Crashing PowerPoint

Feb 10, 2011

I've read several other posts in the forums regarding this issue and I have explored some of the suggested fixes.  Nothing has worked.  My PowerPoint crashes every time I synchronize.  It's frustrating becuase it takes several attempts and multiple publishes in order to get a module finished. 

I've repaired my Articulate twice.  I synchronize and publish with nothing open on my computer except the PowerPoint file I am working on.  My modules are not overly long.  Audio is imported in .mp3 format.  The DPI on my pc is set to 96 as suggested.  I've stoped using slide masters.  I've completely re-created several modules from scratch. 

The only thing I can think of is that this almost never happened to me until last September (didn't an update come out in September?).  Since September it's been getting steadily worse and now it's every single time. 

Surely every single PowerPoint I open isn't corrupt?  Is there anything new anyone can share about this because I'm about to lose my mind!

46 Replies
Anne Goldenberger

Hi Sandra -

I've had a lot of trouble getting PPTs to open.  I repaired Office 2007 several times, but that takes a long time.  I'm not sure if this is the exact problem you're getting, but thought I'd pass this tip along, since it's saved me a ton of time.

When you have a PPT file that won't open, try this:

  1. Press ALT + CTRL + Delete
  2. Click the Task Manager button
  3. Click the Processes tab.
  4. Locate Powerpoint's exe file in the list, select it and click End Process.
  5. Now open PowerPoint.
  6. Usually you'll get a message asking you if you want to disable the add-in.  Be sure to click NO.

Then PowerPoint will open just fine.

Regina Taute

Hi Sandra,

I was in the same boat. It felt like PPT was crashing every single day. (When I say crash, I mean that it goes in to non-responsive mode and I have to CTRL + ALT + Delete to shut it down without saving) Each time PPT crashed, I was working in Articulate.  I complained to my IT organization (asked for a better computer) and they upgraded the memory in my current computer and I haven't had a crash since....well, maybe one but once every few months is better than once every few days, right?

Sandra Lowe

I have thought of that and will try that next.  It just involves getting our helpdesk involved as it's a "company build" and we can barely access that information without an administrator's permission.  Thanks for checking back in.  Articulate and PPT together are such a cool thing to work with but these frustrating developments are making me insane!  I can't do my job because the tools aren't functioning properly anymore.  There I go, ranting and rambling again.

Sandra Lowe

I may try a guru, but alas, (oh, did I just say "alas"? yeesh!) they will probably ask for a zipped file of the entire offending module so they can look at it but I can't do that as our training modules are company confidential proprietary information....and I don't have time to replace everything with generic lorem ipsem e pluribus unum stuff.  We shall see though.

Brian Batt
Hi Sandra,
If you are experiencing unexpected behavior using Articulate Studio '09, please review the troubleshooting steps in the following article:
If you continue to have problems, please submit a support case to us by using the link below:
James Brown

Q. What are your machine specs? I.e. OS and Memory.

*  Windows 7, (64 or 32 bit)

*  Office 2010, Office 2007 (32 bit) or (64bit)

* 4GB ram?

* have you tried rebooting your PC when this happens and does that eliminate the issue.

* What other applications do you have open at the time?

* Does Power Point have additional plug-ins installed? I.e. Snag-it 10, etc.

I have notice that Office 2010 is a lot different in regards to security measures than Office 2007 so let's make sure we are not running into a security measure put in place by MS. I say this because if I receive a office doc as an attachment and then I try and open it I get an error that the file is corrupt. However if I right click on the file outside of word, and then click on "Unblock" under the properties, the file comes up perfectly.

In short this may be an issue with articulate and it may not. Honestly what this sounds like is that you do not have read/write or delete permissions on the files you are trying to edit so make sure you have the necessary file permissions (i.e. full rights) and that the files are not in the c:\program files or c:\program files (x86) directory if you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7. Only the administrator user has rights to change files in this directory. One thing you may try is running Power Point and Articulate as the Administrator user if you are on Vista or Windows 7.  You do that by right clicking on the exe and left clicking on "run as administrator."

Good luck.

Tom Kuhlmann

I'd go through the process Brian outlines first.  Sometimes it can be a challenge diagnosing issues when it comes to working with computers and multimedia; and you want to go through the process in a systematic order.

I had a weird audio issue that only showed up when using PowerPoint and Articulate Presenter.  I tracked it down to an audio application installed on the PC by the audio card manufacturer.  I uninstalled it and loaded the generic drivers and it fixed the issue.  

James Brown

I'll agree with TOM, try the obvious first and when that fails, look at the other things.I've been in software support for appox. 12 years and when odd things occur, I first try and repro the condition on my end, but when It's something odd that I cannot repro, then I'll look at the other culprits. 

After looking through the troubleshooting guide, I'm curious how many users actually use Internet Explorer  and who use something else? Not to thumb my nose at MS, but IE would be my last choice of browser software and it seemed like the majority of the  troubleshooting guide zero'd in on MS .net framework and MS Internet Explorer. What happens when you use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari? Do you run into the same issues. Here is another issue I have seen in the past. On my Vista laptop, if I install a program I get a popup from my anti virus that asks permission from me to allow the process to continue and if I don't say yes, the program terminates. That may be the culprit. I.e. your anti virus may be causing the issue.

Those are just my thoughts.

Sandra Lowe

It's been awhile since I was able to spend any significant time on this issue.  It is still happening.  My only workaround to the issue has been to make all the animation automatic and timed.  It's tedious but it keeps me out of the synchronization window.

I have troubleshooted, uninstalled and reinstalled the .net framework as described in the article.  I have repaired Microsoft Office several times.  I have uninstalled and reinstalled Articulate.   Where I work, we are only allowed to use Internet Explorer, so trying Chrome, Firefox and Safari are not options.  I can not upgrade to Flash 10 for two reasons.  Our company's computer build standard is still 9 and 10 will automatically uninstall if it's detected.

The only other thing I can think of is a memory or virtual memory issue.  We're on XP still.  I currently am using an 80G hard drive and I have 4G of RAM.  No other plug-ins are installed.  If I try to sync, I close everything but PowerPoint.  I won't even have Outlook open.  I can sync one slide and save and close just fine (yay!).  If I try to sync more than one slide, Power Point crashes.  But of course, nobody here has any budget so we can't spend any money right now.  I can only tell you that this never happened to me before 9/22/10.  On 9/22/10, I installed an Articulate Update.  It's been crashing ever since regardless of how many times I uninstall and reinstall the Articulate Suite as a whole.  I love this program and what it's capable of.  You can understand my frustration.

I have 2 modules to process into 18 languages each to complete by fall.  It's going to be a synchronization nightmare if I can't get this fixed.  I'm going to need a padded room. 

Sandra Lowe

I know, thanks.  I keep getting thwarted by the whole "I can't send you my file because of the proprietary nature of the material" and I refuse to believe that every single .pptx file I open is automatically corrupt before I even do anything.

Right now, I'm installing the software on a non-company built pc to see if it will work outside of my work environment.  If it does then my company's anti-virus or security settings or something may be the culprit.

Either I'm really bad at searching or does it look like for everyone that has had this issue, there is really no solution and this is destined to remain a mystery?

Kelly Baldwin

Sandra Murray said:

Here is graphically what is happening.

Like I said.  This didn't happen very often BEFORE the September 2010 Articulate update was released.  Still wondering if there's a connection.  But I will soldier on and try to have our internal IT folks look at my PowerPoint as well.  IF any solutions are found, I'll share.


This is the exact screenshots that are happening to me this week.  It has happened while recording audio using Articulate AND when synching animations.  I have had to do one slide at a time, and that has helped (rather than recording several slides at at ime and then save and close)... it always happens on the save and close and it always shuts down PPT and recommends disabling the Articulate add-on. 

I'm just wondering if there has been any progress toward resolution  that I can try before I send in a support ticket?

Thanks!

Kelly

Sandra Lowe

I quickly determined that my PowerPoint files were not actually corrupt.

I also ran through this list of steps: http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2425.  This did not work for me.

As a last resort, I downloaded the entire Articulate '9 suite to my home computer to test it on a non-company built computer.  I took a CBT file home and synced it til I couldn't do anymore.  It was perfect.  I couldn't crash PowerPoint to save my life.  This told me that the security/anti-virus updates pused to every company-built computer last fall is most likely interfering with the way Articulate performs.  I have now provided the error information to our network team.  I'm not holding my breath though as I doubt that they would alter the build because 6 people out of 22,000 have Articulate.  So we are stuck working out the automatic timing in the animation pane and foregoing synchronization altogether or using no animation at all.  The only thing I didn't try was sending a case/file to Articulate support.  This is because our company CBTs are proprietary information and we don't have confidentiality contracts in place. 

Good luck.  I'd still be interested in hearing what you find out if you do open a case.  You never know if there'd be something I can share with our network guys if a solution is found.

Sandra

Justin Wilcox

Kelly Baldwin said:

Sandra Murray said:

Here is graphically what is happening.

Like I said.  This didn't happen very often BEFORE the September 2010 Articulate update was released.  Still wondering if there's a connection.  But I will soldier on and try to have our internal IT folks look at my PowerPoint as well.  IF any solutions are found, I'll share.


This is the exact screenshots that are happening to me this week.  It has happened while recording audio using Articulate AND when synching animations.  I have had to do one slide at a time, and that has helped (rather than recording several slides at at ime and then save and close)... it always happens on the save and close and it always shuts down PPT and recommends disabling the Articulate add-on. 

I'm just wondering if there has been any progress toward resolution  that I can try before I send in a support ticket?

Thanks!

Kelly


Hi Kelly. The first thing I would do is make sure that your PowerPoint files are located on your local C drive, not a network drive. Working on a network drive can cause erratic behavior. If you are working on your local drive and have an issue, see if these steps help:

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2425

Justin Wilcox

Sandra Murray said:

I quickly determined that my PowerPoint files were not actually corrupt.

I also ran through this list of steps: http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2425.  This did not work for me.

As a last resort, I downloaded the entire Articulate '9 suite to my home computer to test it on a non-company built computer.  I took a CBT file home and synced it til I couldn't do anymore.  It was perfect.  I couldn't crash PowerPoint to save my life.  This told me that the security/anti-virus updates pused to every company-built computer last fall is most likely interfering with the way Articulate performs.  I have now provided the error information to our network team.  I'm not holding my breath though as I doubt that they would alter the build because 6 people out of 22,000 have Articulate.  So we are stuck working out the automatic timing in the animation pane and foregoing synchronization altogether or using no animation at all.  The only thing I didn't try was sending a case/file to Articulate support.  This is because our company CBTs are proprietary information and we don't have confidentiality contracts in place. 

Good luck.  I'd still be interested in hearing what you find out if you do open a case.  You never know if there'd be something I can share with our network guys if a solution is found.

Sandra


Hi Sandra. I would also suggest you try these steps here:

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2425

Make sure that your antivirus program is temporarily disabled when performing all of the steps. Antivirus programs can cause issues with installing software and that may be what is causing your issue. After you have performed all of the steps, leave the antivirus off and see if you have a problem. If you don't, turn it back on and see if things are still working OK. It's likely that they will be.

Sandra Lowe

Thanks Justin but those steps didn't work for me.  I spent a couple of hours working through those steps earlier this week and PowerPoint still crashed at the first attempt to sync slides.  I am now exploring the anit-virus option but I'm not holding my breath.  As a company built computer, I am seriously doubting that I will even have the ability to disable the anti-virus software.

Kelly Baldwin

Justin Wilcox said:


Hi Kelly. The first thing I would do is make sure that your PowerPoint files are located on your local C drive, not a network drive. Working on a network drive can cause erratic behavior. If you are working on your local drive and have an issue, see if these steps help:

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2425

Everything is resident on my C: drive. I never work on our network or off a network drive because our network is too slow for me.   I'll pursue this further on Monday... thank you!!

Kelly Baldwin

This is extremely frustrating.  It is still doing the same thing.  I don't understand why when it just seemed to start "recently" like over the past few weeks.  It's making it impossible for me to synch things up.  I can synch one slide, save and close and no error. My hopes get raised.  I go to another slide, slick on synch animations, go through the synching, click on save and close and Wham!  There's the error, it shuts down my PPTX, and wants me to disable the Articulate add on.

My entire morning at work has been devoted to troubleshoot this.  I followed all of the instructions here:

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=2425


including disabling my virus program and reinstalling the Articulate as the adminstrator/owner of my machine.  All of my original files are resident on my machine.  This is a training we created months ago (without these issues, I might add) and I've gone in and made some updates with images and several audio re-records.  All I need to do is re-synch it, fix the quiz problem as noted in the forums here and republish it.  I need to have it done by next Tuesday at the latest.  And then I need to move on to update other training modules.  I'm scared this will continue into those...

Please help?  Is this going to be a fix in the next update?  How long until the next update? I hope before I go bald from pulling my hair out! 

Thanks for any assistance you can provide!

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.