PowerPoint 2003 problem

[marshall]

I've recently had a user exprience a problem where all
they can do when they get into Powerpoint is open and
print documents. She stated one day her powerpoint
crashed and when she got into it next time all the
options were grayed out except for the file open and
print. She cannot make a new presentation, edit, or even
save any presentation she currently has. I have tried a
repair under Add/Remove Programs and I've tried loggin in
as a different user and trying it. I haven't tried
reinstalling or uninstalling/reinstalling the software
yet because I have to ship her the install disk today.
Can anybody tell me what the problem could be? This is a
Windows XP machine too.

 

[Sonia]

Did she "activate" the software? If not, the period for activation has
expired and PowerPoint has been reduced to limited function mode. I think
that in that case the software has to be uninstalled completely and then
reinstalled and then it MUST be activated if she wants to use it.

 

[Guest]

Well I've been TOLD by the person that installed it that
it has been activated. It's been installed for over 6
months and she hasn't had a problem although that exact
thought did occur to me earlier today but having that
product on there for 6 months I would have thought would
have expired the mandatory registration period months
ago. Then when I asked the technician who installed it
if he registered it and he confirmed it I pretty much
threw that idea out the window... Thanks for the thought
though.

 

[Sonia]

Have her go to Help > About Microsoft PowerPoint and click on Disabled
Items. Is anything listed?

Has she tried to do Detect and Repair?

What version of PowerPoint and what is the latest Service Pack installed?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Well I've been TOLD by the person that installed it that
it has been activated. It's been installed for over 6
months and she hasn't had a problem although that exact
thought did occur to me earlier today but having that
product on there for 6 months I would have thought would
have expired the mandatory registration period months
ago.

It "times out" after a set number of uses rather than a fixed time period, but
since it's something like 30 or 40, I'd guess that's long gone after six
months.

If it's not in safe mode for some reason, it sure does sound like the crash may
have confused it into thinking it's not registered. You might try Help,
Activate Product to see what that turns up.

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
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