I put this comment in another thread, but I'll put it here, as it seems relevant.
I have a large Word file (1000 pages) that I'm editing as a single InDesign document.
I'm using Indesign CS6. When I place the Word file into my ID doc, I am unable to prevent it from putting the Word in as a link. Even if I turn off the "Create Links When Placing Text..." selection, this happens.
So okay, but I worked on the ID doc for a couple of days, and then I happeend to change the Word file, and I didn't want ID to do a "relink" as I didn't want to wipe out my in-ID edits.
ID hung and froze when I told it not to relink. I used Task Manager to turn off ID, then opened my ID Doc and tried to Unlink the Word Doc in the Links dialog, and again the program hung and froze.
I changed the name of the Word Doc so ID wouldn't keep wanting to use it. Then I got a warning exclamation point on each page. Plus a hang and freeze.
And then my document refuses to open at all. I'm having to start over. This time I'll make a copy of my Word document and label it DONT_EDIT, and place that and be sure never to open that Word doc again...
The moral seems to be either (1) you can't embed a text file at all, and it can only be added as a link or (2) maybe my text file is too BIG to be embedded. I do recall that Dreamweaver has a size limitation for pasting Word in, and there IS a workaround, see this link:
http://www.jdhodges.com/2009/09/dreamweaver-document-too-large-copy-pa st/
I wonder if there's a similar size-limitation workaround for ID?