Cannot click symbols in Insert Symbol dialog

[Posco Grubb]

I'm using PowerPoint 2007 in Windows XP SP3 on my home PC.

Here's how I reproduce my problem.
1. Open PowerPoint 2007.
2. Click in a text field.
2. Click Insert in the ribbon.
3. Click Symbol

In the Symbol dialog box, the panels of characters do not respond to my
mouse clicks. I have to use the TAB and arrow keys to select the character I
want to insert. Mouse clicks work on all the other controls of the dialog
(drop down lists, scroll bar, text field, command buttons), but nothing
happens when I click or double-click a character to insert.

Frustrating! I have access to a Windows Terminal Server that has PowerPoint
2007, and this feature works as expected. So something is plainly wrong with
my home setup.

Can anyone help please?

 

[Echo S]

Definitely strange. Try running Office Diagnostics in Office Button | PPT
Options | Resources.

 

[Posco Grubb]

Ok, I ran the Office Diagnostics, and got this vague result for the Setup
Diagnostic. It's a little annoying that there's not a quick way to
copy-and-paste the results here. Here are the test results:

Check for known solutions
Completed
The cehck for known solutions was completed successfully. There are no
solutions
which require your attention.

Memory Diagnostic
Completed
No problems were found with your computer's memory.

Compatibility Diagnostic
Completed
The diagnostic found no conflicting versions of Microsoft Office applications
installed on your computer.

Disk Diagnostic
Completed
The diagnostic found no evidence of trouble with your hard disk(s).

Setup Diagnostic
Completed
The diagnostic repaired all Microsoft Office installation problems it could
find. Verified 23 package(s).


After running the diagnostics, I tried "Insert Symbol" in PowerPoint, Word,
and Excel 2007, and they all have the same problem: the character panels in
the Symbol dialog do not respond to mouse clicks.

 

[Echo S]

Well, poop. This is not anything I've ever seen before. I can't think of
anything else that might fix it.

Hmmm...

This will seem a bit nuts, but try it anyway. (It fixes a problem with
bullets missing in the bullet gallery, so it may do something in the symbols
dialog, too, who knows.)

How to install a TEST printer driver
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00952.htm

 

[Pia Bork]

Could it be that there is a corrupt font file? Maybe Wingdings (or any other
font you chose for symbols) doesn't work properly anymore. In that case a
new installation of the fonts could be of help. You find the fonts on your
Windows setup CD.

Ok, I ran the Office Diagnostics, and got this vague result for the
Setup Diagnostic. It's a little annoying that there's not a quick way
to copy-and-paste the results here. Here are the test results:

Check for known solutions
Completed
The cehck for known solutions was completed successfully. There are no
solutions
which require your attention.

Memory Diagnostic
Completed
No problems were found with your computer's memory.

Compatibility Diagnostic
Completed
The diagnostic found no conflicting versions of Microsoft Office
applications installed on your computer.

Disk Diagnostic
Completed
The diagnostic found no evidence of trouble with your hard disk(s).

Setup Diagnostic
Completed
The diagnostic repaired all Microsoft Office installation problems it
could find. Verified 23 package(s).


After running the diagnostics, I tried "Insert Symbol" in PowerPoint,
Word, and Excel 2007, and they all have the same problem: the
character panels in the Symbol dialog do not respond to mouse clicks.

--
Mit vielen Grüßen
Pia Bork

MVP PowerPoint
http://www.ppt-faq.de

 

[Posco Grubb]

How to install a TEST printer driver
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00952.htm

I tried installing a test printer driver, as the above page instructs.
Unfortunately, it did not fix the problem. I'm stuck with using the keyboard
for now, I guess. BTW, Windows' own Character Map utility works fine.

I'll post this to the Word and Excel newsgroups, too, since I noticed that
the same problem exists with those programs.

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[Posco Grubb]

Could it be that there is a corrupt font file? Maybe Wingdings (or any other
font you chose for symbols) doesn't work properly anymore. In that case a
new installation of the fonts could be of help. You find the fonts on your
Windows setup CD.

I doubt it would be a problem with the font. The font I'm using in the
Symbol dialog is (normal text). For my PowerPoint files, that font is usually
Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman.

Well, someday I'll dig up the ol' Windows XP CD-ROM (remember when Windows
was distributed on 5.25" floppy disks??) and try re-installing the fonts.
I'll post here to let you know the result.

 

[Posco Grubb]

I'm using PowerPoint 2007 in Windows XP SP3 on my home PC.

Here's how I reproduce my problem.
1. Open PowerPoint 2007.
2. Click in a text field.
2. Click Insert in the ribbon.
3. Click Symbol

In the Symbol dialog box, the panels of characters do not respond to my
mouse clicks. I have to use the TAB and arrow keys to select the character I
want to insert. Mouse clicks work on all the other controls of the dialog
(drop down lists, scroll bar, text field, command buttons), but nothing
happens when I click or double-click a character to insert.

I found the answer in MS Word newsgroup:
microsoft.public.word.application.errors:

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...d168d96833ac&lang=en&cr=us&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

It turns out that there's a conflict with Microsoft's Tweak UI's X-Mouse
(window focus follows the mouse cursor).

When X-Mouse is enabled, the characters in the Symbol dialog are not
clickable. When X-Mouse is disabled, the characters are clickable. That's too
bad, because I like X-Mouse. *sigh*

From the Word newsgroup, it looks like this has been a problem since at
least Word 2002. It's sad that it still exists and has spread now to
PowerPoint.

So... how do I submit a bug report to Microsoft??

 

[Echo S]

Ahhhh. I was going to ask about add-ins and utilities next. Thank you for
posting this information; I know I sure wasn't aware of this conflict in
Word or in PPT!

I'm actually surprised this hasn't affected PPT in the past. I'll report it
as a bug, although I'm not sure if the bug is with Tweak UI or with the
various Office apps. Since it hasn't been fixed already, despite its
existence in Word since 2002, I wouldn't hold my breath....