"PowerPoint Can't Be Used as a Server" error message

[cliff]

Hi there!

Every time I open PowerPoint 2007 on my Vista computer, I get a dialog box
that reads, "PowerPoint can't be used as a server because a dialog box is
open. Please close open dialog boxes to continue." It only happens the
first time I open PowerPoint. After I click "OK", I can work in PowerPoint
without any problems.

Could this be caused by a problem with an Add-In? When I View and Manage
Add-Ins, I have Acrobat PDF Maker, Articulate Presenter and Camtasia Add-In.
When I try to Remove any of these Add-Ins, I get a dialog box reading, "The
connected state of Office Add-Ins registered in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE cannot be
changed."

Thanks for your help with solving this mystery...

 

[Pia Bork]

Every time I open PowerPoint 2007 on my Vista computer, I get a
dialog box that reads, "PowerPoint can't be used as a server because
a dialog box is open. Please close open dialog boxes to continue."
It only happens the first time I open PowerPoint. After I click "OK",
I can work in PowerPoint without any problems.
Could this be caused by a problem with an Add-In? When I View and
Manage Add-Ins, I have Acrobat PDF Maker, Articulate Presenter and
Camtasia Add-In. When I try to Remove any of these Add-Ins, I get a
dialog box reading, "The connected state of Office Add-Ins registered
in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE cannot be changed."

I'm quite sure that the Addins cause the problem. There is only a rather old
KB-article but it points in this direction
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/226750/en-us). If it is so the problem
should no longer appear when you start in safe mode: press CTRL while
starting Powerpoint.

There may be two folders in which the addins can be stored:
C:\program files\microsoft office\office 12\addins
and
<user>\application data\microsoft\addins

If you find them move them to another place and see if it helps.




--
Mit lieben Grüßen
Pia Bork
MVP Powerpoint
http://www.ppt-faq.de
http://www.office-training-muenchen.de