Powerpoint 97 or 2003 flickers on screen

[Guest]

Good day,

We have a Dell Inspiron 9200 notebook running WinXP Pro w/SP2. Each time we
toggle the external monitor device by pressing Fn+F8 (doesn't matter if a
monitor or projector is plugged in), our PowerPoint file view will expand to
400% and the images will flicker. Tried changing to 100% or other settings,
it will not. Found out this happened to PowerPoint 97, 2003 and also to Word
2002. With Word, the file view mode will change to 500%.
Notebook BIOS upgraded, video card drivers upgraded, motherboard, video
adapter and even the LCD screen replaced but same problem. This tells me it
is a software problem. Can someone help please?

 

[Echo S]

Make sure the screen setting for the laptop and the external
monitor/projector are set to the same thing -- probably 1024x768 is a good
one to try.

Also, what happens to the display with any non-Office programs?

 

[Guest]

We have tried all settings and still the same problem. Non-Office programs
seemed to work fine. Pls note that we don't even need to attach any external
device to receive this problem. We just need to press Fn+F8 which is to
toggle to an external device or to have both external and the LCD display
activated to see this problem.

Make sure the screen setting for the laptop and the external
monitor/projector are set to the same thing -- probably 1024x768 is a good
one to try.

Also, what happens to the display with any non-Office programs?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

Good day,

We have a Dell Inspiron 9200 notebook running WinXP Pro w/SP2. Each time we
toggle the external monitor device by pressing Fn+F8 (doesn't matter if a
monitor or projector is plugged in), our PowerPoint file view will expand to
400% and the images will flicker. Tried changing to 100% or other settings,
it will not. Found out this happened to PowerPoint 97, 2003 and also to Word
2002. With Word, the file view mode will change to 500%.
Notebook BIOS upgraded, video card drivers upgraded, motherboard, video
adapter and even the LCD screen replaced but same problem. This tells me it
is a software problem. Can someone help please?

 

[Austin Myers]

Can you be specific, what are the monitor settings for each monitor
including the projector? Office simply sees a projector as a monitor.)


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

PowerPoint Video and PowerPoint Sound Solutions www.pfcmedia.com

We have tried all settings and still the same problem. Non-Office programs
seemed to work fine. Pls note that we don't even need to attach any external
device to receive this problem. We just need to press Fn+F8 which is to
toggle to an external device or to have both external and the LCD display
activated to see this problem.

Make sure the screen setting for the laptop and the external
monitor/projector are set to the same thing -- probably 1024x768 is a good
one to try.

Also, what happens to the display with any non-Office programs?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com

Good day,

We have a Dell Inspiron 9200 notebook running WinXP Pro w/SP2. Each

time
we

toggle the external monitor device by pressing Fn+F8 (doesn't matter if a
monitor or projector is plugged in), our PowerPoint file view will

expand
to

400% and the images will flicker. Tried changing to 100% or other settings,
it will not. Found out this happened to PowerPoint 97, 2003 and also

to
Word

2002. With Word, the file view mode will change to 500%.
Notebook BIOS upgraded, video card drivers upgraded, motherboard, video
adapter and even the LCD screen replaced but same problem. This tells

me
it

is a software problem. Can someone help please?

 

[Guest]

Pls read my post carefully. If you understand laptops, usually there is a
function key combination to activate an external device or activate both
external and internal display. There is no need to attach any external
device to the laptop. By pressing the Fn+F8 (function + F8) key, which is
the function key combination to activate an external device for Dell laptops,
the problem will occur. i.e. whether I attach or not attach an external
monitor or projector, the problem will occur.

Can you be specific, what are the monitor settings for each monitor
including the projector? Office simply sees a projector as a monitor.)


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

PowerPoint Video and PowerPoint Sound Solutions www.pfcmedia.com

We have tried all settings and still the same problem. Non-Office programs
seemed to work fine. Pls note that we don't even need to attach any external
device to receive this problem. We just need to press Fn+F8 which is to
toggle to an external device or to have both external and the LCD display
activated to see this problem.

Make sure the screen setting for the laptop and the external
monitor/projector are set to the same thing -- probably 1024x768 is a good
one to try.

Also, what happens to the display with any non-Office programs?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]
http://www.echosvoice.com


Good day,

We have a Dell Inspiron 9200 notebook running WinXP Pro w/SP2. Each time
we
toggle the external monitor device by pressing Fn+F8 (doesn't matter if a
monitor or projector is plugged in), our PowerPoint file view will expand
to
400% and the images will flicker. Tried changing to 100% or other
settings,
it will not. Found out this happened to PowerPoint 97, 2003 and also to
Word
2002. With Word, the file view mode will change to 500%.
Notebook BIOS upgraded, video card drivers upgraded, motherboard, video
adapter and even the LCD screen replaced but same problem. This tells me
it
is a software problem. Can someone help please?

 

[Austin Myers]

Pls read my post carefully.

If you understand laptops, usually there is a
function key combination to activate an external device or activate both
external and internal display.

And when it does this it changes operating modes in the video sub-system.
It is NOT like simply switching from one to the other.

There is no need to attach any external
device to the laptop. By pressing the Fn+F8 (function + F8) key, which is
the function key combination to activate an external device for Dell laptops,
the problem will occur. i.e. whether I attach or not attach an external
monitor or projector, the problem will occur.

One more time, what do you have these monitors resolution set to? It is (on
my Dell lappie) quite possible to set the resolution of the display (1024 x
768 to match the LCD) to one setting and have a completely different setting
(2048 x 1536 in my case) for my attached monitor.

 

[Guest]

Thks for your reply. The laptop is a wide screen LCD display. I have set it
from 1024x768 ro its highest resolution and also set the external video the
same. Same thing. The Dell technician spent quite a bit of time with me on
the phone setting all kinds of video settings and we both gave up. My next
step is to reformat the HD and install WinXP Pro from scratch.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thks for your reply. The laptop is a wide screen LCD display. I have set it
from 1024x768 ro its highest resolution and also set the external video the
same. Same thing. The Dell technician spent quite a bit of time with me on
the phone setting all kinds of video settings and we both gave up. My next
step is to reformat the HD and install WinXP Pro from scratch.

One thing to check before you do that ... does this occur with all
presentations, even plain blank ones with just a white b/g and a little title
text?

 

[Guest]

Yes, even new blank presentation will do that. Once this flickering
occurred, to solve it is to reboot the laptop.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Yes, even new blank presentation will do that. Once this flickering
occurred, to solve it is to reboot the laptop.

OK, thanks. That eliminates a conflict/beat-pattern between the presentation's
graphics and video refresh/video resolution.

The only other think I can think of offhand is a bit of bad memory that's only
getting hit when PowerPoint is used in dual monitor mode. Do you have any
diagnostic software that can give both video and regular memory a good thrashing
... er ... testing?

 

[Guest]

Well, like I've mentioned in my previous post, the motherboard, video card
and LCD display have all been replaced, as well as their drivers and BIOS
been upgraded. I have a feeling PowerPoint97 and Office 2002 are conflcting
but I can't be certain. The laptop is not in the office but away with my CEO
on business trips so I can't really troubleshoot now. Once it is back and I
can get the problem solved, I will post it here.
** Note that once the laptop is rebooted, the problem goes away until Fn+F8
is activated.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Well, like I've mentioned in my previous post, the motherboard, video card
and LCD display have all been replaced, as well as their drivers and BIOS
been upgraded. I have a feeling PowerPoint97 and Office 2002 are conflcting
but I can't be certain.

That doesn't completely lock out the possibility a bad memory problem but it sure does
slam the door and prop a sofa up agin it. ;-)

Are both versions of PPT installed on the same computer?
That in itself shouldn't be a problem, so long as 97 was installed first, then 2002,
and that they were installed to different folders.

I say "shouldn't be" but not "isn't" though. Its' hard to tell what weird little
intercations (that's a portmanteuvian combo of interactions and altercations I just
made up and kinda like) between varous versions and video/bios/etc.

Hmm. If it comes right down to it, I'd still not reformat. Maybe uninstall 2002 then
97 then run a registry cleaner (search www.pptfaq.com for a ref) and then reinstall in
oldest-first order and run a test at each step.

 

[cappiebrewer]

Solution for Powerpoint Flicker and Zoom after Using Fn-F8

This is an old thread, but in the hope of helping someone like myself, who has been suffering with this problem, I'm posting a solution.

The problem affects Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, Internet Explorer, possibly other apps. After using the Fn-F8 key combination (to change display monitor), text size increases to largest size and can't be changed back until reboot. In PPT there is the added effect of the screen flashing or flickering. I noticed some other odd mouse effects as well.

The solution: Uninstall Microsoft IntelliType.

It worked for me and at least one other person who posted this solution on the Dell support forum.

Good luck!