Recovering Damaged Powerpoints

by | Feb 14, 2014 | Uncategorized

Recovering Damaged PowerPoints

PowerPoints are more likely to be damaged instead of lost. It is important to determine if you can or cannot open your PowerPoint. There are different steps to dealing with each situation.

 

 

If the Powerpoint won’t open

There are a number of methods that could open the PowerPoint up. Don’t start over right away if your PowerPoint is damaged and won’t open. You could waste a lot of time. Following these steps in order is the easiest and most timely way to opening your PowerPoint.

Drag the presentation into a Powerpoint file

  1. Determine the location of the PowerPoint program on your computer
    • The default location for PowerPoint 2003 is: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11
    • The default location for PowerPoint 2002 is: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10
  2. Drag the damaged PowerPoint presentation to the PowerPoint program icon

Double-Click the presentation in Windows Explorer

  1. Open the Start menu and click on My Computer (it should be pinned there by default)
  2. Determine the location of the PowerPoint program on your computer
  3. Double-Click on the PowerPoint program

Try to Insert Slides into a Blank Presentation

  1. On the File menu, click New, and then click Blank Presentation in the New Presentation task pane
  2. This creates a blank Title slide. You can delete this slide later after you re-create your presentation
  3. On the Insert menu, click Slides from files, and then click the Find Presentation tab
  4. Click Browse
  5. Select the damaged presentation, and then click Open.
  6. Click Insert All
  7. If this operation is successful, all the slides from the damaged presentation, except the slide master, are inserted in the new presentation
  8. Save the presentation
  9. If your presentation does not look the way that you expect after you try these steps, try to apply the damaged presentation as a template. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Make a back up copy of your presentation
    2. On the Format menu, click Slide Design
    3. On the Slide Design pane, click Browse
    4. Select the damaged presentation, and then click Apply
    5. The slide master of the damaged presentation replaces the new slide master

Open the Temporary File Version

  1. First check the folder that the presentation was opened from and look for a file with the name PPT####.tmp
  2. If you do not find the file there, you must search for it
    1. Open the Start menu
    2. Click Search
    3. Click All Files and Folders
    4. In the Named box or in the Search for files or folders named box, type PPT*.tmp
    5. In the Look in box, click My Computer, and then click Find Now or Search Now
  3. If you do find the file, follow these steps:
    1. Right-click the file, and then click Rename
    2. Change the old file name extension from .tmp to .ppt, so that the file name looks similar to the following:PPT####.ppt
    3. Try to open the file in PowerPoint
  • Note: If more than one file corresponds to the last time that you saved your presentation, you may have to open each file to see if any one is the temporary copy of the presentation

Try to Open the Presentation in PowerPoint Viewer

If you can open the presentation in the PowerPoint Viewer, your PowerPoint installation may be corrupted or the presentation may contain corrupted objects.

Move the Presentation to Another Computer

  1. Copy the PowerPoint on a portable device
  2. Open the PowerPoint on another computer
  3. If the PowerPoint opens, check slides for any blank object placeholders and delete them
  4. Resave the PowerPoint to the portable device
  5. Try to open the PowerPoint on its original computer

Move the Presentation to Another Disk

  1. Copy the PowerPoint to a portable device
  2. Recopy the PowerPoint on to the hard drive
  3. Try to open the PowerPoint

Run ScanDisk on your Computer

  1. Open the Start menu
  2. Click on My Computer
  3. Right-Click on the Hard Drive your presentation is on
  4. Select Properties
  5. Click on the Tools tab
  6. Under the Error Checking area click Check Now…
  7. Tell ScanDisk to repair all cross-linked files and convert lost fragments to files
  • Note: Even if ScanDisk successfully repairs all cross-linked files, there is no guarantee that PowerPoint will open the presentation

 

 

If the Damaged PowerPoint opens

This is a good sign. Chances are that the damages can be repaired. If not, at least you still have something to work off of.

Try to Apply the Damaged Presentation as a Template

  1. On the File menu, click New
    • This creates a blank Title slide
    • You can delete this slide later on after you re-create your presentation
  2. Open the Insert menu
  3. Click Slides from files
  4. Click the Find Presentation tab
  5. Click Browse
  6. Select the damaged presentation
  7. Click Open
  8. Click Insert All
  9. If this is successful, this operation inserts all the slides from the damaged presentation, except the slide master, in the new presentation
  10. Save the presentation
  11. If your presentation does not look the way that you expect, try to apply the damaged presentation as a template:
    1. Make a backup copy of your presentation
    2. On the Format menu, click Slide Design
    3. On the Slide Design pane, click Browse
    4. Select the damaged presentation, and then click Apply
    5. The slide master of the damaged presentation replaces the new slide master
      • Note: If you start to experience unexpected behavior, the template may have corrupted the presentation. In this case, use the backup copy and re-create the master slide

Paste the Slides from the Damaged Presentation into a New Presentation

  1. Open the File menu
  2. Click Open
  3. Open the damaged presentation
  4. Open the File menu
  5. Click New
  6. Click Blank Presentation in the New Presentation task pane
  7. Open the View menu
  8. Click Slide Sorter
  9. Click a slide to copy
  10. Open the Edit menu
  11. Click Copy
    • Note:If you want to copy more than one slide at a time, hold down Ctrl, and then click each slide that you want to copy
  12. Switch to the new presentation
  13. Open the Window menu
  14. Click the new presentation that you created earlier
  15. Open the View menu
  16. Click Slide Sorter
  17. Open the Edit menu
  18. Click Paste
  19. Repeat steps 9 through 18 until the whole presentation is transferred

Save the Presentation as Rich Text Format (RTF)

  1. Open the presentation
  2. On the File menu
  3. Click Save As
  4. In the Save File As Type list, click Outline/RTF(*.rtf)
  5. In the File Name box, type the name that you want, pick a location to store the presentation, and then click Save
  6. Close the presentation
    • Note: To continue working after you open the RTF presentation, click Open on the File menu, and then in the Files of type list, click All Outlines or All Files. RTF presentations do not appear if you click the Presentations option.