[mso] Re: Text missing on the screen, computer problem or MS problem?

From: "Greg Chapman" <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 15:46:54 -0500

You said more than you know in that single line:
>This happens ... word since office 97 version.

It makes sense that you would have started seeing it then. Office 97 was
the first version in which Word did not have internal 'optimized' code
for video. Optimized refers to the code being written in
assembler/machine language to try to yank out the maximum possible
performance. Since Word's biggest internal tax is on the video system,
all previous versions had the assembler code working. In order to make
the code less hardware specific (and to make it comply with more
important standards like supportability, platform independence,
modularity, yada), Word 97 was the first version to actually make its
calls to the OS rather than trying to access the display hardware
directly.

It was a big and important move to making Word portable enough to live
on systems like NT/2k/XP. Now when you have a display problem in Word,
you're always better off to get improved video drivers since what you
are really experiencing is a flaw in those drivers that is probably
going to snag you with some other application later on since all the
applications are now calling the OS and asking it to talk to the video
card. This is also why I ask that people view decreasing the hardware
acceleration as a temporary fix until improved drivers/RAMDACs/Video
BIOSs become available for your video chipset. The hardware acceleration
is distinct from Application Boost settings and having to adjust this
wait-state for your video card means that you're breaking system
performance to humor a tantrum from poor hardware that is probably also
causing other problems.<g> 

Either way, and if your hardware is brand new this is an especially
painful realization, you've just joined your vendor's
driver-of-the-month club until they get it right!

Greg Chapman
http://www.mousetrax.com 
"Counting in binary is as easy as 01, 10, 11!
With thinking this clear, is coding really a good idea?"


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jim
> Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 3:13 PM
> To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [mso] Re: Text missing on the screen, computer 
> problem or MS problem?
> 
> 
> 
> I've seen it many times over tha last 3 years, what a pain, 
> scrolling up and down again will usually get some of the text 
> back, but then I usually loose some other lines. This happens 
> in win98/98se/NT4/and 2k and word since office 97 version. 
> I've seen it on several machines, both at work (big 
> corporation) and at home (4 machines). I doubt it's main 
> memory, it just might be a video memory / video driver 
> problem but it's very common.
> 
> -Jim-
>

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References:
- [mso] Re: Text missing on the screen, computer problem or MS problem?
  - From: Jim

[mso] Re: Text missing on the screen, computer problem or MS problem?

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