Powerpoint 2013 unstable

Anonymous
2013-04-05T11:20:57+00:00

When I add another chart onto the powerpoint slide after I try to save it comes up with the message we can't save because the file is read-only (it's not) and it tells me to save it under a different name or to a different place. However, when i try to save it under a different name/different place i get the error message we're sorry, something went wrong that might make powerpoint unstable. Please save your presentation and restart powerpoint. I can't save the presentation because of the previous problem.

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-09-26T11:24:40+00:00

    I have a couple of files I could send MS.

    I am about to remove PowerPoint 2013 and install the 2010 version. Hope it words going the 'wrong' way - from new to old.

    I am tired of seeing the "can't FIND" message when I try to SAVE, and of losing diagrams in slides.

    best wishes

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-09-16T13:47:03+00:00

    I just had this problem for the first time and lost two hours work. It's been months, why hasn't this been fixed in a patch?

    Why not? Short answers:

    • it has not been reported affecting enough people (BIG companies)
    • MS has not been able to recreate it because there are no example files provided
    • enough time has not passed since they started working on a fix to implement it.

    Bottom line, MS has decided that other problems have higher priority.  Sorry.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-12T12:41:21+00:00

    Good eye.

    Yes it would help if you could post an example. Include a couple of good, unaffected slides and at least a couple affected slides. Include some comments pointing out how to find the dots and and tip you found to "fix" them.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-12T12:07:00+00:00

    Amazing observation! PowerPoint 2013 regularly crashes on my system when trying to undo ink input. Just a few minutes ago I lost 1 hour of work due to such a crash.

    On other occasions PowerPoint 2013 will display the aforementioned "unstable" message or a "cannot be saved" message. I will look for those ink dots from now on.

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-05-13T16:06:18+00:00

    I want to add a quick note, though I'd still like to hear what people have to say:

    I tried running in safe mode, disabling all Add-Ons, and saving in Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive... however, none of those was related. It was really the Ink Tools. Here's why:

    I found that when using Ink Tools, sometimes there are little tiny ink dots left behind... you can only see them if you drag-select all of your ink annotations. I don't know if this happens when the file crashes when you Undo too fast while inking.

    If you move these little ink dots, and then try to save, you get the unstable error message.

    If you delete them, you won't get the unstable error message.

    I also found that if you GROUP them with another valid ink line, they don't cause a problem.

    However, I have yet to find a way to detect them other than going through, slide by slide, selecting all ink and moving it slightly to the left or right, then saving. I went through all 250 (!) slides of my presentation to do this. It was painful.

    Please, if someone finds out what causes these little corrupt ink dots, I'd be eternally grateful! I can provide an example powerpoint file that has the problem if you want to check it out.

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