Microsoft KB Archive/291911

= How to troubleshoot a damaged PowerPoint 2002 presentation =

PSS ID Number: 291911

Article Last Modified on 9/9/2004

-

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft PowerPoint 2002

-



This article was previously published under Q291911





For a Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 version of this article, see 826810.



For a Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 version of this article, see 207377.



For a Microsoft PowerPoint 97 version of this article, see 189549.



For a Microsoft PowerPoint 95 and earlier version of this article, see 175839.



SUMMARY
If you experience unexpected behavior when you work with a Microsoft PowerPoint file, your presentation may be damaged or corrupted. Symptoms of a corrupted presentation may include the following:  Invalid Page Fault, General Protection Fault, or Illegal Instruction errors. When you attempt to open a presentation, you receive one of the following error messages:

This is not a PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint cannot open the type of file represented by .ppt

Part of the file is missing.

 Out of memory errors, or low system resources errors.

If this unexpected behavior is exclusive to one presentation, the presentation may be corrupted. This article provides some common steps you can use to attempt the recovery of a damaged presentation. However, keep in mind that these steps do not guarantee successful recovery of the damaged file. In some cases, depending on the type of corruption, you will not be able to recover any data, and you will have to re-create the damaged presentation.

Note You may receive these symptoms for reasons other than a corrupted presentation.



MORE INFORMATION
If you determine that your presentation has been corrupted, try the following methods to attempt to recover the damaged file. The methods listed in this article are organized in the following sections:
 * General troubleshooting
 * If you are unable to open a presentation
 * If you are able to open a damaged presentation
 * Steps to help prevent corruption

Run Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode
In Microsoft PowerPoint Safe Mode, Microsoft PowerPoint runs with a minimal set of drivers and add-ins. If you can open your presentation when you are running Microsoft PowerPoint Safe Mode, your presentation is not damaged. Instead, some other aspect of Microsoft PowerPoint is preventing you from opening your presentation.

Start Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode
<ol> Click Start, and then click Run.</li> In the Open box, type the following command line, and then click OK:

&quot;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\POWERPNT.EXE&quot; /safe

Note Use this command-line if PowerPoint was installed in the default location. Otherwise, change the path to reflect the location where you installed PowerPoint.</li> If Microsoft Windows Installer prompts you to insert your CD, insert your CD to continue. After PowerPoint starts, notice that the title bar will have the following description:

Microsoft PowerPoint (Safe Mode)-[Presentation1]

</li> On the File menu, click Open, and then try to open your presentation.</li> If you can open your presentation, save it with a new file name.</li> Quit PowerPoint. It will start normally the next time you start it.</li></ol>

See a List of Disabled Items
To see a list of items that are disabled when you run Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode, follow these steps: <ol> Start Microsoft PowerPoint in Safe Mode. Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type the following command line, and then click OK:

&quot;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\POWERPNT.EXE&quot; /safe

</li> On the Help menu, click About Microsoft PowerPoint.</li> In the About Microsoft PowerPoint window, click Disabled Items.</li></ol>

Start Windows in Safe Mode
Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

Restart Windows in Safe Mode. To do this, hold down CTRL while you restart the computer. When you see the &quot;Starting Windows&quot; message, press F8, and then select Safe Mode on the Startup menu.

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

180902 How to Start a Windows 98-Based Computer in Safe Mode

192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

290367 OFFXP: Troubleshooting Office Programs on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

If you can open your presentation after Windows has started in Safe Mode, a system conflict exists that is preventing you from opening your presentation.

back to the top

If you cannot open a presentation
If you still cannot open your presentation, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Drag the Presentation to the PowerPoint Program File
<ol> Determine the location of the PowerPoint program on your computer. The default location for PowerPoint is:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10

</li> Drag the damaged PowerPoint presentation to the PowerPoint program icon.</li></ol>

Method 2: Double-Click the PowerPoint Presentation in Windows Explorer
To try to open the file, double-click the PowerPoint presentation in Windows Explorer.

Method 3: Attempt to Insert Slides into a Blank Presentation
To attempt to insert slides into a blank presentation, follow these steps: <ol> On the File menu, click New.</li> Click Blank Presentation, and then click OK.</li> If the New Slide dialog box appears, click OK.

The selection you make in this dialog box does not matter. You can delete this slide after you re-create your presentation.</li> On the Insert menu, click Slides from files, and then click the Find Presentation tab.</li> Click Browse. Select the damaged presentation and click Open. The Slide Finder dialog box appears.</li> <li>Click Insert All.

If this operation is successful, all of the slides from the damaged presentation, excluding the slide master, are inserted in the new presentation.</li> <li>Save the presentation.

If your presentation does not look the way that you expect after you try these steps, try to apply the damaged presentation as a template. To do this, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Make a back up copy of your presentation.</li> <li>On the Format menu, click Apply Design.</li> <li>Select the damaged presentation, and then click Apply.</li></ol>

The slide master of the damaged presentation replaces the new slide master.

Note If you start to experience unexpected behavior, the template may have corrupted the presentation. In this case, use the backup copy and create the master slide again.</li></ol>

Method 4: Try to Open the Temporary File Version of the Presentation
When you edit a PowerPoint presentation, it will create a temporary copy of the file with the name PPT####.tmp, where #### represents a random four-digit number. This file may reside in the same folder as the presentation, or it may be in your Temporary file folder. After you rename the file to have a .ppt extension, you may be able to open this file in PowerPoint. <ol> <li>First check the folder that the presentation was opened from and look for a file with the name PPT####.tmp.

If you do not find it there, you must search for it. Otherwise skip steps 2 through 4.</li> <li>Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.

Note In Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders. In Microsoft Windows XP, click Start and then click Search.</li> <li>In the Named box or the Search for files or folders named box, type PPT*.tmp .</li> <li>In the Look in box, click My Computer, and then click Find Now or Search Now.</li> <li>If you do find the file, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Right-click the file, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu.</li> <li>Change the the old file name extension from .tmp to .ppt, so that the file name resembles the following: PPT####.ppt</li> <li>Try to open the file in PowerPoint.</li></ol> </li></ol>

If more than one file corresponds to the last time that you saved your presentation, you may have to open each file to see if any one is the temporary copy of the presentation.

Method 5: Try to Open the Presentation in PowerPoint Viewer
If you are able to open the presentation in the PowerPoint Viewer, your PowerPoint installation may be corrupted or the presentation may contain corrupted objects.

Method 6: Move the File to Another Computer
In some cases, if you copy the PowerPoint file to a different computer, you can open the presentation. If you are able to open the file, look at each slide to determine if there are any blank object placeholders. If there are, delete them. Resave the presentation and then copy the presentation back to the original computer.

Method 7: Move the File to Another Disk
Windows may not be able to read the file from where it is currently saved. Copy the file to another disk. For example, copy the file from a floppy disk to the hard disk.

Note If you are unable to copy the file from the disk on which it is saved, it may be cross-linked with other files or folders, or it may be located in a damaged sector of the disk. Try Method 8.

Method 8: Run ScanDisk
Run ScanDisk to repair all errors on the drive. Have it repair all cross-linked files and convert lost fragments to files.

Note Even though ScanDisk may determine that your file is cross-linked and repair it, this is not a guarantee that PowerPoint will be able to read the file.

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

315265 How to Perform Disk Error Checking in Windows XP

156571 How to Perform Scandisk in Windows

186365 Description of ScanDisk for Windows (Scandskw.exe) in Windows 98/Me

back to the top

Method 1: Try to Apply the Damaged Presentation as a Template
Insert the slides into a blank presentation, and then apply the damaged presentation as a template to preserve the master. To do this, follow these steps: <ol> <li>On the File menu, click New.</li> <li>Click Blank Presentation, and then click OK.</li> <li>If the New Slide dialog box appears, click OK.

The selection you make in this dialog box does not matter. You can delete this slide after you re-create your presentation.</li> <li>On the Insert menu, click Slides from files, and then click the Find Presentation tab.</li> <li>Click Browse, select the damaged presentation, and then click Open. The Slide Finder dialog box appears.</li> <li>Click Insert All.

If this is successful, this operation inserts all of the slides from the damaged presentation, excluding the slide master, in the new presentation.</li> <li>Save the presentation. If your presentation does not look the way you expect, try to apply the damaged presentation as a template. To do this, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Make a backup copy of your presentation.</li> <li>On the Format menu, click Apply Design.</li> <li>Select the damaged presentation, and then click Apply.</li></ol>

The slide master of the damaged presentation replaces the new slide master.

Note If you start to experience unexpected behavior, the template may have corrupted the presentation. In this case, use the backup copy and re-create the master slide.</li></ol>

Method 2: Paste the Slides from the Damaged File into a New File
Use a copy and paste operation to move the slides from the damaged presentation to a blank presentation. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Open the damaged presentation.
 * 2) On the File menu, click New.
 * 3) If the New Slide dialog box appears, click OK.
 * 4) On the View menu, click Slide Sorter. If you receive error messages when you switch views, try changing to Outline view instead.
 * 5) Click a slide to copy.
 * 6) On the Edit menu, click Copy. If you want to copy more than one slide at a time, hold down SHIFT and click each slide that you want to copy.
 * 7) Switch to the new presentation. On the Window menu, click the new presentation option.
 * 8) On the View menu, click Slide Sorter.
 * 9) On the Edit menu, click Paste.
 * 10) Repeat steps 5 through 9 until the entire presentation is transferred.

Note In some situations, one damaged slide may cause a problem for the entire presentation. If you notice strange behavior within the new presentation after you copy a slide to it, that slide is most likely corrupted. Either re-create the slide or copy portions of the slide to a new slide.

Method 3: Save the Presentation as RTF (Rich Text Format)
If there is corruption throughout the presentation, the only option to recover the file may be to save as RTF. This method, if successful, recovers only the text that appears in Outline view. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Open the presentation.
 * 2) On the File menu, click Save As.
 * 3) In the Save File As Type list, click Outline/RTF(*.rtf).
 * 4) In the File Name box, type the name that you want, pick a location to store the file, and then click Save.
 * 5) Close the file.

Note To continue working after you open the RTF file, click Open on the File menu, and in the Files of type list, click All Outlines or All Files. RTF files do not appear if you select the Presentations option.

back to the top

Steps to help prevent corruption
You cannot prevent 100 percent of corruption. Disks wear out, power supplies fail, and other unforeseeable events may occur that cause files to become damaged.

The following tips and suggestions may help reduce the number of damaged files that occur in Microsoft PowerPoint and in other programs.

Turn off fast saves and optimize your AutoSave settings
Note In earlier versions of PowerPoint, the Fast Saves feature can cause file corruption in certain circumstances. This feature was redesigned in Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 and no longer causes corruption.

The Fast Saves feature does affect the file size. Additionally, the increased file size introduces the added potential for corruption. For example, if your file is two times as large, you have two times as much of a chance to write to a bad area of your hard disk or to experience some other error when saving a file.

Turning off Fast Saves reduces only the size of your saved presentation. It does not affect the stability of PowerPoint. When you turn off Fast Saves, PowerPoint takes more time to save your presentation.

When you turn on Fast Saves, Microsoft PowerPoint takes less time to save your presentation. With Fast Saves turned off, the changes overwrite the earlier version of your presentation every time that you save your file. With Fast Saves turned on, changes that you make to your presentation are appended to your file. Additionally, with Fast Saves turned on, the file size increases. When the revisions are equal to the size of the file, Microsoft PowerPoint overwrites the file and then deletes the old Fast Save information. When you turn off Fast Saves, turn on the AutoRecovery feature. Adjust the AutoRecovery interval to a setting that you are comfortable with. The lower the setting, the less data you will lose if your computer unexpectedly shuts down.
 * 1) Start PowerPoint. On the Tools menu, click Options.
 * 2) Click the Save tab. Click to clear the Allow Fast Saves check box.
 * 3) Click to select the Save AutoRecover info every x minutes check box. Set this option to the setting you want. The 10 minute default setting is typically sufficient.

Make sure there is a consistent power supply
An inconsistent power supply can cause corruption in files, even if the power does not completely go out. If the power supply spikes or is not sufficient, it can affect the read/write processes of your computer, resulting in corruption. If the power supply in your area is inconsistent, purchase a surge protector. Surge protectors are relatively inexpensive and will help protect your system from power spikes. You may also consider investing in an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). UPS units supply your computer with power even during a power outage. Contact your local hardware vendor for more information about either of these devices.

Make sure there is a clean dry environment
An accumulation of dust or humidity can also cause problems. Make sure that your work environment is free from dust or too much humidity. If dust is a chronic problem in your work area, consider using an air filter to remove the excess dust. If humidity is a chronic problem, consider using a dehumidifier.

Back up your work
Backing up your work is perhaps the best preventative measure that you can take. On a small scale, keep a backup copy of your presentation on a different disk volume than the one you are working from. On a larger scale, implement backup or other fault tolerance solutions for your computer. These solutions vary in cost. Some solutions, such as RAID, are typically practical only for larger networks. Options include:
 * 1) Tape backup.
 * 2) CD-ROM backup.
 * 3) Disk Mirroring Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID).
 * 4) Disk Striping with Parity RAID.

Work Locally
If you are working in a network environment and you experience corruption frequently, consider copying files to your local computer before you open them or edit them. This will prevent read/write problems that are caused by slow network connections, dropped network connections, or spikes in network traffic. If you can, avoid working from removable media, such as a ZIP drive or a floppy disk. The more media and device drivers that you involve in the save process, the more you increase your chances of file corruption. Copy the file to your desktop by using My Computer or Windows Explorer.

back to the top

Additional query words: ppt powerpt powerpnt pages faults illegal invalid acts weird crashed crash broken gpf ipf hosed corrupt tshoot t-shoot damaged presentation troubleshooting corruption corrupted inf

Keywords: kbprb kberrmsg kbopenfile kbcorrupt kbtshoot KB291911

Technology: kbPowerPt2002 kbPowerPt2002Search kbPowerPtSearch

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.