Bluetooth remote freezing with PowerPoint on MacBook Pro while idling

I agree that we should not have to spend hours fixing problems created by Microsoft. But for many (most) of us who use PP as a work tool there is nothing worse than the presentation locking up it makes us look very amateurish and spoils the flow completely.

The reason I prefer PP to keynote is that PP has many more features especially when adding audio and video files which are automatically included in your presentation. I create on iMac then just drop the presentation onto my MBA. It also has more option when working with graphics and I find it generally more intuitive, just as I find Word better than Pages. Cross platform compatibility is also important for me. I wish Apple would give some attention to a new iWork suite so that I could ditch office.

I am also suffering from this problem. it happened straight after the second but last Micorsoft update. Having presentations freeze is a diaster. I use paralells on my rMBP so have resorted to creating on OS PPT but presenting on Windows PPT!

Keynote just does not have the graphics flexibility/power that I require.

I bought Keynote as a plan B but some images and bullet points don't appear so I took a risk and delivered a workshop with Powerpoint.

It froze after 20mn, as expected. I clicked exit and re-launch the slideshow and it was fine for another couple of hours. When it happened again, I used the same method.

Not ideal but for me it was better to explain to the audience that Microsoft products are not reliable (they knew anyway) rather than spending time re-installing Office.

I have started this thread on Microsoft site:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macpowerpoint/having- trouble-running-office-11-for-mac-in/f81297fd-b427-46a3-b233-8ff39edd8a18

This is initially where I found out it was probably one of Microsoft updates that was the problem.

I have now uninstalled and reinstalled Office 11 on two different MacBook Pros here at work and without any updates and they work fine with no problems. I have hooked them both up to projectors and without projectors. I have run them in Presenter View and in Mirror View for hours at a time. With remotes and without remotes. I have walked away from them for several minutes even. I have not had a problem since.

I don't want to have to wipe my hard drive and reinstall Mountain Lion. Too big of a hassle. But I think that next week I am going to do it on one of my older MacBook Pros and then reinstall Office 11 with all the updates to see if that is the problem. I stll think that there are some glitches with Mountian Lion on my older MacBook Pro and I am curious to see if the wipe and reinstall will help it any.

6.5 hours of presentation later, I have had no problem with my remote after deleting Office 11 and reinstalling it without updates. This, I believe will be the 6th report of success with this strategy, and evidence enough for me that the problem lies with an Office Update that occurred in February 2013. For those of you who are daunted by the 3 page list of steps for deleting Office 11, (see above) let me say that I was one of you, but bit the bullet. It took about 20 minutes and turned out to be kind of fun. I went to places in my computer that I had never been to before. I found my library. Everything worked out fine.

I hope that this thread will inform us if Microsoft has an update that actually fixes something of importance, like this, for instance. In the meantime, I won't be updating Office. I am also thinking about the thousands of presenters out there, who are still baffled by what's happening to their remotes, and don't know about this site or what to do.

I'm glad I found you. Thanks.

Hi all.

I have the same issue on two identical retina macbook pros. I have uninstalled and reinstalled office 2011 on one of the two macs to see if it resolves the issue.

I'm also having the same problem since the latest Office 2011 update. As a professional presenter, I also find this near intolerable. I'm going to try the uninstall/reinstall without updates temporary fix as that seems to be working for people. I'm not excited about having software that's not updated - for security reasons - but don't see any alternative. I don't have time to do a clean reinstall of Mountain Lion before my next trip.

I hope MS gets their act together and repairs the software soon.

I've followed the instructions from here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2398768

on 4 of my presentation machines (3 MB Airs of varying versions and a 15" retina) and am using 3 of them today with no issues whatsoever. I stopped Office updates at 14.2.3 and they seem to be stable using both arrow keys and a Kensington remore as well as a MasterCue. (hope it stays that way...)

I see NO need to reinstall Mountain Lion - that seems like a severely excessive measure.

I am experiencing the identical problem. As a retired professor, I give frequent Powerpoint presentations using two different MacBook Pros, one three years old running Lion and a new retina unit running Mountain Lion.

All was well until installation of the Version 14.3.1 update. Now both units behave erratically exactly as described in your post. I've also researched Microsoft communities and find the same issue describe there.

I can run my presentations using Keynote, as well as on a retina iPad and iPhone 5 using the Slideshark app.

Stupid unpdate from Microsoft.

THIS ISSUE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BLUETOOTH REMOTES!!!

After reading all responses it makes me wonder if the Java virus thing enters into this along with the Office update. Didn't that happen about the same time?

I've tested the fix on both macs with the same result.

Uninstall/reinstall/update to 14.2.3 fixes all issues.

Bluetooth remote does not cause any change on either system, issue is tied to Office only.

I agree with heyjoeMN, there is no need for a full OSX reinstall. The issue is simple to fix with an Office reinstall.

I have also fallen prey to this bug with 14.3.1. I was about to try the uninstall and reinstall process when I noticed that Microsoft just released a 14.3.2 update today (March 12, 2013).

I'm going to try it out and see if the 14.3.2 update fixes the problem. It can't make the problem much worse, and the next step is reinstalling Office anyway.

polanalyst might be happy to hear that the 14.3.2 update claims to fix this problem: "Transitions had graphic issues during slide shows in PowerPoint for Mac". Unfortunately, no mention of the keyboard control problem we are all having.

The 14.3.2 update does not solve the problem, as expected.

There is now an active thread on the Microsoft Community about this problem. I see folks from this thread over there. Someone from Microsoft is actively participating, and says they have reproduced the problem, but no word on when it will make it into an update. To stay apprised of this issue, I recommend watching that thread (you can subscribe to it if you register with Microsoft Community).

True but I also heard the need to fix this issue is on Apple's part. Anyone know if the latest OS update to Lion included a fix? I see it addresses incompatibility with MS OFFICE but it is not specific (perhaps that is purposeful). Haven't had a chance to test drive a presentation yet to know...At this point am using my new ACER Aspire with MS Office 2013 soley to present...