HELP!!

[Guest]

I have this powerpoint file saved to my disk. When I tried to open it, it said.. "please close dialog box". What does that mean?? Why can't I open my file!! My project is due at noon today and I can't open it!! help!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sonia]

First thing is to calm down because anxiety will just cause you to make
mistakes. When you say "disk", do you mean a floppy disk, or your hard
disk? If you saved your presentation directly to a floppy disk, there is a
chance that it is corrupted or incomplete, but perhaps it can be salvages.
Are you currently working on the same machine where you saved it?

Please tell us more about the situation and include the version of
PowerPoint and the version of Windows.
--
Sonia, MS PowerPoint MVP Team
Autorun CD software, templates, and tutorials
http://www.soniacoleman.com/

I have this powerpoint file saved to my disk. When I tried to open it, it

said.. "please close dialog box". What does that mean?? Why can't I open my
file!! My project is due at noon today and I can't open it!!
help!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

I am at my schools library. I am on the same computer I created my presentation on. I saved it to my floppy disk and then when I tried to open it this morning the computer said that it "could not open file because the dialog box was open" and that I should close it. I dont know what a dialog box is?
I think the versions on this computer are pretty new. Im unsure on where to find the exact version though

I hope I did not loose it al

stressed student

 

[Sonia]

A dialog box is a small window that pops up when you do something in a
program. Sometimes it has instructions or a suggested action, or it asks
you to answer a question. There may be a dialog box open somewhere under
the active window.

You can "minimize" or shrink the windows on the screen by clicking on the
"-" (minus sign or dash) in the upper right corner. This won't close
anything. It just gets it "out of the way" for the time being. Try
minimizing the current window and any windows under it until you're sure
that you don't see anything that resembles a dialog box and requires action
from you. Let us know what you find.
Maybe that's all that needs to be done.

I am at my schools library. I am on the same computer I created my

presentation on. I saved it to my floppy disk and then when I tried to open
it this morning the computer said that it "could not open file because the
dialog box was open" and that I should close it. I dont know what a dialog
box is?

I think the versions on this computer are pretty new. Im unsure on where

to find the exact version though.

 

[Guest]

I tried to open it every which way from my disk and then that paper clip helper tool poped up. He said that the file was corrupted. Im guessing thats not good news. Do you think there is a way to salvage it

stressed...

 

[Sonia]

See the information at:

Recovering a corrupt presentation
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00108.htm

Read it carefully and if you have any questions, post them here and we'll
try to help you.

I tried to open it every which way from my disk and then that paper clip

helper tool poped up. He said that the file was corrupted. Im guessing thats
not good news. Do you think there is a way to salvage it?

 

[Echo S]

I tried to open it every which way from my disk and then that paper clip

helper tool poped up. He said that the file was corrupted. Im guessing thats
not good news. Do you think there is a way to salvage it?

Try closing everything that's open on the computer, including PowerPoint.
Then copy the file from your floppy disk to the computer's hard drive. Then
restart PowerPoint. Then go to File/Open and go to where you saved the file
on the harddrive and select it and see if it opens.

I think probably the dialog box the message is referring to is one which is
open in PPT already. Often, if I'm editing something on an open presentation
(maybe I double-click on a textbox in the slide -- which causes a dialog box
to open) and then minimize everything and try to open a different
presentation by double-clicking it in Windows, I'll see this error message.

Because I've forgotten that I'm doing something with PPT and it has a dialog
box opened, PPT can't open the second presentation. Usually all I have to do
is click Cancel or OK on whatever dialog box is opened and then retry
opening the second presentation. So that's why I suggest closing all open
programs and restarting PPT -- that way you can be sure there are no open
dialog boxes hanging around.

 

[Sonia]

Oh, another thing. In PowerPoint, go to Help > About to find out what
version of PowerPoint you have. It's probably PowerPoint 97, but you need
to know in order to find the right solution for recovering your
presentation. You'll also need to know what version of Windows you are
running. Open Windows Explorer or go to My Computer and click on Help >
About Windows. The version will be displayed.

I tried to open it every which way from my disk and then that paper clip

helper tool poped up. He said that the file was corrupted. Im guessing thats
not good news. Do you think there is a way to salvage it?

 

[Ute Simon]

Try closing everything that's open on the computer [...]

I think probably the dialog box the message is referring to is one which is
open in PPT already. [...]

.... and don't forget: If that that paperclip message box has an "OK"-button
in it, you need to click that too, to confirm you've read that he's pointing
you to a mistake!

And always remember: Don' panic!

Kind regards,
Ute