Powerpoint 2003 files crashes

[Andreas]

I have made a presentation in Powerpoint 2003 (fully updated). The problem is
that I am unable to open this presentation in any older version of
Powerpoint. If i try that, Powerpoint just crashes while trying to open the
file. However I can open the file in Powerpoint 2003 on other compuuters. Is
there a solution for this problem?

 

[Echo S]

To to Help/Check for updates and install SP-1 for Office 2003. That should
resolve the issue.

 

[Andreas]

Hi,

PPT is updated with SP-1 and all other updates available. The problem
resembles the one described 2005-05-12 08:33 below. I have tried the
suggestions given by Steve Rindsberg (Safe mode, hardware acceleration) but
that didn't help. It's a bit troublesome since you don't always know if the
computer you are going to do your presentatation on has PPT 2003.

"Echo S" skrev:

To to Help/Check for updates and install SP-1 for Office 2003. That should
resolve the issue.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

I have made a presentation in Powerpoint 2003 (fully updated). The problem is
that I am unable to open this presentation in any older version of
Powerpoint. If i try that, Powerpoint just crashes while trying to open the
file. However I can open the file in Powerpoint 2003 on other compuuters. Is
there a solution for this problem?

 

[Echo S]

I think I misread your original question -- managed to get it backwards, in
fact.

Please confirm -- you created a presentation in PPT 2003 and you cannot open
it on computers with older versions of PPT. They crash when you try to open
the file. But the file will still open just fine in PPT 2003. Do I have it
correct now?

If so, then the first question is, which older version of PPT are you trying
to open the file with?
Next is, did you put a password on the presentation?
Next is, how did you move the file from the system with 2003 to the
system(s) with older versions of PPT?
And also, what's in the presentation? Images? Graphs? Clipart? Just text?

And finally, what's the subject line of the 2005-05-12 08:33 question,
please? (I can't seem to find it.)

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

Hi,

PPT is updated with SP-1 and all other updates available. The problem
resembles the one described 2005-05-12 08:33 below. I have tried the
suggestions given by Steve Rindsberg (Safe mode, hardware acceleration) but
that didn't help. It's a bit troublesome since you don't always know if the
computer you are going to do your presentatation on has PPT 2003.

"Echo S" skrev:

To to Help/Check for updates and install SP-1 for Office 2003. That should
resolve the issue.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

I have made a presentation in Powerpoint 2003 (fully updated). The

problem
is

that I am unable to open this presentation in any older version of
Powerpoint. If i try that, Powerpoint just crashes while trying to

open
the

file. However I can open the file in Powerpoint 2003 on other

compuuters.
Is

there a solution for this problem?

 

[Ethan]

It would seem to me that you need to do this:

File -> Save As -> Select "Powerpoint 97-2002 & 95 Presentation" from the
"Save as Type" drop-down menu

Save with a new name, or overwrite the old one.

This should make it compatible will all recent versions.

Ethan

 

[Echo S]

It would seem to me that you need to do this:

File -> Save As -> Select "Powerpoint 97-2002 & 95 Presentation" from the
"Save as Type" drop-down menu

Save with a new name, or overwrite the old one.

This should make it compatible will all recent versions.

Note that PPT 97, 2000, 2002 and 2003 all share the same file format. There
is no need to backsave in this manner to make a file compatible with earlier
versions through 97.

Look closely and you'll see that that particular Save As option includes "&
95," which makes the file compatible with PPT 95. Making the file compatible
with PPT 95 will tremendously increase the file size.

I suppose it's worth a try in this situation, but I would very much
recommend _not_ overwriting the original file.

 

[David M. Marcovitz]

While it's worth a try, it is unlikely to do much for you. Saving as
PowerPoint 97-2003 & 95 only makes the file much larger and adds
compatibility with PowerPoint 95 (there are probably still two or three
people out there who use PowerPoint 95, but not many more). PowerPoint
versions 97 through 2003 share the same file format, so saving as a
regular PowerPoint file maintains compatibility with older versions.

Another couple of things to try:

(1) Go to the Tools menu and choose Options. Click on the Save tab and be
sure that fast saves is not checked. If it was checked, uncheck it and
then go to the File menu and choose Save As to save it under a different
name.

(2) Try round-tripping to HTML:

HTML "Round-tripping" to repair corruption
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00526.htm

Sometimes files get corrupted in weird ways. Perhaps, there is a weird
corruption that only older versions are picking up. Round-tripping
sometimes helps.

--David

--
David M. Marcovitz
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Director of Graduate Programs in Educational Technology
Loyola College in Maryland
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.loyola.edu/education/PowerfulPowerPoint/