disapearing backgrounds

[Steve]

Regarding the odd symptom of backgrounds randomly not appearing while in
show mode on ppt2003, someone below suggested --- "GDI objects exhausted"

This comment led me down a path that I don't entirely understand, but
what the heck, I may have found something of use.

I opened the task manager, selected the VIEW menu, chose SELECT COLUMNS,
picked GDI OBJECTS from the list. I then sorted the tasks by GDI objects,
putting the biggest user on top. Then I ran the offending powerpoint file
with the task manager open, which stayed on top, even in show mode. Fun. I
observed the number of GDI Objects in powerpoint, which stayed steady at
about 240 (whatever that means) as I clicked through the show. Here is the
interesting part: I noticed that there is a process, an application called
WISPTIS.EXE, that had 2,446 GDI objects! Explorer.exe was 2nd with 853. I
ran another, older computer and checked, no WISPTIS present. Only the newer
machine, which until now I failed to mention was running Media Center
Edition 2002 sp2, had WISPTIS, which turns out is an application that is a
"pen input device tool for the Microsoft Tablet PC platform". If you google
"wisptis.exe gdi objects" you will find a bunch of links to people
complaining about this issue. I haven't gotten all the way to the bottom of
this, but it looks like this could be something to look into. My older PC,
a Dell 8600, does not have the "disapearing background" problem, and is not
a "media center edition" PC... I guess the tablet functionality is part of
media center edition?

BTW, one guy out there suggest that Adobe Acrobat reader also somehow
generates GDI objects, that pile up (somehow). Can't vouch for the
statement, but I do use the reader...

Here is a thread that talks about the evils of wisptis.exe and possible
fixes. I HAVE NOT TRIED THESE.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260&highlight=wisp

Any thoughts on excessive GDI objects as the reason for the problem?

- Steven Michelsen

 

[Echo S]

Very interesting, Steve. Thanks for posting it.

Maybe turning hardware acceleration down disables the tablet tools, and
that's why it resolves the problem?

 

[Steve]

I just had the same problem today, with a PC that does not run WISPTIS and
all it's GDI objects. I looked at the GDI objects list in the task manager
and saw that I had about 2500 between all the apps I had running - Internet
explorer, outlook, etc. I shut down the unneeded apps, and stopped and
restarted explorer.exe (went from 800 to 200 objects). Then I ran through
the offending file with no problem. So in part the issue in part may be a
matter of the old story - shut down unneeded stuff while in "show mode". On
the PC with wispsis, for now I will just stop the process in the task
manager, as well as the other steps, when I need to run a show.

If anyone can explain WHY GDI objects have an impact here, I would love to
hear about it.

Very interesting, Steve. Thanks for posting it.

Maybe turning hardware acceleration down disables the tablet tools, and
that's why it resolves the problem?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

Regarding the odd symptom of backgrounds randomly not appearing while in
show mode on ppt2003, someone below suggested --- "GDI objects exhausted"

This comment led me down a path that I don't entirely understand, but
what the heck, I may have found something of use.

I opened the task manager, selected the VIEW menu, chose SELECT COLUMNS,
picked GDI OBJECTS from the list. I then sorted the tasks by GDI
objects,
putting the biggest user on top. Then I ran the offending powerpoint
file
with the task manager open, which stayed on top, even in show mode. Fun.
I
observed the number of GDI Objects in powerpoint, which stayed steady at
about 240 (whatever that means) as I clicked through the show. Here is
the
interesting part: I noticed that there is a process, an application
called
WISPTIS.EXE, that had 2,446 GDI objects! Explorer.exe was 2nd with 853.
I
ran another, older computer and checked, no WISPTIS present. Only the
newer
machine, which until now I failed to mention was running Media Center
Edition 2002 sp2, had WISPTIS, which turns out is an application that is
a
"pen input device tool for the Microsoft Tablet PC platform". If you
google
"wisptis.exe gdi objects" you will find a bunch of links to people
complaining about this issue. I haven't gotten all the way to the bottom
of
this, but it looks like this could be something to look into. My older
PC,
a Dell 8600, does not have the "disapearing background" problem, and is
not
a "media center edition" PC... I guess the tablet functionality is part
of
media center edition?

BTW, one guy out there suggest that Adobe Acrobat reader also somehow
generates GDI objects, that pile up (somehow). Can't vouch for the
statement, but I do use the reader...

Here is a thread that talks about the evils of wisptis.exe and possible
fixes. I HAVE NOT TRIED THESE.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260&highlight=wisp

Any thoughts on excessive GDI objects as the reason for the problem?

- Steven Michelsen

 

[Echo S]

Just thinking aloud here, but I believe PPT uses the GDIplus.DLL file when
it runs (I know the PPT Viewer does, anyway), and probably the other apps
use it as well -- so I'd guess it has something to do with that .

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

I just had the same problem today, with a PC that does not run WISPTIS and
all it's GDI objects. I looked at the GDI objects list in the task
manager
and saw that I had about 2500 between all the apps I had running -
Internet
explorer, outlook, etc. I shut down the unneeded apps, and stopped and
restarted explorer.exe (went from 800 to 200 objects). Then I ran through
the offending file with no problem. So in part the issue in part may be a
matter of the old story - shut down unneeded stuff while in "show mode".
On
the PC with wispsis, for now I will just stop the process in the task
manager, as well as the other steps, when I need to run a show.

If anyone can explain WHY GDI objects have an impact here, I would love to
hear about it.

Very interesting, Steve. Thanks for posting it.

Maybe turning hardware acceleration down disables the tablet tools, and
that's why it resolves the problem?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

Regarding the odd symptom of backgrounds randomly not appearing while in
show mode on ppt2003, someone below suggested --- "GDI objects
exhausted"

This comment led me down a path that I don't entirely understand, but
what the heck, I may have found something of use.

I opened the task manager, selected the VIEW menu, chose SELECT COLUMNS,
picked GDI OBJECTS from the list. I then sorted the tasks by GDI
objects,
putting the biggest user on top. Then I ran the offending powerpoint
file
with the task manager open, which stayed on top, even in show mode.
Fun.
I
observed the number of GDI Objects in powerpoint, which stayed steady at
about 240 (whatever that means) as I clicked through the show. Here is
the
interesting part: I noticed that there is a process, an application
called
WISPTIS.EXE, that had 2,446 GDI objects! Explorer.exe was 2nd with 853.
I
ran another, older computer and checked, no WISPTIS present. Only the
newer
machine, which until now I failed to mention was running Media Center
Edition 2002 sp2, had WISPTIS, which turns out is an application that is
a
"pen input device tool for the Microsoft Tablet PC platform". If you
google
"wisptis.exe gdi objects" you will find a bunch of links to people
complaining about this issue. I haven't gotten all the way to the
bottom
of
this, but it looks like this could be something to look into. My older
PC,
a Dell 8600, does not have the "disapearing background" problem, and is
not
a "media center edition" PC... I guess the tablet functionality is part
of
media center edition?

BTW, one guy out there suggest that Adobe Acrobat reader also somehow
generates GDI objects, that pile up (somehow). Can't vouch for the
statement, but I do use the reader...

Here is a thread that talks about the evils of wisptis.exe and possible
fixes. I HAVE NOT TRIED THESE.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260&highlight=wisp

Any thoughts on excessive GDI objects as the reason for the problem?

- Steven Michelsen

I haven't tried the fix suggested below yet, but according to the PPT
FAQ
recommended by John below, ppt 2003 does not make use of hardware
acceleration anyway, so how can that be the issue? I will give it a
try
if
the problem persists today however.

The computer with the issue is a Dell e1705 with an NVidia 256MB card,
set
to 1024x768, centered (actual pixels, not interpolated to fill the
screen)
and connected to a 1024x768 projector.

"...Note that by default PowerPoint 2002 (XP) and 2003 do not use
Hardware
Graphics Acceleration in Slide Show view. This is by design, in order
to
minimize the chance of video hardware and driver errors..."

"John Wilson" <john AT technologytrish.co DOT uk> wrote in
message


maybe try notching back graphics accelleration?
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00129.htm
--

Did that answer the question / help?
_____________________________
John Wilson
Microsoft Certified Office Specialist
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk/ppttipshome.html

:

I have a presentation that on rare occasion while cueing through it
in
show
mode, the background of the slide will NOT appear, and occasionally
certain
chart elements will also not appear. When this happens, if I go
back
to
the
prior slide, then forward again, the slide appears correctly. The
background is a standard PPT color, nothing unusual.- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

It seems GDI object exhausted. When that occur again, you may open
Task Manager and check the GDI counter of the processes.

 

[Steve]

MY PC started doing it's "disapearing elements" trick again, after a long
day of running ppt files. It happened when I had about 10 little ppt files
open - 30MB total. Fortunately I was in a speaker review, not a meeting.

Here is what I found on the gdiplus.dll. This is all I know...
"...The gdiplus.dll library is required for windows to operate. It is used
by windows when communicating with your video card in order to disaply
graphics on screen. If gdiplus.dll is unavailable, windows will not function
correctly..."

as it relates to the video card it sounds reasonable that the issue could be
tied to it, but I still have no clue as to what to do about it all, other
than to be sure to run a minimum of apps and files when running a ppt show.
This was not always necessary - bummer.

Just thinking aloud here, but I believe PPT uses the GDIplus.DLL file when
it runs (I know the PPT Viewer does, anyway), and probably the other apps
use it as well -- so I'd guess it has something to do with that .

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

I just had the same problem today, with a PC that does not run WISPTIS and
all it's GDI objects. I looked at the GDI objects list in the task
manager
and saw that I had about 2500 between all the apps I had running -
Internet
explorer, outlook, etc. I shut down the unneeded apps, and stopped and
restarted explorer.exe (went from 800 to 200 objects). Then I ran
through
the offending file with no problem. So in part the issue in part may be
a
matter of the old story - shut down unneeded stuff while in "show mode".
On
the PC with wispsis, for now I will just stop the process in the task
manager, as well as the other steps, when I need to run a show.

If anyone can explain WHY GDI objects have an impact here, I would love
to
hear about it.

Very interesting, Steve. Thanks for posting it.

Maybe turning hardware acceleration down disables the tablet tools, and
that's why it resolves the problem?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/

Regarding the odd symptom of backgrounds randomly not appearing while
in
show mode on ppt2003, someone below suggested --- "GDI objects
exhausted"

This comment led me down a path that I don't entirely understand, but
what the heck, I may have found something of use.

I opened the task manager, selected the VIEW menu, chose SELECT
COLUMNS,
picked GDI OBJECTS from the list. I then sorted the tasks by GDI
objects,
putting the biggest user on top. Then I ran the offending powerpoint
file
with the task manager open, which stayed on top, even in show mode.
Fun.
I
observed the number of GDI Objects in powerpoint, which stayed steady
at
about 240 (whatever that means) as I clicked through the show. Here is
the
interesting part: I noticed that there is a process, an application
called
WISPTIS.EXE, that had 2,446 GDI objects! Explorer.exe was 2nd with
853.
I
ran another, older computer and checked, no WISPTIS present. Only the
newer
machine, which until now I failed to mention was running Media Center
Edition 2002 sp2, had WISPTIS, which turns out is an application that
is
a
"pen input device tool for the Microsoft Tablet PC platform". If you
google
"wisptis.exe gdi objects" you will find a bunch of links to people
complaining about this issue. I haven't gotten all the way to the
bottom
of
this, but it looks like this could be something to look into. My older
PC,
a Dell 8600, does not have the "disapearing background" problem, and is
not
a "media center edition" PC... I guess the tablet functionality is part
of
media center edition?

BTW, one guy out there suggest that Adobe Acrobat reader also somehow
generates GDI objects, that pile up (somehow). Can't vouch for the
statement, but I do use the reader...

Here is a thread that talks about the evils of wisptis.exe and possible
fixes. I HAVE NOT TRIED THESE.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260&highlight=wisp

Any thoughts on excessive GDI objects as the reason for the problem?

- Steven Michelsen

I haven't tried the fix suggested below yet, but according to the PPT
FAQ
recommended by John below, ppt 2003 does not make use of hardware
acceleration anyway, so how can that be the issue? I will give it a
try
if
the problem persists today however.

The computer with the issue is a Dell e1705 with an NVidia 256MB
card,
set
to 1024x768, centered (actual pixels, not interpolated to fill the
screen)
and connected to a 1024x768 projector.

"...Note that by default PowerPoint 2002 (XP) and 2003 do not use
Hardware
Graphics Acceleration in Slide Show view. This is by design, in order
to
minimize the chance of video hardware and driver errors..."

"John Wilson" <john AT technologytrish.co DOT uk> wrote in
message


maybe try notching back graphics accelleration?
http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00129.htm
--

Did that answer the question / help?
_____________________________
John Wilson
Microsoft Certified Office Specialist
http://www.technologytrish.co.uk/ppttipshome.html

:

I have a presentation that on rare occasion while cueing through
it
in
show
mode, the background of the slide will NOT appear, and
occasionally
certain
chart elements will also not appear. When this happens, if I go
back
to
the
prior slide, then forward again, the slide appears correctly. The
background is a standard PPT color, nothing unusual.- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

It seems GDI object exhausted. When that occur again, you may open
Task Manager and check the GDI counter of the processes.