PPT2000: Troubleshooting Damaged Presentations on Windows

ID: Q207377

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

If you are experiencing unexpected behavior when you work with a Microsoft PowerPoint file, your presentation may be damaged or corrupted. Symptoms of a corrupted presentation include the following:

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 recreate the damaged presentation.

NOTE: In some cases you may receive the above symptoms for reasons other than a corrupted presentation.


RESOLUTION

After you determine that the presentation has been corrupted, try the following methods to attempt to recover the damaged file. The methods listed in this article are split into the following sections:

First, follow the procedures in the General Troubleshooting section.

NOTE: Although some of these troubleshooting steps can be used in Windows NT, many are targeted for Windows 9x.

General Troubleshooting

Restart Windows in Safe Mode. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Restart the computer. When you see the Starting Windows 9x message, press F8, and then select Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. NOTE: If Windows starts, edit the Autoexec.bat file, remove or disable the win line, and repeat step one.


  2. Start Windows 9x with a minimal set of Windows drivers by typing the following line:

    win /d:m

    NOTE: If networking components are required to start Windows 9x, type the following line instead of the previous line: win /d:n


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

If You Are Unable to Open a Presentation

If you are still unable to open your presentation, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Drag the Presentation to the PowerPoint Program File

  1. Determine the location of the PowerPoint program on your computer. The default location for PowerPoint is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office


  2. Use the drag and drop technique to move the damaged PowerPoint presentation to the PowerPoint program icon.


Method 2: Double-Click the PowerPoint Presentation in Windows Explorer

To attempt 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:
  1. On the File menu, click New.


  2. Click Blank Presentation, and then click OK.


  3. 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 recreate your presentation.


  4. On the Insert menu, click Slides From Files, and then click the Find Presentation tab.


  5. Click Browse. Select the damaged presentation and click Open. The Slide Finder dialog box appears.


  6. 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.


  7. Save the presentation.

    If your presentation does not look the way you expect after trying these steps, try to apply the damaged presentation as a template. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Make a back up copy of your presentation.


    2. On the Format menu, click Apply Design.


    3. Select the damaged presentation and then click Apply.


    The slide master of the damaged presentation replaces the new slide master. NOTE: If you begin to experience unexpected behavior, the template may have corrupted the presentation. In this case, use the back up copy and create the master slide again.


Method 4: Try Opening 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 5: Move the File to Another Computer

In some cases, copying the PowerPoint file to a different computer allows you to 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 6: 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 7.

Method 7: 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.

Method 8: Copy the File to a Macintosh Computer

Copy the file to a Macintosh computer and open it in PowerPoint for the Macintosh.

NOTE: This procedure may require that you install the PowerPoint 97 converter for PowerPoint 4.0 for the Macintosh. To obtain this converter, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q144032 PPT4: PowerPoint 97-98 Import Converter Available

You Are Able to Open a Damaged Presentation

Method 1: Attempt 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:
  1. On the File menu, click New.


  2. Click Blank Presentation, and then click OK.


  3. 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 recreate your presentation.


  4. On the Insert menu, click Slides From Files, and click the Find Presentation tab.


  5. Click Browse, select the damaged presentation, and then click Open. The Slide Finder dialog box appears.


  6. 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.


  7. Save the presentation. If your presentation does not look the way you expect, try applying the damaged presentation as a template. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Make a back-up copy of your presentation.


    2. On the Format menu, click Apply Design.


    3. Select the damaged presentation, and then click Apply.


    The slide master of the damaged presentation replaces the new slide master. NOTE: If you begin to experience unexpected behavior, the template may have corrupted the presentation. In this case, use the back-up copy and recreate the master slide.


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, press SHIFT + click each slide 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 five through nine 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 recreate 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, saving as RTF may be the only option to recover the file. 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, select Outline/RTF(*.rtf).


  4. In the File Name box, type the name 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, select All Outlines or All Files. RTF files do not appear if you select the Presentations option.


MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q156126 Troubleshooting Windows 95 using Safe Mode Q159172 Right-Clicking File Causes Error and Computer Stops Q164519 Troubleshooting Office Kernel32.dll Errors Under Windows 95 Q88082 Error Opening Untranslated PowerPoint File

Additional query words: ppt powerpt 2k 9.0 powerpnt pages faults illegal invalid acts weird crashed crash broken gpf ipf hosed corrupt tshoot t-shoot damaged presentation troubleshooting corruption corrupted 


Keywords          : kbtshoot 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: June 28, 1999