Resolving Problems


You can solve some problems yourself by determining their causes and eliminating any contributing factors. Most problems you encounter in PowerPoint will probably be memory related , even if you have a lot of memory (RAM) on your computer. PowerPoint is a graphical application, and graphics use a lot of memory. Printing and display can also be problem areas if your printer doesn't have enough memory or your video card isn't powerful enough.

When you consider solving a problem, be honest ”do you feel confident changing your computer's configuration? Are you comfortable with the Control Panel? If you begin tinkering in one dialog box or another, do you completely understand the nature and ramifications of all the changes and settings with which you're working? If the answers to these questions are not Yes on all counts, don't try to solve the problem on your own ”call for help.

NOTE

If you want to try a possible solution on your own, try to exit without saving or choose File, Save As and save the file under a new name and restart PowerPoint. You might lose any work (in your original file) done since you last saved it, but if the last batch of changes was what caused your problem, you've also lost them!


Display Problems

Most display problems, if they occur suddenly, are memory related. Typical complaints include the following:

  • Ghosts of previous slides or dialog boxes appear behind your current slide, or even on top of it.

  • Text on your slides changes to a choppy, sans serif font.

  • Graphics look incomplete, grainy or choppy, or as though a pattern is placed on top of them.

  • Ornate graphics or background elements take a long time to refresh as you move from slide to slide.

If any of these problems occur, save your work and exit PowerPoint. If you have other programs running, shut them down, too. You should even consider restarting your computer to empty your memory and start with a clean slate. Most of the time, however, simply restarting PowerPoint solves the problem.

If the problem is chronic, your video drivers might need updating. Visit the Web site of your video card's manufacturer (or, if you don't know that, of your computer's manufacturer) to download the latest drivers for the version of Windows you're running. The Web site should give you instructions for installing the drivers.

CAUTION

Many workplaces don't take kindly to employees who try to fix their computers. Have your company's technical support group troubleshoot this problem and install drivers as needed.


If that doesn't work, you probably face upgrading your video card to one with more memory that can display and handle more complex graphic and multimedia content. Unfortunately, this costs money.

NOTE

If your slide's background or object-fill colors appear in stripes or just don't look as smooth as you think they should, check your zoom level. Choosing 100% should smooth out the display, removing any distortion. You can also try viewing the offending slide in Slide Show view, which lets you see the entire slide.


Printing Problems

Printing problems are generally related to your printer and are usually transient. Don't rush your computer in for repairs just because a print job doesn't come out as expected. Some common printing problems include the following:

  • The whole page doesn't print; about a third or half-way through the page, the image appears to be chopped off.

  • Text objects are missing.

  • Nothing prints, or only a few pages of random characters and symbols print.

Most of the problems you will encounter when printing will be due to the printer not having enough memory. Sometimes you can limp along by printing your presentation a page at a time ”that is, send page 1 to the printer, and then page 2, and so on. This might prevent the printer's memory from being overloaded. This will become very tedious by about page 4, however, and you'll probably be ready to lay out the cash for more memory in your printer.

If you print on a networked printer and the network is set up very poorly, the printer can become " confused " with too much input from too many people. If the same presentation printed fine before on the same printer, the current environment ”other printer traffic ”is probably the culprit. To limp along, try printing the presentation when others aren't using the printer, such as before or after hours. You can also just save the presentation to a disk and print it at a printing and photocopying store ”most of them rent time on their computers and printers. But the better solution is for your company's network administrators to redesign the network to be more robust.

To reduce the amount of information that your printer must handle for your presentation, try printing in black and white (use the Print dialog box setting).

If all quick-fix or workaround options fail or are inappropriate for your immediate needs, you can take a more direct approach and check your printer's settings. Each printer's settings are different because they are based on the printer's specific capabilities, its connection to your printer or a network, and your system configuration. To access your printer's settings, open the Start menu and choose Control Panel, Printers and Other Hardware, Printers and Faxes (or in Windows 2000, open the Start menu and choose Settings, Printers). Then right-click the icon for the printer and choose Properties from the menu that appears. The dialog box that opens shows you the current settings for your printer's connection to the computer, speed, resolution, and other options, again, depending on your printer. If you're working with someone else's computer (the computer on your desk at work, for example), it's a good idea to ask for help from a technical resource before making any changes.

A common fix for printer problems is to reinstall the printer's driver on your computer. Sometimes, printer drivers fall out of date, especially if your computer's operating system has been upgraded. Check the manufacturer's Web site for the latest driver and download it. Install it by double-clicking the Add Printer icon in the Printers and Faxes window. When asked, direct the installation program to the folder where you have stored the driver, and a new printer icon will appear, based on that driver file. Try your print job again. If it succeeds, the old driver was the culprit.

CAUTION

Many workplaces don't take kindly to employees who try to fix their computers. Have your company's technical support group reinstall your printer's driver instead.


Troubleshooting Problems with PowerPoint Features

PowerPoint is loaded with effective and normally efficient tools to enhance your presentations, and these features work perfectly most of the time. When they don't, however, they can truly be more trouble than they're worth. Before starting your next presentation, familiarize yourself with these situations and their resolutions :

  • AutoCorrect isn't correcting ” Be sure that it's on. Choose Tools, AutoCorrect Options, and check to see that a check mark is next to Replace Text as You Type as well as any other AutoCorrect options that you want to use.

  • AutoCorrect is working when you don't want it to ” In your presentation for the law firm of Tidwell, Evans, and Havilland, you need to type teh and not have it converted to the . You don't want to remove the AutoCorrect entry from the list, and you don't want to turn off AutoCorrect altogether. What to do? Click the down arrow to the right of the AutoCorrect Options button (it's just beneath the corrected word) and choose Stop Automatically Correcting "teh."

  • Your hyperlinks don't work ” The most common cause of this problem is that the target file or Web location is no longer valid or has been moved. It's a good idea to maintain your links by checking them periodically, especially an intranet or Web pages on the Internet. If the hyperlink fails, right-click it and choose Edit Hyperlink from the shortcut menu. In the Edit Hyperlink dialog box that appears, you can enter a new hyperlink.

  • The speech and handwriting recognition tools won't work properly ” Remember that you need at least 128MB of memory for these powerful features to work (even though you might be able to access them with less).

  • Drag-and-drop editing doesn't work ” If you've ruled out that your mouse skills are the cause of the problem ”not having text properly selected can often be the culprit ”be sure that the drag-and-drop feature is turned on. Choose Tools, Options and, in the Edit tab, look for a check mark in the Drag-and-Drop Text Editing option. If it's not checked, click the option box.

NOTE

If your hyperlink works but takes a long time to get to the target Web site, the server on which the target resides might be busy. Try to reach the site later, or try during times of the day that are less likely to be busy, such as early in the morning or very late at night.


Slideshow Problems

If you're having a problem with your slideshow, the problem is likely that the show is too slow or your animations don't work as expected. In the case of speed, your computer's memory might be the problem; or if you're using graphic files that were scanned at a high resolution (600 or 1200 dpi), this might slow down your show as well. To see if memory is the problem, close any other programs that aren't essential and restart PowerPoint. If the show is still too slow, and you are using graphic files in your presentation, consider rescanning the graphics at a lower resolution (if you have access to the original artwork) or opening the file in a program, such as Irfanview (which is free at www. irfanview .com), Paint Shop Pro, or Photoshop, that lets you edit and resave the image at a lower resolution.

TIP

The lower the resolution, the smaller the graphic file. An 800x600 pixel bitmap (BMP) image at 16 million colors uses 1.37MB of memory. The same image at 256 colors needs only 470KB, and at 16 colors it needs only 235KB. Reducing resolution often damages the image's quality, however. If an image truly has thousands of colors and you reduce it to 256 colors, the image loses a lot of detail and might look blotchy.


If your animations aren't working as expected, try the obvious first. Go back to the slides and make sure that your settings are correct. If they are, try deleting the offending object (a piece of clip art that doesn't fly in as desired or a title that doesn't appear at all during the show) and reinserting it. Then, reapply the animation effects. Years of using PowerPoint and helping hundreds of students create presentations has proven this method; although not technically elegant, it is the most effective and expeditious way to solve such problems.

NOTE

When any PowerPoint problem occurs in printing, running a slideshow, or editing your slides, try the Ask a Question box on the menu bar. Enter your question (or a keyword if you're in a hurry) and press Enter. If you type "Printing," for example, the topics that the Ask a Question box will find for you include "Troubleshoot printing."




Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
ISBN: 0789729571
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 261

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