Hi Duncan

Word can cope with very large documents of hundreds, even thousands of pages. 200-300 pages is not a problem for Word. It won't be a
problem for you, either, if you do the following:

1. Use appropriate styles for your text. In particular, use the built-in heading styles if you possibly can (see
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/UseBuiltInHeadingStyles.html )

2. Use Outline View to move around your document quickly, and to re-arrange major portions of your document easily (see
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Formatting/UsingOLView.htm)

3. At Tools > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat as you type tab, un-tick everything you see unless you're absolutely certain that you
want it. Certainly un-tick everything under "Apply as you type" and "Automatically as you type".

4. Try using Document Map (View > Document Map). Other people have reported problems with this, but I've found it very useful. But
to make it work, you must use appropriate styles.

5. Work out a sustainable way of managing pictures. For me, that means either having them in-line (not floating) and, if necessary,
to enclose the picture and its caption in a frame.

6. Avoid file sizes larger than necessary by doing the following:
(a) Link, rather than embed, your pictures. To do this, when you go to paste a picture, do Edit > Paste Special and choose to link.
(b) If you have huge pictures (eg photos), then re-size the pictures to the final size outside Word (eg in a graphics or photo
editing application). Then use the final sized picture in Word, not the big original.
(c) Tools > Options > Save. Un-tick "Allow Fast Saves".
(d) Tools > Options > Save. Un-tick "Embed True Type Fonts".
(e) File > Properties. Un-tick "Save Preview Picture"
(f) Don't use File > Versions.

7. If you experience a noticeable slow-down, close Word, re-start Word and re-open your document. A noticeable slow-down has been
suggested as a symptom of impending document corruption due to low memory.

8. Try working in Normal View rather than Page Layout view. This is excellent for documents without lots of graphics (you can't see
the graphics in Normal View). Normal View sacrifices display of graphics for speed of screen display.

9. Save early, save often, keep backups.

And, go to http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx?CTT=6&Origin=EC790020111033 to get the latest security patches for
your version of Word.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly.  Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia

If you MUST attempt to use Word "Master Documents", save a
copy on your CD burner or floppy VERY often!  If it's on
your hard drive, wierd things can happen.

A better alternative is to use WordPerfect and save the
final version as a Word document.  (WordPerfect manages
Master documents and Sub documents, and has for years.)  
Another alternative is to use Adobe Acrobat to assemble a
book from Word files.  That is the only "bulletproof" way
to create a large,multisection document using Word.

See my reply this date to "Using SEQ Field in TOC Field"
on the "Numbering" User Group on this site for a good
explanation of my experience with large documents.  (I
make my living creating large and small documents - with
most of my experience in the large document category.)

LR

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