"format placeholder" just stops working

[Guest]

I've got MS PowerPoint 2002 - SP3. It's worked fine for a few years.

But recently, in the process of building Powerpoint presentations, I noticed
several of the little "format" sub-menus stopped popping up. No explanation.
For example, I would have a textbox that I needed to re-format. I'd select
"format placeholder" and the software would think about it for 2/10ths of a
second and then simply do nothing. For a while, I could close my document
and re-open it, and the menus would work again for a while. But now, they
never work at all.

I haven't tried rebooting yet, because I'm scared of what needing to reboot
might imply. If I have to reboot every 10 minutes to get my software to
work, what's the point? I might as well be running Windows 3.0.

Once they stop working, it doesn't matter what PPT document I have open ...
none work.

Sooner help is better than later help. Thanks.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I've got MS PowerPoint 2002 - SP3. It's worked fine for a few years.

But recently, in the process of building Powerpoint presentations, I noticed
several of the little "format" sub-menus stopped popping up. No explanation.
For example, I would have a textbox that I needed to re-format. I'd select
"format placeholder" and the software would think about it for 2/10ths of a
second and then simply do nothing. For a while, I could close my document
and re-open it, and the menus would work again for a while. But now, they
never work at all.

I haven't tried rebooting yet, because I'm scared of what needing to reboot
might imply. If I have to reboot every 10 minutes to get my software to
work, what's the point? I might as well be running Windows 3.0.

Sure, but it's not working now, and rebooting might solve the problem.

I'd power the computer down, restart, fire up PPT and do Help, Detect and Repair

 

[Guest]

Yes, it works for a while after I reboot, but that doesn't explain WHY.
Detect and repair was, by the way, inconclusive.

I guess I'm just one of those people that think "reboot" is a stupid answer
to computer problems, as a "resolution" which should have been consigned to
the dark history Windows 98 and before. Sometimes I'm in the middle of
business related activities and stopping everything to reboot is not
convenient.

Not being able to predict how a computer will suddenly become unreliable
makes the whole process of using a computer less than enjoyable. I sit on
pins and needles just waiting for something to fail, saving my files every
few minutes. This isn't the kind of experience I want when I'm using any
tool.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Yes, it works for a while after I reboot, but that doesn't explain WHY.
Detect and repair was, by the way, inconclusive.

I guess I'm just one of those people that think "reboot" is a stupid answer
to computer problems, as a "resolution" which should have been consigned to
the dark history Windows 98 and before.

I guess you'll have to peg me for a dunce then. I wouldn't read anything more I
have to say, if I were you.

A marginal power supply, RAM that isn't perfect, HDD problems, powerline burps and
who knows how many other things can cause problems that only a power cycle can fix.

When you run programs in one order rather than another, conflicting DLLs may get
loaded; once loaded, they stay in memory until Windows is restarted.

You can spin your wheels for hours chasing some of these problems only to have them
go away with a reboot. I kick myself for stupidity every time I get caught in
trying to find a fix for a problem only to discover that it disappears after a
reboot. A few minutes (possibly) wasted is cheap insurance against wasting hours.

Sometimes I'm in the middle of
business related activities and stopping everything to reboot is not
convenient.>
Not being able to predict how a computer will suddenly become unreliable
makes the whole process of using a computer less than enjoyable. I sit on
pins and needles just waiting for something to fail, saving my files every
few minutes. This isn't the kind of experience I want when I'm using any
tool.

Nobody has suggested hourly reboots as a *solution*.

It's diagnostic tool.

If you reboot and the problem goes away and doesn't return, then the problem was
likely a transient one and rebooting solved it.

You've said that's not the case, that it comes back after a while.

Rebooting didn't solve the problem. Fine. We've eliminated one possible avenue of
investigation and can concentrate on others. AND it's a workaround until you find
the source of the problem and fix it.

Is there any pattern to how long it takes for the symptom to return?
Is there any pattern to the other programs you run prior to seeing the symptom?
Is there any pattern of steps taken in PPT that seems to trigger the problem?