OFF97: Memory Problems When Hyperlinking Between Programs

• Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Access 97 for Windows
• Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you use hyperlinks to switch multiple times between your Web browser and Microsoft Office programs, your system slows down and begins to run low on available memory.

CAUSE

This occurs for two reasons:

• Programs are not necessarily released from memory when you switch away from them by clicking a hyperlink.

  -and-

• Clicking a hyperlink may result in the loading of a new instance of the program to which you are linking.

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.

MORE INFORMATION

All of the programs in Microsoft Office 97 include the ability to create hyperlinks. Hyperlinks allow you to "jump" to Internet or intranet web pages, or to documents in other Microsoft Office 97 programs.

It is possible to create a series of hyperlinks between programs. For example, an HTML document in Microsoft Internet Explorer can include a link to a Microsoft Excel workbook. That workbook can contain a hyperlink to a Microsoft Word document. That document can contain a hyperlink to a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, and so on.

When you click a series of hyperlinks, all of the programs in the series may load into memory. When you click a hyperlink to switch away from a program, you do not remove that program from memory. Also, because of the way in which Microsoft Internet Explorer loads programs, you may not see a button for the program on the taskbar.