disapearing background

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve
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Steve

I have a presentation that on rare occasion while cueing through it in show
mode, the background of the slide will NOT appear, and occasionally certain
chart elements will also not appear. When this happens, if I go back to the
prior slide, then forward again, the slide appears correctly. The
background is a standard PPT color, nothing unusual.
 
I haven't tried the fix suggested below yet, but according to the PPT FAQ
recommended by John below, ppt 2003 does not make use of hardware
acceleration anyway, so how can that be the issue? I will give it a try if
the problem persists today however.

The computer with the issue is a Dell e1705 with an NVidia 256MB card, set
to 1024x768, centered (actual pixels, not interpolated to fill the screen)
and connected to a 1024x768 projector.

"...Note that by default PowerPoint 2002 (XP) and 2003 do not use Hardware
Graphics Acceleration in Slide Show view. This is by design, in order to
minimize the chance of video hardware and driver errors..."
 
This is a problem that I have also seen on a number of occasions, usually
with a presentation that has been modified many times and contains many
images. I too am using Office 2003 and hardware acceleration is not an issue.
I have plenty of RAM and a fast processor. Exactly as you do, if you go back
a slide and then forward, the image reappears. I would love to know what the
solution is.

Terry
 
I haven't tried the fix suggested below yet, but according to the PPT FAQ
recommended by John below, ppt 2003 does not make use of hardware
acceleration anyway, so how can that be the issue? I will give it a try if
the problem persists today however.

The computer with the issue is a Dell e1705 with an NVidia 256MB card, set
to 1024x768, centered (actual pixels, not interpolated to fill the screen)
and connected to a 1024x768 projector.

"...Note that by default PowerPoint 2002 (XP) and 2003 do not use Hardware
Graphics Acceleration in Slide Show view. This is by design, in order to
minimize the chance of video hardware and driver errors..."

"John Wilson" <john AT technologytrish.co DOT uk> wrote in message





- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

It seems GDI object exhausted. When that occur again, you may open
Task Manager and check the GDI counter of the processes.
 
"GDI objects exhausted"

Well that comment lead me down a path that I don't entirely understand, but
what the heck, I may have found something of use.

I opened the task manager, selected the VIEW menu, chose SELECT COLUMNS,
picked GDI OBJECTS from the list. I then sorted the tasks by GDI objects,
putting the biggest user on top. Then I ran the offending powerpoint file
with the task manager open, which stayed on top, even in show mode. Fun. I
observed the number of GDI Objects in powerpoint, which stayed steady at
about 240 (whatever that means) as I clicked through the show. Here is the
interesting part: I noticed that there is a process, an application called
WISPTIS.EXE, that had 2,446 GDI objects! Explorer.exe was 2nd with 853. I
ran another, older computer and checked, no WISPTIS present. Only the newer
machine, which until now I failed to mention was running Media Center
Edition 2002 sp2, had WISPTIS, which turns out is an application that is a
"pen input device tool for the Microsoft Tablet PC platform". If you google
"wisptis.exe gdi objects" you will find a bunch of links to people
complaining about this issue. I haven't gotten all the way to the bottom of
this, but it looks like this could be something to look into. My older PC,
a Dell 8600, does not have the "disapearing background" problem, and is not
a "media center edition" PC... I guess the tablet functionality is part of
media center edition?

BTW, one guy out there suggest that Adobe Acrobat reader also somehow
generates GDI objects, that pile up (somehow). Can't vouch for the
statement, but I do use the reader...

Here is a thread that talks about the evils of wisptis.exe and possible
fixes. I HAVE NOT TRIED THESE.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260&highlight=wisp

I gotta shut down and step away from this issue for today, but if any
enterprising soul out there wants to consider this theory further and add a
comment, it would be appreciated.

- Steven Michelsen
 
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