My PowerPoint Pointer Options do not work

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Guest

When I right click the mouse in SlideShow View, I get the Pen options, but
when I click them my pointer is not actually changed. I can't draw with
them. Once I left click and drag to draw I move to the next slide. Why? I
am not in Kiosk mode. This is the exact same proplem that user "aehan" had
on 12/14/2004. I don't think the issue was resolved on here. I am using
Windows XP Professional 2002 - SP1, PowerPoint 2003. I just checked for
Office 2003 and Updated everything. Help! There are other people in the
company that are having the same problem so it's more than likely NOT my
keyboard. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks! -Glenda
 
Thank you for mentioning aehan's post because I knew that we had seen this
problem before but would have had problems locating it. Like you, aehan said
that others in the company were having the same problem. So, I'll focus on that
a bit with questions about those of you in your company who are having the same
problem. Are you all using the same version of Windows and PowerPoint with the
same service pack levels installed? Is everything (program, presentation, and
linked files) located on your local machines or is anything located on a network
shared drive or a server? Are you all using the same make and model of mouse
and keyboard? What is the make and model? Are you showing the slide show on
your monitor or on a projector?

Sorry for all of the questions, but some of them were never explored with aehan
and it looks like this is a problem that you need to have resolved.
 
Sonia:

Thanks for your response. To answer your questions:

Are you all using the same version of Windows and PowerPoint with the same
service pack levels installed? Yes. I have even tested it with SP2 installed
on another machine. It didn't work.

Is everything (program, presentation, and linked files) located on your
local machines or is anything located on a network shared drive or a server?
All on the local machine.

Are you all using the same make and model of mouse and keyboard? What is
the make and model? No, we are not. The two I am working right now are
Dells. The desktop is a Optiplex GX270 (I think) and the keyboard / mouse
that came with it. The other, a Dell Laptop,is a Latitude D600.

Are you showing the slide show on your monitor or on a projector? Right now
we are both using our monitors.

Other information. I am researching with my in-house IT dept. about the
possibility that it has something to do with the actual install of PowerPoint
2003. The Tech is at the moment doing a manual install and will test it when
the install is complete. I will keep you updated on the results.

Thanks for your help!

Glenda
 
Thanks for all of the information. We'll wait anxiously to hear whether it had
to do with the installs.
 
I forgot to ask you if you have verified that Service Pack 1 has been applied to
Office 2003. If you go to Help > About it will tell you.
 
Yes, Service Pack 1 has been applied.

Good news! The full install worked! The technician is now trying to
determine the exact item in the install that applies to this feature. But at
least we now have a resolution!

Thanks for all of your help it is very much appreciated!

-Glenda
 
Thanks for the info. I experimented and you can tell your technician that on
the other systems he can run setup.exe, select Add or Remove Features, and on
the next dialog check the box for "Choose advanced customization of
applications" and click OK. Then on the next dialog click on the "+" next to
Office Shared Features and click on the icon next to Microsoft Handwriting
Component and select "Run from my computer". That is required for the pen/ink
feature to work for you in Slide Show mode.

It's worth noting that in a controlled corporate environment, unless the
technicians know the applications and the user requirements really well and
understand the implications of a limited installation, it's best to install
everything. The small amount of disk space required is a lot cheaper than the
loss of productivity caused by situations like you've just gone through.
 
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