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

Anonymous
2013-05-07T17:10:57+00:00

I've used PPT for 20 years and started using PowerPoint 2013 through Office 365 2 months ago and this has happened to me 4 times. 

1.  I create a presentation (Using copy and paste and/or insert to include pictures and other images)

2.  After working on the presentation for a while I save the file and realize all the images (except smart art) are gone and replaced with the message above.

3.  I have reinstalled PPT 2013 and it happened again.  I have documents that are 50 pages long and have had to insert new images (Hours of lost work) then 3 days later it happens again.

Not sure if it is related but I've noticed that once in a while when I try to save a document (Happens in Word and Outlook Calendar items) it tells me the file is locked and makes me save under a new name.

This is really a show stopper.  Any suggestions?

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2014-01-20T22:53:18+00:00

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-02-17T16:42:02+00:00

    One thing I did notice is that on my old laptop, the problem seemed more likely to occur when the CPU or memory utilization was high. In fact, as long as I waited till the CPU or Memory utilization dropped back to 50% or less the problem never occurred.

    This reminds me that I to saw greater occurrence of the issue when memory utilization was high. I started playing close attention to memory and used a utility to clear standby memory as needed.

    I had the same experience.  For awhile, at first, I attributed the whole problem to memory and/or CPU utilization as it seemed worse when those were high. Later when we came upon the Carbonite (and other backup) culprit, I forgot about the memory issue but it may still have been a factor.

    With regards to those who have gone to Win8, I salute and respect you.  As a rule, I don't migrate anything until my Fortune 500 clients with big IT departments go there on a broad scale. So I'm not touching Win8 until they do, which looks to be no time soon.

    Funny story... I did, once, violate my policy.  I moved to Office365 without the big-client precedent because the pricing was so attractive and my need was immediate.  A year later, here I am monitoring this forum about the mysterious PowerPoint issue which has yet to be solved. 

    Hmm, maybe it's not so funny after all...

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-17T20:58:02+00:00

    Samsung Link/All Share seems to cause this...

    Earlier the problem used to occur sometimes when saved the file to the Dropbox folder, but not too often. Then suddenly it started to happen all the time. Every 5 minutes i got the "can't save because the file is read only, please use save as..." and all images got broken. This happened even when I didn't save to the Dropbox folder e.g. when saving to the Desktop.

    Then I released I had just installed Samsung Link/All Share. I disabled the Samsung software and it seemed to fix the problem. I now I'm back to original state where I get this only occasionally when saving to Dropbox.

    Thanks for this update Jaan. This is a very useful piece of information to have to share with others.

    For the 2 people who found 'upgrading' to Win8  solved the problem, I suspect they'll find the problem starting up again as they install more software and get to the point where they start doing more file sharing.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-17T21:21:39+00:00

    For the 2 people who found 'upgrading' to Win8  solved the problem, I suspect they'll find the problem starting up again as they install more software and get to the point where they start doing more file sharing.

    Did you miss the part about where I have been using Dropbox for a wide range of file sharing needs since the upgrade 3 months ago?

    Now, I'm not saying the problem won't reoccur for whatever reason, I'm simply stating my experience thus far. No PowerPoint crashes since the upgrade.

    On the safe side I continue to do save often so I am always working with a very fresh file.

    As I've said many times about myself.... "Crazy, not stupid!" ;-)

    also... IMHO....

    Windows 8 has gotten a bad rap. I like it and have not used the Metro interface since day one. It's quicker and seemingly much more stable than previous OS. That's my experience. If yours was different, I'm sorry. It won't change my viewpoint.

    MM

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-17T22:10:39+00:00

    Here's one more new bit of info. I've had pretty much 100% success rate by disabling carbonite while I'm working and or saving to a non-carbonite folder.  That's why I'd forgotten the memory/cpu usage issue. 

    Today, was sharing a file via blackboard collaborate and when I saved, same issue.  I was sharing desktop at the time.  When I got the error, I said OK and then instead of doing "save as" (which always leads to lost images), I stopped screen sharing first, THEN did a save as.  My file was saved with no problems.

    So, another pointer at the issue of multiple accesses to the same file causing trouble, I guess. I don't know, but hoping the MS guy(s) looking this over will find it helpful.  I'll be shying away from editing PPT's while screen sharing for awhile.....

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