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Recover from Microsoft Powerpoint Data Corruption

Observations


When you open your Powerpoint presentation file, Powerpoint halts or terminates and you receive the following error(s):


  • “PowerPoint cannot open the type of file represented by filename.ppt.”
  • "This is not a PowerPoint Presentation"
  • "Your system is low on virtual memory. To ensure that Windows runs properly, increase the size of your virtual memory paging file."
  • "Part of the file is missing."

Possible Causes


The file is corrupted. Check if this file is sent to you as an email attachment through the Internet as files have the tendency to corrupt if they are being transmitted via cyberspace. To deal with this, users can make use of Windows XP's build in Zip function tool or a 3rd party software such a winzip to protect the file before sending across. Also check if you're running an earlier version of Powerpoint to view a file that was created with a newer version of Powerpoint. As prevention is better than cure, you may want to know the right way to reduce the chance of Powerpoint corruption.


Resolution


There're several methods to salvaging a corrupted Powerpoint file and hopefully recover some data back.


Use Slides from Files


  • Open Microsoft Powerpoint
  • Open a new blank presentation
  • On the Insert menu, click Slides from Files



  • In the Slide Finder dialog box,select you corrupt file
  • Click Insert All

    If clicking Insert All does not work, try clicking Insert to insert individual slides


Locate a TMP file


Occasionally when you lose your file, there may be a TMP file available. This usually only happens when you lose the file while saving, or if you were working on it when PowerPoint or Windows crashed. Nevertheless, it’s worth checking.


  • Click Start, point to Search, select Files Or Folders
  • In the All or part of the file name box, type *.TMP
  • Click Search
  • At the search result, click the Date Modified button at the top

    You might have to scroll to the right to see this button.

  • Look for a TMP file with the time stamp that is about the time you lost your PowerPoint file and note the location of the file
  • Open PowerPoint, and then select Open on the File menu.
  • Click the arrow next to the Files of Type box at the bottom of that dialog box, and then click All Files
  • Navigate to the folder where the TMP file is located
  • Select the TMP file, and then click Open

Open the presentation in Word


Some text may be recovered by using this method.


  • Open Microsoft Word.
  • On the File menu, click Open.
  • Under the Open dialog box, click the arrow next to the Files of Type box at the bottom of that dialog box, and then click Recover Text From Any File.
  • Select your corrupt file, select it, and then click Open.


Using Powerpoint Safe Mode


  • Try opening Powerpoint in Safe Mode and see if that enables you to open the file.
  • Click Start, point to Run
  • Type in: powerpnt.exe /safe
  • Open the corrupted file