Unable to open PPT 2004 Mac files on an XP PC

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Matt,

Why don't you believe the message? It is probably telling you the truth.

Have one of the people experiencing the problem install the critical updates
that they did not yet install and see if that fixes the problem on their
side.

Chances are very good that if they install the critical update as instructed
the problem with the windows software will be corrected.

You would think with all of the publicity surrounding the bad things that
happens to windows users who don't promptly install critical updates that
they all would have done so automatically. One of the bad things is that
their software doesn't work properly until it is fixed. So install the fix -
even if just on one machine to see if that's the cure.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

So having just spent hours working on a Powerpoint file, no one in PC
land can open it.

It was originally put together on a PC, sent to me, worked on it on the
Mac and now sent to about 10 different people, mostly running XP and
running either Office XP or 2003 - no one can open it.

I am using 10.3.9 and Office 2004.

Just tested it on a machine here, got the following warning:

"This error might be caused by corrupt drawing objects in the file you
are opening. This behavior is caused by a defect in the drawing object
code within certain Office 2003 applications.

If you attempt to save the file using one of these Office 2003
applications, you could lose data. You can still open the file without
any problems by using previous versions of the application.

If you choose to use an Office 2003 version, however, you should apply
a critical update available from the Office Online Web site. On the
Downloads page of Office Online, click Check for Updates to scan your
computer for available updates."

This seems to blame the opening-PC, but since every PC I send it to
seems to be getting this, fair to assume it is me with the problem
rather than everyone else.

The compatibility test within Mac PPT says no issues with either XP or
2003 (a few slide transition errors with older versions)

Help!

Matt

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[matthew.underwood]

So having just spent hours working on a Powerpoint file, no one in PC
land can open it.

It was originally put together on a PC, sent to me, worked on it on the
Mac and now sent to about 10 different people, mostly running XP and
running either Office XP or 2003 - no one can open it.

I am using 10.3.9 and Office 2004.

Just tested it on a machine here, got the following warning:

"This error might be caused by corrupt drawing objects in the file you
are opening. This behavior is caused by a defect in the drawing object
code within certain Office 2003 applications.

If you attempt to save the file using one of these Office 2003
applications, you could lose data. You can still open the file without
any problems by using previous versions of the application.

If you choose to use an Office 2003 version, however, you should apply
a critical update available from the Office Online Web site. On the
Downloads page of Office Online, click Check for Updates to scan your
computer for available updates."

This seems to blame the opening-PC, but since every PC I send it to
seems to be getting this, fair to assume it is me with the problem
rather than everyone else.

The compatibility test within Mac PPT says no issues with either XP or
2003 (a few slide transition errors with older versions)

Help!

Matt

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The original release of 2003 ran into problems like this frequently, and it was
fixed within months of release by a critical update patch, later folded into
SP1.

As Jim mentions, a lot of people don't apply updates automatically, some
because they're unaware, some because their network admins don't enable it,
some because they don't trust an update that fixes one thing not to break three
other things. For whatever reason, we STILL see this problem or one that
sounds very like it WEEKLY on the Windows PPT side of this forum and to date,
applying SP1 or later has solved it in every case.

If you need a bit more leverage to convince them, mention that in some cases,
PPT2003 wouldn't be able to open files it'd just saved, until the SP was
applied.

So having just spent hours working on a Powerpoint file, no one in PC
land can open it.

It was originally put together on a PC, sent to me, worked on it on the
Mac and now sent to about 10 different people, mostly running XP and
running either Office XP or 2003 - no one can open it.

I am using 10.3.9 and Office 2004.

Just tested it on a machine here, got the following warning:

"This error might be caused by corrupt drawing objects in the file you
are opening. This behavior is caused by a defect in the drawing object
code within certain Office 2003 applications.

If you attempt to save the file using one of these Office 2003
applications, you could lose data. You can still open the file without
any problems by using previous versions of the application.

If you choose to use an Office 2003 version, however, you should apply
a critical update available from the Office Online Web site. On the
Downloads page of Office Online, click Check for Updates to scan your
computer for available updates."

This seems to blame the opening-PC, but since every PC I send it to
seems to be getting this, fair to assume it is me with the problem
rather than everyone else.

The compatibility test within Mac PPT says no issues with either XP or
2003 (a few slide transition errors with older versions)

Help!

Matt

================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
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