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

Wow, this is a LONG thread.

Here's a recap of my experience with the issue;  hopefully MSFT is still monitoring the thread and working on the problem.

I've been able to recreate the error on Win 7, 8 and 8.1, always with PowerPoint 2013.  I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1 with 8GB RAM, Core i7 processor and SSD.

The Red-X issue usually occurs for me when saving very large (8MB - 11MB) PPTX files (with lots of graphics), although I think I've seen it on smaller ones as well.  I can recreate it by repeatedly (and quickly) making a change and then saving.  For example, repeatedly pasting a graphic with Cntl-V and Saving with Cntl-S.  Of course, I often receive the error when not trying to do so.

I use OneDrive, Box, and Carbonite.

Here are some results of my limited testing/troubleshooting:

Saving to Box-monitored folder with Carbonite running - receive error

Saving to Box-monitored folder with Carbonite paused - receive error

Saving to non-Box, non-OneDrive folder with Carbonite running - receive error

Saving to non-Box, non-OneDrive folder with Carbonite paused - receive error

With Carbonite *uninstalled,* I cannot reproduce the error saving to Box or OneDrive.

I have installed and uninstalled Carbonite several times to confirm these results (admitedly not comprehensive, but I don't have more time to be a beta tester :) )  I must admit, I'm baffled as to why I have to uninstall Carbonite, vs. just pausing it.  It seems like others in the thread have been successful with just pausing their backup software...  Oh well, my coding/debugging days are too far in the past for me to dig deeper into that one!

I started having this issue in Feb 2013 when I bought my laptop with Win 8 and Office 3013 (including SkyDrive, at the time), and Carbonite.  At the time I had suspected either a SkyDrive issue or Win 8 issue, which led me to move to back to Win 7 and then to replace SkyDrive with Box.com.  Still experiencing the issue, I moved back from PowerPoint 2013 to 2010, and I did not see the issue for a year (with Carbonite running) until I re-imaged my laptop last week with Win 8.1, Office 2013, Box and Carbonite.

So, for me, I'm heading back to PowerPoint 2010 (again).  Saving files as 2007/PPT is too irritating with the compatibility pop-up warnings.  And running without Carbonite (or another backup) is out of the question.  Thanks for all the great posts here - the comments have saved me time experimenting with CrashPlan (which I like, BTW) or another backup solution.

Maybe I'll try 2013 again in 6 months.  Until then, I'll be watching this thread!

Dan, several of my users are still having trouble with this and I do not see any further updates since January (either from MS or many other reports from users).

Do you guys feel like the issue is resolved? Or is it still being worked on?

Hey Everyone -

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 will be available a week from today on May 13th (Patch Tuesday) 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

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.

Dan