Powerpoint Crashes on MacBook

Question

Level 1

4 points

Powerpoint Crashes on MacBook

Can anyone provide me a definitive answer or solution to the fact that Powerpoint (Office 2004) consistently crashes on MacBook Intel Core Duo when going to "View Show"? I have been through Apple support as well as Microsoft and they seem to defer to each other. Very frustrating as this is a newly purchased copy of Office 2004 (I know, I know, Office 2008 is moments away...).

Apparently this is a problem others have noted. I found the following discussion, but the solution is a bit beyond my expertise/understanding:

http://patgmac.blogspot.com/2007/07/os-images-vs-santa-rosa-macbook-pro.html

Can't believe Apple would sell me this MacBook and Office 2004 at the same time while being aware of the incompatibility. (Word, Entourage, Excel all seem to be working reasonably well.)

Any help is greatly appreciated; thanks in advance.

MacBook 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jan 11, 2008 5:29 AM

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Answer 1

Adam White

Level 4

1,325 points

Jan 11, 2008 8:29 AM in response to jcapecci

How much RAM do you have?

Adam

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Answer 2

Soft Reset

Level 4

1,790 points

Jan 11, 2008 12:03 PM in response to jcapecci

Hi jcapecci!

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

I was able to track down (4) 2.16GHz MacBooks each with 1.0GB (2x512MB) of RAM and install Microsoft Office '04 with all the latest patches. Three of them were running Tiger and one of them Leopard and none of them crashed when going to "View Show." I tried several times on fairly intensive presentations (50+ slides, multiple animations, effects and transitions).

Have you attempted to reinstall Office? I'm unable to replicate the issue on these machines but I also realize that my "test environment" is fairly limited with only four machines accessible.

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Answer 3

Jan 11, 2008 1:35 PM in response to Soft Reset

I'll add another successful PowerPoint/MacBook combination to yours, Soft Reset. <G> I've just finished going through about a dozen PP presentations with my husband, who will be using them in a class he teaches, and there were no problems at all.

I'm wondering if the OP has installed the various Office patches?

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Answer 4

jcapecci Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 12, 2008 11:49 AM in response to jcapecci

Thanks, all. I'll give it another try and reinstall Office. Stay tuned...

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Answer 5

jcapecci Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 12, 2008 12:11 PM in response to jcapecci

Update:

reinstalled Office2004 from original disks; problem remains
ran Office for Mac 11.3.5 Update; fan began running high; restarted
problem remains

Is the Update the "patch" to which you refer? (I have 2GB 667 MhzDDR2 SDRAM)

Thanks...

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Answer 6

Jan 12, 2008 12:20 PM in response to jcapecci

The latest patch is [here|http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4aa82be8-3007-42 6a-9634-23923a9b2493&DisplayLang=en]. At the bottom of the page are links to previous patches, if you've missed any of those.

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Answer 7

jcapecci Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 12, 2008 12:25 PM in response to Sandra Foster

Thank you, Sandra. I've now installed all patches in succession. Problem still exists.

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Answer 8

Jan 12, 2008 12:32 PM in response to jcapecci

You're welcome -- I wish it had worked. :S

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Answer 9

Jan 21, 2008 10:02 AM in response to jcapecci

I've been able to reproduce this issue using Mac OS X 10.4.11, Microsoft Office 2004 11.3.9, and a MacBook 2.16 Core 2 Duo. Issue was occurring while booted to internal drive. Booted to external FireWire drive (Mac OS X 10.4.10, Office 2004 11.3.9). Issue resolved. Updated external drive to 10.4.11, issue now reproducible when booted to external firewire drive.

Unfortunately, I don't have a better solution than "downgrade to 10.4.10" (more easily said than done), but I can confirm that the issue is reproducible with 10.4.11, Office 2004 11.3.9, and a MacBook.

The users who are not experiencing the issue appear to be running 10.4.10 or earlier. I have not been able to test with 10.5 or 10.5.1 yet. If I do, I'll post results.

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Answer 10

Jan 21, 2008 10:19 AM in response to jcapecci

This:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6028642&#6028642

thread seems to indicate that the symptom can be resolved by replacing the OpenGL Framework in 10.4.11 with the version from 10.4.10. Unfortunately, this also seems to break Keynote, iWeb and Photobooth for some (if not all) who tried it. Given that you are replacing a core component of the OS with an older version, and that this approach breaks iWork apps, I wouldn't recommend it. Downgrading the whole OS to 10.4.10 would be a more sound approach, if more cumbersome.

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Answer 11

Jan 22, 2008 9:27 AM in response to jcapecci

I, too, have a 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro (1 GB RAM) that chrashes every single time one tries to do a show.
I've upgraded both the office and the OS, but nothing seems to work. I've re-imaged the machine and the problem still persists.
The same image works fine on other machines. (Mostly iMacs.)

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Answer 12

Jan 25, 2008 11:10 PM in response to tibor.moldovan

Add me to the list. 10.4.11. I also get the occasional error of not being able to save as well. Both errors started within the last two months. I am running 2GB so its clearly not memory. Have tried the delete and re-install with no success. As I use this for work and have to make presentations frequently, its not a good place to be...

Has anyone tried the PPT 2008? I am tempted to upgrade and see if that might help.

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Answer 13

Jan 26, 2008 7:03 PM in response to Scott Gaines

It appears to be related to the CPU on the new MBPs. I've used an image from an older MBP and put it on the new one, I'll post what I find out after I install the OS from the disc.

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Answer 14

ernstcs

Level 1

10 points

Jan 26, 2008 8:17 PM in response to jcapecci

I've seen it happen on an Apple iMac Intel (Early 2006 Core Duo) 2.0GHz. Didn't seem to happen on my MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Santa Rosa.

10.4.11 with Office 2004 11.3.9

Seems some people have already narrowed it down to a framework update. Good to know. Hopefully MacBU puts out another patch in short order...if you can find it on their newly redesigned site.

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Answer 15

Feb 5, 2008 7:18 PM in response to jcapecci

Yes, same problem here with my new MacBook. Uggh...it's quickly beginning to seem like a McBook from the local fast food chain.

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