A few possibilities, though none are overly satisfactory. Part of the problem is a lack of details. Laptop or desktop seems to make some difference in this issue. Another question is if these are network files. Also, are you opening the files from within the program, or from Windows Explorer. The fact that the program is opening slowly might be a clue, though.
A fix for this is mentioned in KB942389 (
Issues that are fixed in Word 2007 by the 2007 Microsoft Office suites Service Pack 1), which is Office 2007 Service Pack 1.
Another possibility mentioned involves the file type. If you are opening a .doc file in Word 2007, it must go through a converter before it is opened. With long documents, or ones that contain special formatting, pictures, links, etc, this can take a long time. Once you open them, save them as .docx.
It also could be the sector that the files are saved in is badly fragmented. Defragging your hard drive could help.
If from a network location, see:
An Office program is slow or may appear to stop responding (hang) when you open a file from a network location
The MS Technet forums suggest a solution involving printers (see near the middle to end of thread):
https://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2704288&SiteID=17
This last thing is for Word 2000, 2002, and 2003. However, there are corresponding registry entries for Word 2007. While I don't necessarily recommend trying this, it may work for you (I have deleted this entry without trouble before, so it should be alright, but I really don't want to take responsibility). If you do try a registry solution, be sure to create a restore point before you do anything. Here is the KB:
Word is slow to start, print, or load documents
I hope one of these helps. As always, the more information you can tell us, the easier it is to help.
Good luck,
Scallion
