WD: Replace All During Spell Check Causes Hang (Loop)

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a

SYMPTOMS

When you add punctuation to the end of a misspelled word in the "Not In Dictionary" section of the Spelling And Grammar dialog box, the spelling checker may exhibit unexpected behavior when you click Replace All. For example, it may as insert repeated instances of the punctuation.

To stop the continuous insertion of characters, press ESC.

CAUSE

The added punctuation is not considered part of the word, so when the spelling checker rechecks the misspelled word, which it does after making a change, it finds the same word and adds more punctuation. The spelling checker then checks the word again, and so on.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, do not add punctuation to a misspelled word in the "Not In Dictionary" area of the Spelling And Grammar dialog box.

To avoid this behavior, use the Replace function in Word to search for instances of the word without punctuation and replace the word with the word plus the punctuation. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Edit menu, click Replace.

2. In the Find What box, type the text you want to search for.

3. In the Replace with box, enter the replacement text.

4. Click Replace All.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

Keywords          : kbformat kbproof
Version           : WINDOWS:7.0,7.0a,97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix