Issue

When accessing a Microsoft Word file with track changes (redline) enabled through Faster Drive the file behaves erratically. This behavior includes: scroll lag, type lag, general slowness and "Not Responding" message from Microsoft Word. 

Cause 

This is not an issue in Faster Suite but the result of a bad Microsoft Office Update. In March 2023, a Microsoft Office update appears to have affected the Windows user profile on some computers. You will need to contact your firm's IT provider for assistance in resolving this issue.  This same issue has been reported to Microsoft by other people utilizing WebDav to access files stored on a cloud via a virtual drive.   This strand on Microsoft support goes into greater detail as to the cause of this issue.

Recommendations

These steps should only be performed by an IT professional.  If you are unfamiliar with using RegEdit to make changes to your registry, you should not attempt these steps.

Option 1

1. Close ALL MS Office applications
   Any Office applications left open will prevent these steps from working correctly
2. Delete or rename the following three registry hives.
   
   

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\ExperimentConfigs\Ecs\word\ConfigContextData
   
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\ExperimentConfigs\FirstSession\word\ConfigContextData
   
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\DocToIdMapping

Below is code to create a batch file.  Upon execution the user will be prompted to close all Microsoft Office applications and the three registry keys listed above will be deleted automatically.  

Please note: This code is intended for use by advanced computer users or IT professionals. The provided code comes with no warranty or support. Its usage is at your own risk. We are offering this option in good faith, and determining its safety and suitability for your situation are solely your responsibility. 

@echo off

setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

set "message=Have you closed ALL Microsoft Office Applications prior to running this script? (Y/N) "
choice /C YN /M "%message%"

if errorlevel 2 (
    echo No action taken.
    pause
    exit /b
)

echo Deleting registry keys...
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\ExperimentConfigs\Ecs\word\ConfigContextData" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\ExperimentConfigs\FirstSession\word\ConfigContextData" /f
reg delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\DocToIdMapping" /f

echo Completed.
pause
exit /b

Option 2 

Before performing these steps, please be aware that MS Outlook will lose all configuration settings. 

When you open MS Outlook after this, it will be as if you have never opened Outlook before. Be certain you will be able to reapply your Outlook settings prior to performing these steps. 

All of the following steps must be completed in the indicated order to resolve the issue.

1. Uninstall Faster Suite
2. Close ALL open MS Office applications.
   Any Office applications left open will prevent these steps from working correctly.
3. Rename to _old (or delete) the registry hive: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office
4. Rename to _old (or delete): %localappdata%\Microsoft\Word
5. Rename to _old (or delete): %appdata%\Microsoft\Word
6. Open MS Word to ensure it is functioning properly You should see the dialog shown below if you have performed steps 3-5 correctly. If you do not see this dialog, ensure all Office applications are closed and repeat steps 3-5 Open Word again and see if you get this dialog.  
7. Click Accept
8. Reinstall Faster Suite

This will rebuild the user's MS Office settings and MS Word will return to functioning as expected. 

Option 3 

Create a brand new Windows user profile for the user. This resolves this issue in 100% of cases. If you have more information on this, please let us know by contacting us at [email protected]