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General Mac software discussions: ATTENTION: Powerpoint 2004 can DISAPPEAR your file!!!
ATTENTION: Powerpoint 2004 can DISAPPEAR your file!!!
by bfranco - 5/11/05 9:15 PMI found this one out the HARD way. I was working on a presentation today and Apple saving every 2 seconds as usual. Powerpoint was doing it's own autosave thing as well. Suddenly on one of my saves, POOF, Powerpoint crashes and DISAPPEARS MY FILE!!! I mean Gone, Finito, No more, No restore, No nothing. It was on the hard drive a minute ago, now it's NO MORE.
Worst of all, Powerpoint 2004 upon reopening acts as if the file never existed with no autorestore, no recent items, or anything. Your 3 days of work NEVER happened.
It turns out Microsoft is aware of this bug, but has yet to post a fix. This is a dangerous and unacceptable bug in a program too many people depend on for their work, school, etc.
Workaround: The only workaround I can suggest is to use the Save As command everytime you save and use a new filename. This way, if Powerpoint 2004 decides to Poof the file, it only poofs the current file and not the old one.
Note: I'm using Powerpoint 2004 with the latest updates.
Just a heads up to all,
bFranco.
"It's not a virus...it's Microsoft!"
This happens to those that don't have a backup.
by R. Proffitt
- 5/12/05 4:50 AM
In reply to: ATTENTION: Powerpoint 2004 can DISAPPEAR your file!!! by bfranco
While I've seen this happen with many softwares, it all points to the underlying issue that many never think about backup until disaster strikes.
My works are on no less than these many places:
1. The hard disk on the PC.
2. A set of DVDRW disks.
3. 2 other DVDRW sets (I rotate backup sets.)
4. A secure SSH server (OpenSSH)
5. Quick backups are on a (nice!) 1GB USB memory key.
I take backups seriously since my income is tied to my works.
Bob
Couldn't agree more, except...
by bfranco - 5/12/05 7:16 PM In reply to: This happens to those that don't have a backup. by R. Proffitt
I couldn't agree more that backups are essential and this kind of thing happens often to those that don't backup. BUT... let's say one is on an agressive backup schedule which therefore includes daily backups:
Ok, it's 8 am, you came into your office and started a NEW presentation. Your backup is scheduled at 6 pm to include all you've done this particular day (like most companies). You were happily working in software that is supposed to work and not erase the file as you work on it. Suddenly, at 5 pm while finishing the final touches, you do a File>Save (the hundredth of the day) and for no apparent reason, POOF, 7 hours of work are in the Garbage, GONE since your file no longer exists and no unerasing or restoring will bring it back. If those 7 hours meant a deadline for that presentation at say 5:30, you're fried.
It is inexcusable for software sold for business to have this sort of behavior, and it is ridiculous to think anyone would backup to 2, much less 5 or more sources every 5 minutes. IMHO there is simply no way whatsoever to justify this.
The fact that it is not made public, considering the amount of users that could be affected, makes it worse. Microsoft should at least publish a workaround and let their users know they're working on it and provide a projected date for a fix (particularly considering their business customers depend on it).
Just my 2 cents,
bFranco.
"It's not a virus...it's Microsoft!"
I solved that easily.
by R. Proffitt - 5/13/05 4:28 AM
In reply to: Couldn't agree more, except... by bfranco
I don't just press save. I press Save As and make copies that are a trail back to the original. Usually you have to get burned a few times to learn how to not lose it.
Keep screaming it shouldn't be so. I'm not saying there isn't a problem, I can only offer that with a little change you can avoid the loss.
Bob
Like I mentioned in the first post, you're right.
by bfranco - 5/13/05 12:10 PM In reply to: I solved that easily. by R. Proffitt
You're right. After getting burned, I learned to do a Save As under a different file name which is the workaround I mention in the first post, but it is more time consuming and shouldn't be so.
More people should kick and scream at these companies so that they would make something as simple as Saving a file work properly. But in the mean time, posting the problem and solutions are the only way to perhaps save others from being burned for something so basic.
So I couldn't agree more. Thanks.
bFranco
This bug has prevented us from using PPt 2004
by simpulon - 5/26/05 12:50 PM In reply to: Like I mentioned in the first post, you're right. by bfrancoWhile constantly saving files is a doable workaround, the process is extraodinarily cumbersome and in the end untenable. My employees use powerpoint to make intricate mathematical presentations. Saving multiple copies of a file quickly leads to storage issues. And even in those situations that we do, even losing the most recent file means having to backtrack with about an hour's worth of work.
After one week of trying to deal with this issue, we rolled back to Office X. I would rather deal with the issues of that platform than the headaches 2004 causes.
Any bug that obliterates files with no chance of recovery is not just critical, it's insulting. The software is unusuable in this state. Even more insulting is the fact that patch has already been released that DOESN'T address this disappearing file issue.
I'm glad you folks are spreading the word about this issue. I know I am.
And I didn't use Office X.
by R. Proffitt - 5/26/05 1:57 PM
In reply to: This bug has prevented us from using PPt 2004 by simpulon
My apple buddies took my advice to try out Open Office.
Bob
same incidence
by Xose - 8/29/05 2:13 PM In reply to: This bug has prevented us from using PPt 2004 by simpulonAlthough I agree with all posted messages on backup protection, I experienced the same bug, where everytime a save is attempted, PowerPoint proceeds to overwrite the previous version of the file, and my guess is that after deleting the previous copy, no write is performed. PowerPoint crashes and let's you without any file. This is a rather serious bug, and no activity (to my knowledge) appears on microsoft site to repair it so far.
Same issue
by lgdrummer - 9/5/05 2:07 PM In reply to: ATTENTION: Powerpoint 2004 can DISAPPEAR your file!!! by bfrancohappened to me too. Inexcusable for microsoft to let this happen. they'll never see another dime from me.
Powerpoint files still vanish upon saving
by rwindman - 1/1/06 10:35 PM In reply to: Same issue by lgdrummerThis just happened to me as well.
I assume the now invisible file is still on the drive, but the directory entry has been wiped. Has anybody had any success recovering the files that Power Point has ''poofed?''
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