Why do MS Word take so long to open?

My Microsoft Word was loading too slow, occasionally giving notifications on the failure to respond. The MS Office 2003 reinstallation did not help. Upgrade to MS Office 2007 also was fruitless. My suspicion fell on the Normal.Dot template, and following the recommendations found online I was able to restore complete the software functionality and operation speed.

I would like to share with you this tip.

A Normal.dot file may get corrupted due to various factors. Some of them are:

·         Virus infection.
·         Improper/ Unexpected System shutdown.
·         Power surge.
·         Application Malfunction.

First thing first, delete NORMAL.DOT or Normal.dotm (for 2007) file. Check task manager and make sure that there are no multiple copies of word.exe running before deleting.

 If you are using Windows XP, normal.dot is a hidden system file and may not show when you search for it.  If you can't find it, go into My Computer and click on the Tools menu and choose Folder Options.  In there, click on the View Tab and put a check where it says "Show hidden files and folders" and UNCHECK "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files".  Now, when you search for it, you should find it. If you still can't find it, look for it here:

C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

Microsoft Office will recreate the file on the first use. You will loose autotext, fonts and styles.

Some IT admins delete this file on login with this script:

cd\ "%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates"
del /a:h *normal*

Some change file's attribute to "read only".

The better solution would be backing up the template folder on login and on any word/outlook misbehavior restore it to the prior version.

That solution works for me, but it might not be good for you. Therefore, I would list additional recommendations on how to deal with the issue:

1.      Check your computer for viruses and remove all unwanted “guests”.
2.       Check your RAM sufficiency and virtual memory availability.
3.       Verify that your Hard Drive is full no more than 70% of the full capacity. If it is more, than delete unneeded data or transfer it away to slave or external storage.
4.       Perform Hard Drive defragmentation.
5.       If you note that the status “requesting virus scan” is holding your document from opening, you may reevaluate your anti-virus protection: update, re-install, or choose a different provider.
6.       Your printer drivers could be causing the issue with Word taking a long time to boot. This situation would most likely only arise if you have a printer with drivers on a network. Either way, it can be resolved by deleting the current driver.
7.       Damaged or missing fonts can cause the problem. To correct it, remove or reinstall the fonts, or do both, in your version of Microsoft Windows.