PowerPoint 2013: Images in presentation disappear - and are replaced with 'The image part with relationship ID rId2 was not found in the file'

UPDATE:

I know it's been a while since our last update but that's only because we've been hard at work on a solution and doing our best to ensure that it really does eliminate the problem.

Good news - we think we've finally fixed all instances of this bug. The update is now available and how you get it will depend on your version of Office:

• Click-2-Run: you should receive the update automatically
• "Traditional" install: update will be available via Microsoft Update

The correct build number once the update is installed is:

• MSI: 15.0.4613.1000
• C2R: 15.0.4615.1001

Obviously we'd love your feedback once you've installed the update. If for some reason you continue to hit the issue please post back here and be sure to include which build of PowerPoint you have as well as any other sync/anti-virus software you may have installed.

We're deeply committed to eradicating this issue and while we've done extensive testing there's always the possibility that something slipped through the cracks.

Thanks,

Dan

HELP: I have just had Office 365 installed (MSO - 15.0.4701.1000) 32 Bit and have the same problem ???

I completely understand how you feel.  And yep, "PowerPoint crashed" is just a step above (or maybe below) "The dog ate my homework" on the Credibility With Boss Scale.  

One thing that's not clear:  have you fully updated your copy of Office?  

And then ... none of what follows is a fix; most of it is just general best practices advice and possible workarounds, but until the problem's totally rooted out and squashed, workarounds is all we have:

No dropboxes/no synching:  good.

Network drives:  generally not an issue, at least not in an all Windows network;  I'd be reluctant to edit files off a shared Mac drive and would want to pull any *nix shares out of the mix at least as a test (though I've been using a *nix-based NAT box for storage for the last few months and haven't run into any problems.  He says. Knocking on wood.)

Other stuff that may be relevant:

Avoid working on files directly from ANY sort of removable storage (drives, usb sticks, SD cards, etc).  I'd guess you're already good on this point, but wanted to mention it just in case.

Avoid copy/pasting images in from the web.  Instead, copy, paste into any image editing program you like ( IrfanView is a great free one if you don't already have one you like ) and then save from there as PNG or JPG.

Look for other software that might "lock" the file you're working on ... automated backup software, possibly AV software, etc.  

Turn off the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer.  If the file you're working on is also showing a preview in Explorer, there's a hidden copy of PPT running to provide the preview.  Sometimes that can get into mischief.

And understand that there's no AutoSave feature in PowerPoint.  The feature you're thinking of saves Auto-recovery information every so often so that IF PowerPoint crashes and IF it's able to look around and notice "Hey.  I'm crashing.  Dang!"  it'll open the last saved version.  Otherwise, any autosaved info gets deleted.  

And I have to wonder whether Evil might come of the Auto Recover feature kicking in at the same time as your manual saves.  I've never heard anything that points to this as a cause, but if nothing else helps, it's worth turning it off as a test.

I feel your pain. Early when this issue came to light in the work I was doing I sent an 80+ slide presentation to a client in London. He emailed me back the next day and said when he opened it the images were gone, replaced with the red X.

When I found the same symptom in my original I was seething.  Fortunately, the delivery was a little bit early so I had some time on the contract to rework it.  What I found out was the image was gone but the size and positioning on the element was still intact so it was just a matter of going to each image and use the "Change Image" command to reinsert the image used at that location.  Still, it cost me a few hours work and it was the beginning of the future problems I endured because of this issue.

I ultimately got into a work mode of saving very often so if I did get the issue I was only losing a few minutes work. I could discard the current edit and open the last save. It was not the ideal situation but t did keep my anger at a manageable level.

Now with a new PC and WIndows 8.1 this issue has not recurred in several months... (knock on wood)

Hope you get it worked out soon.

Dan

I manage a corporate environment of 1800 computers - we are obviously not getting his update via the system centre update system as we are still seeing this issue and the MSI version etc.. is not correct as indicated above. 

What this the update number so I can download it and add it to our update deployments?