How to Resolve An Error Message Encountered When You Try to Open a Presentation

You may receive the following error messages when you try to open a presentation in PowerPoint 2002, PowerPoint 2003, or PowerPoint 2007:

Error Message in PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003:

“PowerPoint can't read path\file_name.ppt.”

Error Message in PowerPoint 2007:

“PowerPoint found unreadable content in Presentation.pptx. Do you want to recover the contents of this presentation? If you trust the source of this presentation, click Yes.”

To find out the unique number that is associated with this error message, press ‘CTRL+SHIFT+I’. After this, you get the following error number in the lower-right corner of your error message:

“400645”

Another error message that you get in PowerPoint 2007 is:

“There was an error accessing C:\documents and settings\username\Presentation.pptx”

For finding out the unique number that is associated with this error message, you have to click ‘CTRL+SHIFT+I’ keys together and you will find that you get the following error number in lower right corner of this error:

“400066”

Before understanding much about this problem or finding out the method to resolve it, let us understand the cause of this issue.

Cause:

The main reason that is responsible for this error message is corrupt or damaged presentation. The corruption or damage of the presentation results in this error message.

Resolution:

For resolving this problem, you should try to open your presentation in an earlier version of PowerPoint, such as try to open your presentation in PowerPoint 2000 or any other early version. If your presentation is opening successfully in this version of PowerPoint, then insert the slides from this damaged presentation to a new presentation. Follow the below mentioned steps to do this:

Steps for PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003:

• Start the later version of PowerPoint that has given you the error message mentioned in this article.
• Click ‘Insert’, and then click ‘Slides from Files’.
• Click ‘Browse’ from the ‘Slide Finder’ on the ‘Find Presentation’ tab.
• Now, locate, and then click the PowerPoint presentation that has given you the above error message. Click ‘Open’ and then ‘Insert All’.

Note: If the new slides that you have created do not have the design of the damaged presentation, then you can apply that design by following this path: ‘Format >> Slide Design’, and then select the required design on the ‘Slide Design’ menu.

Steps for PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2010: Follow the below mentioned steps for PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2010 versions:

• Go to the ‘Home’ tab, and then in the ‘Slide’ group, click ‘New Slide’, and then click ‘Reuse Slide’.
• In the ‘Reuse Slide’ pane, click ‘Open a PowerPoint File’.
• The ‘Browse’ dialog box opens; from here, locate, and then click the presentation file that you want, and then click ‘Open’.

The older versions of PowerPoint (such as PowerPoint 2000 and other earlier versions) cannot detect various types of corruption or damaged data that can easily be detected by the latest PowerPoint versions like PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint 2003, and PowerPoint 2002. This is the reason you can open a damaged presentation in earlier PowerPoint versions. However, you may experience the unexpected behavior with the corrupt or damaged PowerPoint presentation in these versions of your PowerPoint.

However, if the error message is not resolved by the above-mentioned resolutions, then use of a professional PowerPoint repair software is recommended. A professional tool of this category repairs corrupt or damaged presentations and resolves all sorts of error messages related to their damage (including the above one). So, if the above error message is unable to do any needful, then use of a commercial software is the best solution for you.