, and didn't work after doing this a few times. Pressing Enter seemed to be the start of the problems this time - when a document was created, the cursor blinked normally and type showed up fine, until Enter was pressed. - Tried it in safe mode, with the same results as above.
• Yeah, it sounds like a display driver issue rather than configuration of the word software. I've also seen weird things happen when spyware is on a system, such as explorer not opening or other seemingly inexplicable side-effects. The obvious thing would be to punch a few keywords into the MS help database and see if there's anything in the guides there. Others are certain to have experienced this. In fact, I have a vague memory of seeing something like it myself in the distant past. Disinfect the computer, is first step.
• McCroft, I'd checked the processes earlier, and everything looked fine. No obscene usage or anything. I do have a few processes I want to check out, but haven't had time to do that yet. I'll do that now.
• All the processes checked out just fine. Chy, he frequently runs spyware detection programs & virus scans. I almost wish it were one of those, though...
• minda, a few other things to worry about, from Paranoia U: 1: hard disk corruption. Run the appropriate tools 2: a bad font. Maybe, and it's quick to test. 3: a keylogger app. Anti-Virus/anti-spyware/firewall software may be needed, if it's not in place.
• MCroft (sorry for the earlier mistype!), the first thing that popped into my head at your mention of fonts is that documents default to 113%. Hmmm... I'll check on the disk as well, as we have identical computers from the same place, and mine went out earlier this year. I'm in the process of getting Spybot on his computer (I don't like Spyware Doctor, and he already uses AdAware).
• *cough* buy a mac. I 2nd that
• Cries of buy a mac are not helpful and in context constitute trolling, so STFU.
• Whenever anyone has problems with IE, I always am one of the first to yell "Get Firefox!", so it's karma in this instance.
• Haven't you noticed, Chy? Macs are bug free and smell like babies and roses. All those support forums for Mac users are dead wastelands of the internet, and Steve Jobs' shit don't stink. Hyperbole aside, did none of the Mac evangelists notice that minda's problem is one that she and her co-worker have no power over when it comes to selection of platform? Geez, guys, go grind your axe in a thread where it's even REMOTELY context-appropriate.
• Well, I'm loading up Spybot Search & Destroy now, and will run that in a minute. After that, I'm going home. I do have a bit more to tell, but will leave it alone for tonight. Thanks all for your advice & assistance today, tech monkeys!
• Do they have screen magnifier software installed?
• I'm going to take a guess here that you are a small shop but what is the chance of doing a clean re-build of the machine? I know that it sounds like a sledgehammer approach to the problem but my experience has been that 4+ hours chasing something as inexplicable as what you describe would be best treated with a re-image so you can move on. If that isn't an option you could do a system restore to a point in time prior to the problem and see where that gets you.
• I had a similar problem on an earlier version of Word, years ago, that eventually traced to a corrupt normal.dot file. And I realize that just saying that is not much help--but eventually, what I came to realize is what DrMoxie recommends. If it is not now your practice, you should consider making it so--reimage the hard drive. The outlook settings can be saved in a .pab file (I think that's it--but Outlook help can tell you how to backup settings and mail); finally, if you've had one hard drive crash recently and the PCs are all similar models of same vintage, that could be your most likely culprit. Backup, backup, backup religiously, and replace the HD.
• Cyren Chimaera, kiss my ass, no seriously. My point is the App is crashing BECAUSE of the platform it runs on. Also, I suggest using OOo, M$ apps suck and DO crash frequently. BSOD anyone? I can say that the 60 plus PCs with windows I administer crash daily under heavy use (yes the Apps and the OS crash thanks to the M$ crappy API) and the only way we've been able to solve the problem is to ghost the systems nightly. So every morning when my customers come in they have a fresh load of Win XP. I'm going to take a guess here that you are a small shop but what is the chance of doing a clean re-build of the machine? I know that it sounds like a sledgehammer approach to the problem but my experience has been that 4+ hours chasing something as inexplicable as what you describe would be best treated with a re-image so you can move on. If that isn't an option you could do a system restore to a point in time prior to the problem and see where that gets you. You see there is no FIXING of windows. You can edit the registry and download patches and updates but they will only keep the problem at bay temporarily. They will not fix it. You can't fix something that's inherently broken. So my suggestion is valid by saying either restore / re-image weekly or nightly OR BUY A MAC. Given the problem the least headache free way to solve that allows you the most flexibility is to buy a mac. Also now that Mac OS X has been released for Intel (on developer boxen) and subsequently hacked to run on "beige" PCs if your PC has the right specs and if you have a little time you can run Mac OS X i86 on your PC. I personally think in a year or so we'll see OS X i86 being sold legally on the shelves of PC World and Compustore for PC owners. If that happens you'll see windows fanboys turning coat and RUNNING to their nearest point of purchase to buy it.
• > I can say that the 60 plus PCs with windows I administer crash daily under heavy use buy 60+ macs!
• Livewire are you drunk? Or just naturally stupid? Because minda said SHE CAN'T REPLACE THE FUCKING COMPUTERS you dumbass.
• If it worked okay as another user it might be something messed up with that user's profile. What I would do: Log in as a different user and rename the problem user's profile folder in C:\Documents and Settings\. When the user logs back in it will create a new folder for the profile. You can then copy things back like favorites and desktop files and shortcuts and start menu things. You will have to recreate the Outlook profile, but really that's much less effort the rebuilding the PC. Not that rebuilding is a bad idea, but if it's a small office then it could take some time. And if the new profile doesn't help then rebuilding is an option. Also, as someone mentioned, the normal.dot file could have something wrong with it. This file is located in c:\documents and settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\ You can copy the file from the Administrator's profile into the other user's profile. That might help as well. So I guess the bottom line of things I'd do should be in the following order: 1. Replace the normal.dot file. 2. Recreate the user's profile. 3. Rebuild the PC. Seems like there might be some other steps in there, but they're escaping me at this early hour of 8:30am. Let us know how it goes?
• Here's my idea: replace the computers with a different model, such as a "MacApple" or whatever.
• Here's my own experience with the Mac/PC debate. Macs may not have the SAME bugs as PC's using Windows, but they're not bug-free. I used a Mac for a year at my current job (I learned on both simultaneously back in school; it was a lot easier to find a free machine in the lab if you were flexible) and had no end of trouble. It was a relatively new machine, and it never crashed or froze, but quite often it just plain didn't do what it was supposed to. It refused to talk to the printer or network, and routinely wasn't able to open files I had created on the same machine. Our admin, a Mac expert, would stare at me blankly and say, "You're not having those problems. You can't. You're using a Mac. Macs don't have network problems." When the opportunity arose, I fobbed the machine off on a junior and got a new Dell with Windows XP and haven't had any problems since.
• I'm confused. Why doesn't she just hire a whole bunch of illegal immigrants to handwrite her documents? Or she could get a psychic to telepathically send the documents to the person they're intended for.
• I suggest you download Ubuntu Linux and burn a live CD. Then rub the CD on your genitals and do the Dance of the Fairy People. Do two shots of bourbon and urinate on a potted plant. That'll fix it.
• normal.dot corruption is probably the issue here if you get the exact same thing happening when logging in as a different user. Delete normal.dot, or copy it from a computer that is working properly. Could also try doing the Office auto-repair (add remove programs, find Office in the list, click "remove or repair" and have it re-run setup). Long shot possibilities: borked keyboard? Easy enough to try. Mucked up motherboard? Man. Possible, maybe. Messed up memory? Also a possibility. LivewireConfusion wrote: "I personally think in a year or so we'll see OS X i86 being sold legally on the shelves of PC World and Compustore for PC owners. If that happens you'll see windows fanboys turning coat and RUNNING to their nearest point of purchase to buy it. " At which point you'll FINALLY see how stable Mac OSX is when Apple doesn't have 100% control over the hardware. You know how stable Windows would be if Microsoft dictated exactly which hardware everyone running Windows had to use? Do you realize how stable MS is DESPITE the fact that people install it on home-built hunks of crap?
• Apparently you should listen to Livewire, minda. Windows is a lost cause. How could any company possibly ever find time to do actual work since Windows is such a deeply flawed platform that your company will surely sink under the mire of having to pay people like Livewire to watch your computers crash, day and night, always disrupting operations so badly that your company's single biggest fiscal expenditure is the fact that you need three full-time admins to just keep each computer from going Blue Screen of Death on an hourly basis. I get it already, Livewire, Windows isn't as good as Macs or Unix. As a matter of fact, I agree with you, but all I see is you spouting "Repent, for the END IS NIGH!" when minda just wanted some advice on a weird bug -- a bug that, as you said, most likely lies with a flaw in the OS or Word itself, but she's not exactly in a position to do ANYTHING but adapt and work around it. Windows is not the best operating system out there, but it is the reality that nearly all of us must work within to get our jobs done. You can go all Pat Robertson on our asses and tell us that every problem we have is because of our sins. You can keep telling us that, but my point remains from my posting above: pick a thread where your views are context-appropriate, and a few people JUST might listen to you. Right now, all I see is the Anti-Windows Evangelist rebuking us all for our sins. I don't just sit quietly and take it from Christian Evangelists without making my case, and I'm not just going to sit quietly and take it from you without making my case.
• If you want to live in sindows, that's your own problem. Don't come crying to me when Jesus comes back and kicks your ass with his blazing hot kung-fu fists of justice.
• I'm confused. Why doesn't she just hire a whole bunch of illegal immigrants to handwrite her documents? You're not suggesting that she gets herself a Macxican, are you? Because we've already established that she can't fu... Never mind.
• Don't come crying to me when Jesus comes back and kicks your ass with his blazing hot kung-fu fists of justice. Mothra. You meant to write Mothra.
• And I'm most certainly not going to kiss your ass, Livewire, nor have I ever asked you to kiss mine.
• I can say that the 60 plus PCs with windows I administer crash daily under heavy use... Every company I've worked for used PCs running Windows under heavy use and never had problems like you describe. I can only assume the problem has something to do with the administrator.
• Bert to the rescue! Also, I will be replacing his normal.dot with mine. He'll get a bonus, too: a one-of-a-kind date-inserting Macro! w00t! ;o) We've been thinking about a rebuild for a while now. Honestly, these computers are a bit over 4 years old, and are having normal old-computer problems. Some heavy maintenance would be very nice, but I'm the one who'll have to do it and unfortunately I just don't have the time for it. I have about a million jobs at this comany, so quite often things that should get done wait for a long, long time.
• minda, I think the solution is to replace you with a macbot. Please report to the dismantlation cubicle for reassignment of your functioning components.
• Well, he's busy and won't have time to muck about with it right now. I pouted, but it didn't work :o( I did, get an explanation as to why we won't be able to upgrade to Macs for the forseeable future: they don't support AutoCAD, which is absolutely essential to our business. However, there is some sort of program/setting/something that can be loaded that will help with that, but in order to have AutoCAD run properly we'll have to get high-end G5s. The cost of the machines + replacing all our PC software with Mac software would be astronomical, and not at all feasable for a five-person Interior Design company.
• Quid, that sounds wonderful; I could use a break. But, which one of us gets to carry the baby? I already suffered through the first trimester, so it's not fair for Mrs. Up and Coming to get the fun of the second. She can have the third, though.
• "I can say that the 60 plus PCs with windows I administer crash daily under heavy use..." Um, hmmm... At the risk of starting a "My network is bigger than your network" flame war, the 500+ network I run does not have that issue. For the most part things run along smoothly and our biggest problems are failing hardware and the ATM circuit going down. Sure, like any other system problems do crop up but re-imaging each machine on a weekly basis? I dare say something would be wrong with the base image and/or hardware. Properly configured and administered Windows will run fine just like OSX or any flavor of *nix. My point about re-imaging is that often a sysadmin will spin their wheel trying to solve an issue of gremlins when the best course of action is often to just back up the user files (which ought to be on the network) and start over. The more I read it looks like this is a small shop so the suggestion of testing the profile is a good place to start though I would also seriously look into using the XP system restore feature to roll it back to a time prior to the problem. FWIW, I am a Ubuntu user at home.
• Perhaps the Mac gods can arrange for a port of AutoCAD to Mac. And Primavera P3 Enterprise edition, perhaps. Or all of the wonderful pieces of software which, for some reason, don't want to rewrite a bunch of their code for the last 3% of market share in their industry. But perhaps I'm just guessing. Or are AutoCAD and Primavera inferior, too?
• Well, he replaced his normal with my normal, and it didn't work. I'll be looking at the user profile next, although I'm rather at a loss on that one. Any tips? DrMoxie, he's been having the problem since install - this version of Word has never worked for him, so I don't think a restore would do much... I think.
• MonkeyFilter: he replaced his normal with my normal, and it didn't work
• minda25, was this version of Word or Office an upgrade, a fresh copy, or did it ship with the PC pre-installed? I have experienced wonkiness with Office upgrades in the past. However, I would go for a full uninstall, reboot, reinstall since imaging does not appear to be an option. The Outlook settings are stored here --> C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Username Here]\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook and since I'm assuming you are storing your mail locally you might want to export it to a pst for safe keeping.
• We've talked it over, and he's going to do that tomorrow. It's an upgrade version, so I don't know if it'll let him reinstall, but we'll see. Worst case is he'll have to install the previous version and then upgrade that (I think). Anyway, I won't be in again until Tuesday, so won't be able to give updates until then. Thanks again for all your assistance & advice!!
• Do not expose computer to open fire or flame.
• Every company I've worked for used PCs running Windows under heavy use and never had problems like you describe. I can only assume the problem has something to do with the administrator. ooohhh FACED. I can only assume you have no idea what you are talking about. You see even though we are a company our service is to provide computers and internet access to customers who come to our little corner of the world from all around the globe. We can't lock down our systems like they do at your work so you can't surf porn. There is no administration in that regard. Our systems have all the usual precautions i.e. firewalls (software and on the router) spyware tools, yada yada yada. Windows busts daily. It just does. It's crap. Would people accept this level of crap out of any other appliance? No. I brought in two mac minis about 5 months ago. They run fine. Not ONE virus, or malware infestation. That's why I suggest using a mac. I think it's a far better alternative than seeking help on a community blog. Yeah, new computers COST MONEY. True. But given the money you spend through out the year on technicians who charge ungodly sums of money to "fix" computers I say you'd save out in the long run. Also your productivity would boost because you wouldn't spend time on the net looking for help and might get the next project finished sooner. Minda25: you can always run Autocad in Virtual PC. If you have to run a windows only app, run it in a sandbox. Yeah I can see how replacing ALL your software could be expensive, but there are allot of opensource free alternatives out there that run better than their commercial counterparts. Yes, right now you HAVE to use windows. So My advice to avoid future problems would be to A)get a clean and good windows load on b)back it up c)store important files on a an external hard drive or at the very least another partition on you internal hard drive. So when windows does crash (or your apps start acting funky) you'll be back up in under an hour. Also the last thing you can do is LEARN from this experience. When it comes time to upgrade your machines don't buy the bottom rung cheap ass sale Dells with the latest crapware from Microsoft. Consider using a more stable and user friendly solution. At which point you'll FINALLY see how stable Mac OSX is when Apple doesn't have 100% control over the hardware. You know how stable Windows would be if Microsoft dictated exactly which hardware everyone running Windows had to use? Do you realize how stable MS is DESPITE the fact that people install it on home-built hunks of crap? It will run just as well as any other *nix operating system does on home built hunks of crap which is to say pretty damn well. Providing your hardware is kosher, that is. Manufacturers make drivers. If they make a crap driver it will crash, never mind the operating system. Hey Chyren: Eat shit and die. Seriously. If anybody acts like a troll it's you.
• Oh, come on. Quit with the poxy troll callouts already. It's juvenile.
• Yeah, what trollcicle said.
• I think it's a sign of something when there are bigger fights in the PC/Mac threads than in the religion and politics ones. Not sure what it's a sign of, though.
• I've never seen a discussion about technical issues devolve into a flamewar before. Actually its the engineer mentality. Dunno exactly why, but in all areas it's like that, as far as i've seen. Also, I'm right and you're wrong. luser.
• 
• "I've never seen a discussion about technical issues devolve into a flamewar before." Clearly you've never used the internets before. Welcome, n00b.
• WTF was that, roryk??? Step away from the img src tag slowly.
• Also, that's a shit mike you're using, your board sounds like crap, you couldn't mike a trap set to save your life and only the severly retarded are still using that piece of outboard garbage! Shaa! *snif* Let's go dudes . . .
• > WTF was that, roryk??? i refer you to lara's comment above there are bigger fights in the PC/Mac threads than in the religion and politics ones. technology: it's the new religion. and the vi versus emacs conflict is one of the longest lasting.
• Dudes, this is totally fucked up. ANOTHER user is having the same problem with her Word. On the computer this all started with, I reinstalled the entire Office suite. By that I mean uninstalling, restarting, and reinstalling first 2000 and then the 2003 upgrade (as well as receiving entirely TOO MUCH SHIT for trying to help out). It STILL is doing the funky text thing. I would have stopped and taken a look after I loaded 2000, but I had to get it done RIGHT NOW, so decided to forget the original reason I was doing that and just put it back the way it was. I couldn't help but look once the process was done, though. I can be such a sucker sometimes. Sorry for the angry post. I'm in a terrible mood, and am extremely pissed off. Thanks for letting me vent...
• I hear ya - I spent 3 hours wrangling with a stupid USB driver (as it turned out). *check, reboot, try, check, reboot, try, check . . *
• Well, I've formatted the hard drives, and all is solved. Actually, I used the Windows 2000 CD to do this, which means it *lied* when it said it was doing a clean install as I found old user accounts on the machines after the process was completed. But it worked, all is well, yay. However! Today we noticed that if we don't have our Outlook messages set to send/receive immediately, and decide to edit a message in the Outbox before it's automatically sent, Outlook will not send the e-mail. I've discovered that it can be forwarded, but not sent. Does anyone have any experience with this quirk?
• *gasp* Microsoft lied to you?
• I know, it's crazy but true. It LIED.