Here is a short example that displays the problem on the new computer

#!perl 

use strict;
use warnings;

use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Const;
use Cwd;


print "Load Const\n";
my $wdc = Win32::OLE::Const->Load("Microsoft Word") || 
    die  "Unable to load constants ", Win32::OLE->LastError();

print "Load Word Engine\n";
my $Word = Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application', 'Quit') || 
    die "Unable to start Word Engine ", Win32::OLE->LastError();
$Word->{'Visible'} = 0 ;
$Word->{'DisplayAlerts'} = 0;

## Open template
print "Add new doc\n";
my $doc = $Word->Documents->Add() || 
   die"Unable to open new doc ", Win32::OLE->LastError();

# Turnoff background operations
$Word->Options->{'Pagination'} = 0;
$Word->Options->{'PrintBackground'} = 1;
$Word->Options->{'BackgroundSave'} = 0;
   
my $range = $doc->Content;
$range->Collapse( {Direction => $wdc->{wdCollapseEnd} } );
my $max_row = 25;
my $max_col = 7;
print "Creating table $max_row x $max_col\n";
my $t1 = $doc->Tables->Add($range, $max_row, $max_col);

my $start = time;
print "Start Data Entry\n";    
foreach my $row (1 .. $max_row) {
    foreach my $col (1 .. $max_col) {
           $t1->Cell($row, $col)->Range->{Text} = "$row-$col";
       }
}
print "Finished Data Entry ", time - $start, " secs\n";    

$start = time;
print "Start Center\n";    
foreach my $row (2 .. $max_row) {
    foreach my $col (1,3,5.. $max_col) {
        $t1->Cell( $row, $col )->Range->ParagraphFormat->{'Alignment'}
+ = 
            $wdc->{'wdAlignParagraphCenter'};
       }
}
print "Finished Center ", time - $start , " secs\n";    

my $path = cwd;
my $out_file = "$path/word_ole.doc";
$out_file =~ s{\/}{\\}g;
$doc->SaveAs($out_file);

$doc->Close( { SaveChanges => $wdc->{wdDoNotSaveChanges} } );
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I have timed this on three different computers. On the new one it takes around 50 secs to enter data and 70 secs to center data. Whereas on the others enter and center takes around one second each, which is what I was used to.