Powerpoint going slow / hanging during presentation

[Colm]

Hello all

This is my first post so I hope it is ok...

I have a presentation that is hanging and from time to time the mouse/cursor
will not respond.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Colm

 

[Austin Myers]

OS version, PPT version, presentation created on that machine?

Austin Myers
MS Powerpoint MVP Team

 

[Guest]

I am reguarly having problems with Powerpoint hanging when I am trying to
edit presentations. if I wait a minute or two the problem resolves and I can
carry on, but writing a presentation takes a very long. I have tried a
re-install of Powerpoint only (Professional 2003, XP Professional) but that
makes no difference.
I am wondering if this is a Powerpoint problem or if there is a system
conflict?

Any ideas?
Steff

 

[Bill Dilworth]

There are any number of things that can cause the system to hang for a
minute or two and then resume, but there are two that I would suggest you
start with.

1 - Antivirus programs. PowerPoint does a lot of checking back with it's
source file and virus scanners tend to read this as a file that needs to be
re-checked. As a result, PowerPoint hangs for a minute while the anti-virus
signs off on the latest update to the PPT file. The best solution to this
is to tell your virus scanner not to scan PPT files automatically. (Doing
this, however, puts the burden of manually virus checking all incoming PPT
files on you.)

2 - Network problems. Again, since PowerPoint is in constant touch with its
source file, a slow, busy, or mis-configured network will cause the program
to hang until the interim update is completed. If you are using a PPT from
a network, try making a local copy on your hard drive and working off of
that. When you are done with the changes, over-write the network copy with
the one from your hard drive.

If neither of these fix the issue, please post back and we'll dig a bit
deeper.


--
Bill Dilworth
A proud member of the Microsoft PPT MVP Team
Users helping fellow users.
billdilworth.mvps.org
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
yahoo2@ Please read the PowerPoint
yahoo. FAQ pages. They answer most
com of our questions.
www.pptfaq.com
..
..

 

[Echo S]

In addition to Bill's suggestions, head to Tools/Options/Save and see if you
have PPT set to save autorecovery info every XX minutes. Raise that time or
turn that off altogether and see if that helps.

Note that this autorecovery save is not the same as actually saving your
file every so many minutes; autorecovery save is so that if PPT or Windows
crashes while you're working, you can maybe get some of the file back (to
the last autorecovery save, anyway).

 

[Guest]

I have tried all these suggestions and am still having problems.
I am working on a stand-alone PC so the networking is not an issue. I do
have a router with a permanent broadband connection. When I disconnent that
the hanging seems to cease immediatley but then comes back a few keystrokes
later so there is obviously something else as well.
Any other ideas?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I have tried all these suggestions and am still having problems.
I am working on a stand-alone PC so the networking is not an issue. I do
have a router with a permanent broadband connection. When I disconnent that
the hanging seems to cease immediatley but then comes back a few keystrokes
later so there is obviously something else as well.

That could be an important bit of info ... are there images or any other content
in the presentation that originally came from the web?

Does the same thing happen with a plain presentation started from scratch and
with no imported content?

And have you used AdAware or something similar to make sure that there aren't any
accumulated nasties hogging the CPU at intervals?

 

[Echo S]

Oh, this'll be a long shot, but what the heck. Won't hurt to try.

Right-click on local Area Connection and select Properties. Clear the
check box against QofS.

I was having horrific keystroke lags when I first got Windows XP, and this
took care of it for me.

I'm also wondering if you have a printer driver installed and set as
default? If not, you should. See Do this before using PowerPoint seriously
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00034.htm

Also, which antivirus program are you using?

 

[Guest]

No other images or content originally from the web
The current file I am working on was created from scratch.
Have run adware and spybot, Program ran much better for an half and hour or
so but has now started hanging again.

Steff

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

No other images or content originally from the web
The current file I am working on was created from scratch.
Have run adware and spybot, Program ran much better for an half and hour or
so but has now started hanging again.

I use ZoneAlarm's firewall; I think I'd crank it up to the max, start the presentation
and see whether anything triggers an attempt to go to the network. The log would
probably show where it thought it wanted to go. Other firewalls may have similar
logging features.

I'd also go to http://fixlinks.pptools.com and install the FixLinks demo; use it to
get a report of the links in your presentation and paste the report back into your
reply here. The demo's free, no obligation to buy anything, and the report might
reveal something useful.

 

[Guest]

I've had the good fortune not to have to use Powerpoint for a few weeks!
Same problems all over again now. I had previously tried everything
suggested - no images in the file, AdAware etc all run etc. etc
Its taking around half an hour to do one slide with 5 or 6 lines because of
all the hanging time. I can generally enter around 10 characters before the
hanging starts.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I've had the good fortune not to have to use Powerpoint for a few weeks!
Same problems all over again now. I had previously tried everything
suggested - no images in the file, AdAware etc all run etc. etc
Its taking around half an hour to do one slide with 5 or 6 lines because of
all the hanging time. I can generally enter around 10 characters before the
hanging starts.

See if anything here helps:

PowerPoint gets the SLOWS
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00114.htm

Also, once the hanging starts, press Ctl+Alt+Del and have a look at the Task List; note
what processes are running and how much CPU and memory each is consuming. If one or two
seem to be eating resources like mad, let us know what they are.

Also, does the hard disk seem to start clicking away madly when this happens?

 

[Echo S]

Do you get lags in any other programs, or is it just in PPT?

 

[Guest]

Hi Steve

I checked out the link page, but none of those points apply (have looked at
them all previously), in any case there is no issue with speed of Powerpoint
opening up.

Hard disk does not start clicking away madly when the hanging starts

CPU processes -
explorer.exe 33,000k
iexplore 36,000k
ccapp.exe 18,000
svchost.exe 20,000;
Nothing else significant

 

[Guest]

Just in PPT

Do you get lags in any other programs, or is it just in PPT?

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

I've had the good fortune not to have to use Powerpoint for a few
weeks! Same problems all over again now. I had previously tried
everything suggested - no images in the file, AdAware etc all run
etc. etc
Its taking around half an hour to do one slide with 5 or 6 lines
because of all the hanging time. I can generally enter around 10
characters before the hanging starts.

 

[Echo S]

ccapp.exe is a Norton/Symantec file, according to a search on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ccapp.exe

I'd make sure the Office Plug-in is disabled by disabling the DLL as
described at
Norton Anti-Virus and Office
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00387.htm

 

[Guest]

Office plug-in now disabled from within NAV (it was enabled before). However
hanging problem still not resolved.

ccapp.exe is a Norton/Symantec file, according to a search on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ccapp.exe

I'd make sure the Office Plug-in is disabled by disabling the DLL as
described at
Norton Anti-Virus and Office
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00387.htm

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

Hi Steve

I checked out the link page, but none of those points apply (have
looked at them all previously), in any case there is no issue with
speed of Powerpoint opening up.

Hard disk does not start clicking away madly when the hanging starts

CPU processes -
explorer.exe 33,000k
iexplore 36,000k
ccapp.exe 18,000
svchost.exe 20,000;
Nothing else significant

 

[Echo S]

Darn.

You did try my earlier suggestion about turning off the QoS packet scheduler
thing?

Start/Control Panel/Network Connections. Right-click Local Area Network and
deselect QoS.

I doubt that's it, but it shouldn't hurt to try.

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

Office plug-in now disabled from within NAV (it was enabled before).
However hanging problem still not resolved.

ccapp.exe is a Norton/Symantec file, according to a search on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ccapp.exe

I'd make sure the Office Plug-in is disabled by disabling the DLL as
described at
Norton Anti-Virus and Office
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00387.htm

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

Hi Steve

I checked out the link page, but none of those points apply (have
looked at them all previously), in any case there is no issue with
speed of Powerpoint opening up.

Hard disk does not start clicking away madly when the hanging starts

CPU processes -
explorer.exe 33,000k
iexplore 36,000k
ccapp.exe 18,000
svchost.exe 20,000;
Nothing else significant

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve

I checked out the link page, but none of those points apply (have looked at
them all previously), in any case there is no issue with speed of Powerpoint
opening up.

Hard disk does not start clicking away madly when the hanging starts

CPU processes -
explorer.exe 33,000k
iexplore 36,000k
ccapp.exe 18,000
svchost.exe 20,000;
Nothing else significant

How much CPU time is ccapp.exe eating?

Have a look here regarding that:
http://castlecops.com/pstp276479-.html#276479

 

[Guest]

Sorry not to have better news for you but yes, Q0S packet scheduler is
deselected.

Darn.

You did try my earlier suggestion about turning off the QoS packet scheduler
thing?

Start/Control Panel/Network Connections. Right-click Local Area Network and
deselect QoS.

I doubt that's it, but it shouldn't hurt to try.

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

Office plug-in now disabled from within NAV (it was enabled before).
However hanging problem still not resolved.

ccapp.exe is a Norton/Symantec file, according to a search on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ccapp.exe

I'd make sure the Office Plug-in is disabled by disabling the DLL as
described at
Norton Anti-Virus and Office
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00387.htm

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

Steff wrote:
Hi Steve

I checked out the link page, but none of those points apply (have
looked at them all previously), in any case there is no issue with
speed of Powerpoint opening up.

Hard disk does not start clicking away madly when the hanging starts

CPU processes -
explorer.exe 33,000k
iexplore 36,000k
ccapp.exe 18,000
svchost.exe 20,000;
Nothing else significant