Microsoft Office PowerPoint hangs on startup...

[bullbreaker]

I had a problem with my Office PowerPoint;
Whenever I opened my PowerPoint presentations it took them a long time
to load all the slides as if the application was frozen. During this
time if I clicked on my slides or tried to scroll down, the message
"Not Responding" would appear on my title bar. If I closed the file at
this point I should have used "END NOW" to close my file. I have sent
the error afterward to Microsoft and they
have replied that this problem would be fixed by applying Office
Updates but I have installed all available updates and there is no
Update available for my product (neither for my OS).
If I waited to pass that delay, after a while my Presentation would
open but what I saw in the actual page view was not what it was in the
slides.
Drawings were being missed and the weird thing was that I could see
those drawings in the slides panel in a smaller size, for example I
could see the table and lines--which actually exited and had been
drawn--in the slides panel but they would not show up in the actual
page view.
I was almost sure that this had to be a hardware issue since my
presentation would open correctly on other computers,
I have tried it on several different computers at school, it's just my
computer at home which causes this problem.
Then I devised the following troubleshootings:
1- Hardware acceleration has been slid to the far left i.e. "None".
2- Officeav.dll (Norton antivirus plug-in) has been unregistered
through regsvr32.
3- No plug-in is running in my Office product.
4- Display adapter (Video card) driver has been updated
5- I also updated my monitor driver (What the heck, perhaps it helps!)
6- Refresh rate of the screen has been set to the minimum, i.e. 60 Hz.
7- I also thought it might be a memory issue; I changed my RAM and
reduced it to just one stick of 512 MB which didn't help.

My system info:
Integrated (on-board) Intel 82915G Express Chipset display adapter on
an Intel D915GEV P4 3.2 GHz dual channel motherboard.
I had 2 GB RAM in 2 channels, I changed them.Now I have two sticks of
brand new Mushkin 512 MB in channel A.
Acer AL1912 monitor.
Display adapter driver update: 11-8-2005.
Office product: 2003 professional latest service packs and updates on a
Windows XP SP2 platform with the latest updates.

Results:
When my PowerPoint file opens, two to three slides out of eleven load
fast and then it hangs.
It takes it up to 3 minutes Pfff Ahhh to load the rest of the
file.
When the entire file is loaded all graphics will show up the same both
in the page view and slide panel and can be edited with no problem
(hopefully with no problem, if nothing else occurs in future!)

After all these steps, I finally decided to put some money and upgrade
my vedio card. So I bought almost the best thing I could.
Now I have:
eVGA Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card

Results:

NOTHING!!! I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS BEFORE!

As I mentioned before, this file and my other presentations do open
normally on other computers at school.
I'm also ready to post a copy of my file if you think it helps.

Please let me know if anyone has any idea of what's going on because
this is driving me nuts, I can't wait three minutes to open a file!

 

[Guest]

Well youve tried a lot!

Have you tried HELP > DETECT & REPAIR
Also
Search for .tmp files (ppt*.tmp) and bin them, also bin temp internet files
& browser cache.

If the presentation works elsewhere sending someone the file is unlikey to
help

Also see here

http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00114.htm

Good Luck!

 

[bullbreaker]

Hi John,
Thank you for your reply,
As you said I have tried so many stuff that I forgot to add to my
list!!! Actually, after getting the new vedio card, when the problem
persisted, I wiped out my system and reinstalled a fresh XP and Office
on a formatted hard drive, and the problem persists!!! This means that
it can't be because of a software setting to detect and repair it.
This is really frustrating, because I need to work on these
presentations for my school and they open on computers at school
correctly. Since I reinstalled everything and the problem persists, it
seems that it's a hardware-related issue, also notice that disabling
hardware acceleration helped to speed up a bit but didn't solve the
problem, there seems to be a problem related to that which I can't
figure it out.
Thanks for your help again.
I hope there would be other helps posted, this is really frustrating
since I need it for school.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

First off, thanks for trying all the usual troubleshooting stuff first and
especially for letting us know what you've done. That saves lots of time.

Now we can skip past the scientific investigation and jump right to flailing
madly about for anything that promises a clue. ;-)

- Another PPT user had a suspiciously similar sounding problem that turned out,
we think, to be due to images she'd included in PPT using Adobe Reader 7's
snapshot tool. Any chance you've done that?

- Are there lots of images in the file? Any of them CMYK, possibly?

- Movies, sounds or other big stuff in the file?

- How large is the file?

- You mentioned that it loads the first xx slides in the file then bogs down.
Do you mean that it displays the first xx slides then won't jump quickly to the
next one? If so, what's different about that slide? If you delete it or move
it to the back end of the presentation, what happens?

 

[bullbreaker]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply.
Yes, This file includes a lot of images and Physics formulas and tables
created by MathType or imported from Excel or as pictures. Images are
saved within the file, therefore they must be embeded as WMF and that's
the clue. Disabling hardware acceleration--as I have mentioned in my
post--speeded up the file; however, it did not solve the problem. It
seems that there is something related to my hardware that slows down
the process. I said "my hardware" because as I mentioned before, you
should keep in mind that this file with all its images and formulas,
opens fast on computers at school. Contact me with my e-mail address if
you want a copy of the file. It is 640 KB. I have no problem to send
you a copy.
Thanks.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply.
Yes, This file includes a lot of images and Physics formulas and tables
created by MathType or imported from Excel or as pictures. Images are
saved within the file, therefore they must be embeded as WMF and that's
the clue. Disabling hardware acceleration--as I have mentioned in my
post--speeded up the file; however, it did not solve the problem. It
seems that there is something related to my hardware that slows down
the process. I said "my hardware" because as I mentioned before, you
should keep in mind that this file with all its images and formulas,
opens fast on computers at school. Contact me with my e-mail address if
you want a copy of the file. It is 640 KB. I have no problem to send
you a copy.

The file's got all that stuff in it and it's only 640kb?
As in "Fits on a floppy disk"?

 

[bullbreaker]

Hi again,
Yes! That's right! It's 640 KB
Maybe when I said it includes lots of images you thought of high
resolution pictures or stuff downloaded off the internet (?), but what
I mean is just images that I drew in PowerPoint or formulas that I
created in MathType--which is again, another feature within
PowerPoint--consequently, there is nothing of high resolution or high
volume in the file, almost every thing (except 5 pictures which were
screen shots from the output of a Physics Apparatus on the computer
screen) have been created by Office (PowerPoint or Excel). Also, the
total number of slides is just 11, that's again another issue that
keeps the volume low. There is no audio or video in the file either. It
is more like a report with plain text and Physics formulas and graphs
and tables of data added to it.
That's why I'm confused what's going on?!!! This file doesn't have
anything really huge or complicated to cause such a trouble. Right
before writing this post, I timed it again and it took 2 minutes 50
seconds to load these eleven basic slides! I really don't know what the
cause is

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi again,
Yes! That's right! It's 640 KB
Maybe when I said it includes lots of images you thought of high
resolution pictures or stuff downloaded off the internet (?), but what
I mean is just images that I drew in PowerPoint or formulas that I
created in MathType--which is again, another feature within
PowerPoint--consequently, there is nothing of high resolution or high
volume in the file, almost every thing (except 5 pictures which were
screen shots from the output of a Physics Apparatus on the computer
screen) have been created by Office (PowerPoint or Excel). Also, the
total number of slides is just 11, that's again another issue that
keeps the volume low. There is no audio or video in the file either. It
is more like a report with plain text and Physics formulas and graphs
and tables of data added to it.
That's why I'm confused what's going on?!!! This file doesn't have
anything really huge or complicated to cause such a trouble. Right
before writing this post, I timed it again and it took 2 minutes 50
seconds to load these eleven basic slides! I really don't know what the
cause is

Well, heck. Shoot it along ...

steve a-with-a-partial-circle-round-it-thingie pptools decimalpoint com

If you clap your hands and keep repeating "I believe" you see that this is an
email address. And it gives Tinkerbell such a lift.

They really need to disconnect me from this thing after hours.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

OK, got the file, thanks.

I've opened it on two computers, a fairly decent desktop with PPT2003 and again
using 2000 on a slow little laptop. It pops right open on the former, takes a
bit longer on the latter, but no longer than I'd expect any presentation of
similar size to take.

There are no links in the presentation that I can see and for the life of me, I
can't understand what'd make it take so long to open on your computer.

I think we already checked this but do you have a local printer driver installed
and set as default?

Incidentally, nice looking presentation. You might want to click the vertical
headings on the left and set the paragraph alignment to Center rather than left
(it'll make the letters line up underneath one another nicely)

 

[bullbreaker]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your consideration.
No, unfortunately I don't have a local printer.
However, I had read about this issue that PowerPoint looks for printer
and if there is none available, it might slow down the application.
Consequently, the most at-hand solution was to add a driver to my
"Microsoft Office Document Image Writer."
I had added an HP LJ driver to my Image Writer--which is the default
driver for the only default printer--to deceive PowerPoint, but it
didn't help.
Well, I paid hundred something for that new video card; I could buy a
printer instead?!!
I might be able to borrow a printer from a friend and try to see what
happens with it, but not before next week.
Do you think that's the cause?

By the way, thanks for the hints on formatting, I'll take them to
account next time.
As you see, my file is more like an official Physics Report rather than
a presentation!
By the way, did you virus scan it before opening the file or not?!!
Don't forget the very first lesson of computer security, "In God we
trust, anything else has to be virus scanned!!!" I'm kidding

 

[bullbreaker]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your consideration.
No, unfortunately I don't have a local printer.
However, I had read about this issue that PowerPoint looks for printer
and if there is none available, it might slow down the application.
Consequently, the most at-hand solution was to add a driver to my
"Microsoft Office Document Image Writer."
I had added an HP LJ driver to my Image Writer--which is the default
driver for the only default printer--to deceive PowerPoint, but it
didn't help.
Well, I paid hundred something for that new video card; I could buy a
printer instead?!!
I might be able to borrow a printer from a friend and try to see what
happens with it, but not before next week.
Do you think that's the cause?

By the way, thanks for the hints on formatting, I'll take them to
account next time.
As you see, my file is more like an official Physics Report rather than
a presentation!
By the way, did you virus scan it before opening the file or not?!!
Don't forget the very first lesson of computer security, "In God we
trust, anything else has to be virus scanned!!!" I'm kidding

 

[TAJ Simmons]

Further things to try...


1)
Run a 'scandisk' on your PC.

If It finds anything - set it to 'fix' it.
If it does find things... then also do a 'surface scan'

2)
Start your PC in safe mode.
Open powerpoint
open your presentation
is it slow to open or fast?

3)
Does this problem happen with allsorts of powerpoint presentations , or just
this one?

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
http://www.awesomebackgrounds.com
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints, tips and more...

 

[Austin Myers]

I know this is a simple thing but it gets over looked. Have you defragged
the hard drive after reinstalling everything. (Installing Windows and
Office fragments the drive horribly.) Additionally, are you letting
Windows set the size of the swap file. (Default setting)

Next, do you have the latest version of DirectX installed? If so run the
DirectX diagnostics. (Start > Run and type dxdiag and click OK.) If you
haven't updated DirectX do so.

If all this leads to naught, reboot the machine in safe mode and then fire
PPT and load your file. If it loads quickly I would suspect your Norton's
is causing you grief. (Not the first time that's happened.)

Post back and let us know what happens.


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCMedia http://www.pfcmedia.com

 

[bullbreaker]

Hi folks,
First of all, I would like to thank all those who post comments and
suggestions for their time and their concerns.

And then, the outcomes:
1- This files opens as slow as normal mode in safe mode.

2- The problem is just for this file and similar ones not all
presentations, as you see from my previous posts, this file is rather
like a Physics report with lots of tables and formulas. However, other
presentations open fast. Now I'm thinking of adding a printer that
Steve mentioned. Why might PP look for the availability of a printer
for this file and not other files?

3- Scandisk shows no problem, as you can see from my previous posts; my
hardware is pretty much reliable. (Man, my computer is a Super
Computer! I'm kidding)

4- Results of disk defrag:

Volume (C
Volume size = 74.53 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 24.41 GB
Free space = 50.12 GB
Percent free space = 67 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation = 0 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 76,529
Average file size = 443 KB
Total fragmented files = 39
Total excess fragments = 157
Average fragments per file = 1.00

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 2.00 GB
Total fragments = 1

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 81 MB
MFT record count = 81,506
Percent MFT in use = 97 %
Total MFT fragments = 2

5- Results of dxdiag: (Line numbers are from me for ease of use if we
decide to discuss an issue.)

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/8/2006, 00:09:48
Machine name: MYSUPERCOMPUTER
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service
Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: D915GAG_
BIOS: BIOS Date: 06/09/04 17:22:53 Ver: 08.00.10
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 291MB used, 3647MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
[01] DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
[02] Display Tab 1: No problems found.
[03] Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
[04] Music Tab: No problems found.
[05] Input Tab: No problems found.
[06] Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
[07] Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
[08] DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
[09] DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
[10] DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
[11] DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
[12] DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
[13] DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
[14] Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
[15] Manufacturer: NVIDIA
[16] Chip type: GeForce 6600 GT
[17] DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
[18] Device Key: (Hoops, sorry!)
[19] Display Memory: 128.0 MB
[20] Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
[21] Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
[22] Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
[23] Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
[24] Driver Version: 6.14.0010.8265 (English)
[25] DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
[26] Driver Attributes: Final Retail
[27] Driver Date/Size: 12/14/2005 16:51:00, 3916416 bytes
[28] WHQL Logo'd: Yes
[29] WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
[30] VDD: n/a
[31] Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
[32] Mini VDD Date: 12/14/2005 16:51:00, 3580480 bytes
[33] Device Identifier: (Hoops, sorry!)

[34] DDraw Status: Enabled
[35] D3D Status: Enabled
[36] AGP Status: Enabled
[37] DDraw Test Result: Not run
[38] D3D7 Test Result: Not run
[39] D3D8 Test Result: Not run
[40] D3D9 Test Result: Not run

Draw Tests Results:
[41] DirectDraw test results: All tests were successful.
[42] Direct3D 7 test results: All tests were successful.
[43] Direct3D 8 test results: All tests were successful.
[44] Direct3D 9 test results: All tests were successful.

[45] DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
[46] Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
[47] AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled

Results:
THE PROBLEM PERSISTS

Now I'm waiting for a local printer to see what comes out then.

Question: Is there any way to deceive PP for the presence of a printer
without a physical printer being there? As you see from my previous
posts, of course, I have tried to add a driver to my "Microsoft Image
Writer" but that didn't deceive PP or didn't help.

 

[Kathy Jacobs]

You are right, the MODI won't fake as a printer. But printer drivers for a
real printer will be enough. In other words, if you add the driver for a
real printer, not a virtual printer, you don't need to have the printer
installed. Be sure that once you add that printer, you make it the default
printer.

I also recommend that you make the driver one for a color printer instead of
a black and white printer. If you ever copy and paste elements from Excel,
it will make a difference.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint and OneNote information at www.onppt.com

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived

Hi folks,
First of all, I would like to thank all those who post comments and
suggestions for their time and their concerns.

And then, the outcomes:
1- This files opens as slow as normal mode in safe mode.

2- The problem is just for this file and similar ones not all
presentations, as you see from my previous posts, this file is rather
like a Physics report with lots of tables and formulas. However, other
presentations open fast. Now I'm thinking of adding a printer that
Steve mentioned. Why might PP look for the availability of a printer
for this file and not other files?

3- Scandisk shows no problem, as you can see from my previous posts; my
hardware is pretty much reliable. (Man, my computer is a Super
Computer! I'm kidding)

4- Results of disk defrag:

Volume (C
Volume size = 74.53 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 24.41 GB
Free space = 50.12 GB
Percent free space = 67 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation = 0 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 76,529
Average file size = 443 KB
Total fragmented files = 39
Total excess fragments = 157
Average fragments per file = 1.00

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 2.00 GB
Total fragments = 1

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 81 MB
MFT record count = 81,506
Percent MFT in use = 97 %
Total MFT fragments = 2

5- Results of dxdiag: (Line numbers are from me for ease of use if we
decide to discuss an issue.)

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/8/2006, 00:09:48
Machine name: MYSUPERCOMPUTER
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service
Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: D915GAG_
BIOS: BIOS Date: 06/09/04 17:22:53 Ver: 08.00.10
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 291MB used, 3647MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
[01] DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
[02] Display Tab 1: No problems found.
[03] Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
[04] Music Tab: No problems found.
[05] Input Tab: No problems found.
[06] Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
[07] Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
[08] DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
[09] DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
[10] DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
[11] DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
[12] DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
[13] DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
[14] Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
[15] Manufacturer: NVIDIA
[16] Chip type: GeForce 6600 GT
[17] DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
[18] Device Key: (Hoops, sorry!)
[19] Display Memory: 128.0 MB
[20] Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
[21] Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
[22] Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
[23] Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
[24] Driver Version: 6.14.0010.8265 (English)
[25] DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
[26] Driver Attributes: Final Retail
[27] Driver Date/Size: 12/14/2005 16:51:00, 3916416 bytes
[28] WHQL Logo'd: Yes
[29] WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
[30] VDD: n/a
[31] Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
[32] Mini VDD Date: 12/14/2005 16:51:00, 3580480 bytes
[33] Device Identifier: (Hoops, sorry!)

[34] DDraw Status: Enabled
[35] D3D Status: Enabled
[36] AGP Status: Enabled
[37] DDraw Test Result: Not run
[38] D3D7 Test Result: Not run
[39] D3D8 Test Result: Not run
[40] D3D9 Test Result: Not run

Draw Tests Results:
[41] DirectDraw test results: All tests were successful.
[42] Direct3D 7 test results: All tests were successful.
[43] Direct3D 8 test results: All tests were successful.
[44] Direct3D 9 test results: All tests were successful.

[45] DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
[46] Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
[47] AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled

Results:
THE PROBLEM PERSISTS

Now I'm waiting for a local printer to see what comes out then.

Question: Is there any way to deceive PP for the presence of a printer
without a physical printer being there? As you see from my previous
posts, of course, I have tried to add a driver to my "Microsoft Image
Writer" but that didn't deceive PP or didn't help.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your consideration.
No, unfortunately I don't have a local printer.
However, I had read about this issue that PowerPoint looks for printer
and if there is none available, it might slow down the application.
Consequently, the most at-hand solution was to add a driver to my
"Microsoft Office Document Image Writer."
I had added an HP LJ driver to my Image Writer--which is the default
driver for the only default printer--to deceive PowerPoint, but it
didn't help.
Well, I paid hundred something for that new video card; I could buy a
printer instead?!!

Naw, spend it on something more fun than that. You don't need to have an
actual physical printer, just a printer *driver* installed *and* set as the
default driver.

I might be able to borrow a printer from a friend and try to see what
happens with it, but not before next week.
Do you think that's the cause?

By the way, thanks for the hints on formatting, I'll take them to
account next time.
As you see, my file is more like an official Physics Report rather than
a presentation!
By the way, did you virus scan it before opening the file or not?!!
Don't forget the very first lesson of computer security, "In God we
trust, anything else has to be virus scanned!!!" I'm kidding

Yep, at least the second time, after it wiped out my hard drive the first time
I opened it. ;-)

 

[bullbreaker]

John, Steve, TAJ, Austin, Kathy;

Thank you folks that you supported me with your ideas.
I'm really tired of this
I bought a Canon Pixma Color Printer, and installed the driver and set
it as default and checked every thing to be correct and then tried to
open my file.

===============================
THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AS BEFORE!
===============================

I give up. That's all about it.

It seems that I should bring my PP files to school whenever I want to
work on them. Just imagine that you have a P4 3.2 GHz 2 GB RAM at home,
and to use Microsoft Office you have to go some where else because it
doesn't run correctly on your computer. This is disgusting. That's all
I can say.
Thanks for your helps folks.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

John, Steve, TAJ, Austin, Kathy;

Thank you folks that you supported me with your ideas.
I'm really tired of this
I bought a Canon Pixma Color Printer, and installed the driver and set
it as default and checked every thing to be correct and then tried to
open my file.

===============================
THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AS BEFORE!
===============================

I give up. That's all about it.

It seems that I should bring my PP files to school whenever I want to
work on them. Just imagine that you have a P4 3.2 GHz 2 GB RAM at home,
and to use Microsoft Office you have to go some where else because it
doesn't run correctly on your computer. This is disgusting. That's all
I can say.

One other thing you can try:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Diskmon.html

This guy's just brilliant. No two ways about it.
You can use this app to log disk accesses. You'd fire up PPT do everything but
open your problem file then turn on logging in Diskmon, then open the file.

IIRC, Diskmon logs time as well as files so you might be able to pin it down to
a file that's taking a long time to open.