Re: Large Documents in Word

[Shawn <shawn -at- cohodata -dot- com>]

On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 8:47 AM, Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

>
> My documents are very table- and graphic-heavy, too.



Okay, I must ask... WHY?
Why would you subject yourself to that kind of torture? Microsoft Word 2013
(and up) is actually a very capable and reliable word processor. But the
key is word processing for small documents, perhaps no larger than 100
pages or even less with objects that increase memory usage and complexity
(e.g. tables and graphics).

It is *not* a highly capable or reliable technical writing tool. Even
though Microsoft made a brilliant redesign of the file format (docx - which
is actually compressed XML), file corruption is still oddly common and
[more oddly] only slightly easier to fix.

So, my advice is that as long as your documents are under 75 pages and all
your graphics are external links, you are probably in the safe zone.

Additionally:
- Backup your documents often - use draft versioning numbers so that you
are not overwriting the same document. If corruption occurs at some point,
you want to have more than one file to choose from.
- Do not embed images (they will just increase the document size and also
increase the chance of corruption).
- Important: Turn on System File Protection (assuming Windows 7 or better).
   Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > System > System Protection >
Protection Settings > Drive letter > Configure > set aside about 20% of
your disk space for additional restore points.
   Reason: Microsoft products are always being updated and it is possible
that one day, you will receive an update that messes with your documents.
Being able to restore to a previous restore point may
   one day save you!

   AND/OR just make sure your entire system is backed up on a regular basis.

Good luck (I'll shed a tear for you).

-- 
*Shawn Connelly*
Technical writer

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