old ppta files and incomplete package

Dec 11, 2013

Gwen McLean
By Gwen McLean

I am making changes to an existing course that includes Studio 9 presenter, engage, and quizmaker files. As I am doing this, the program keep generating multiple old ppta folders. How do I get rid of them and how do I know which one to save? I think I should save the one with the most recent date which doesn't have the 'old' in the file name, but I am pretty sure this will mean losing the audio. Any advice on how to fix this and more importantly how to avoid having these old files keep generating.

And, as an added bonus that may or may not be related, since I have made the changes, I cannot send the package to Articulate in a zip. Only some of the files end up being included, so it is an incomplete package. Any advice here as well?

1 Reply
Christine Hendrickson
over 10 years ago12/12/13 at 8:41 am (UTC)

Hi Gwen,

Certainly sounds like some strange behavior, indeed. 

First, please make sure that you're working with projects from and saving to your local hard drive. 

  • Work on your local drive (your C: drive). Working on a network drive or a USB drive can cause erratic behavior, including file corruption, loss of audio, and other unexpected behavior. 
  • You should also make sure the directory path to your project files and your published output is less than 260 characters (for example C:\Articulate).
  • Avoid using special characters, accents or symbols in your file names (this includes spaces and underscores).

Additional information regarding "Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces" in Windows operating systems can be found in the following Microsoft article.

If you only experience this with this particular project, it might be an issue of corruption. 

Here's how to fix a corrupt PowerPoint file

It may help to run a quick repair on Studio '09:

Articulate Support - How to Repair Articulate Studio '09

If you're still having trouble, please follow the troubleshooting steps outlined in this article:

Unexpected or Erratic Behavior in Articulate Studio '09

Let me know if you see any improvement.

Thanks, Gwen!

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