PPT2000: I/O Error 6 Opening PowerPoint Files

ID: Q236872


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2000

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you click Open on the File menu, you may experience one of the following symptoms:

When the current folder has subfolders, all subfolders except the last may be displayed as question marks or squares.

If you double-click any of the subfolders that appear as question marks or squares or attempt to open a presentation, you may receive one of the following error messages:

An unexpected error occurred - I/O Error 0
An unexpected error occurred - I/O Error 6
-or-
PowerPoint found an error it can't correct. You should save presentation, quit, and then restart PowerPoint.
NOTE: PowerPoint presentations may open correctly if you select them from the Most Recently Used (MRU) list on the File menu, or if you double-click the file in Windows Explorer.


CAUSE

The Microsoft Office settings stored in the registry have become corrupted.


RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To correct this problem, you must remove the Office settings from the registry. To remove the damaged Office registry settings, and re-register PowerPoint, follow these steps:

NOTE: The following steps remove all user specific settings for all of the Office programs. You will have to reconfigure all user-specific settings manually.

  1. On the Windows Start menu, click Run.


  2. In the Open box, type Regedit, and click OK.


  3. Expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER subtree until you see the following folder:


  4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0
  5. Delete the 9.0 folder only.


  6. Quit the Registry Editor.


  7. Shut down and restart Windows.


  8. After you have returned to Windows, place your Microsoft Office 2000 compact disc into your CD-ROM drive.


  9. Start PowerPoint. PowerPoint goes through a brief self-repairing routine, and then opens normally.


You now should be able to open the presentation. However, if PowerPoint does not self-repair in step 8, perform the following steps to repair the installation of PowerPoint:

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, please consult your product documentation to complete these steps.

Steps to Repair Office 2000
  1. Close all programs that are open.


  2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.


  3. In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.


  4. In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, click your Microsoft Office 2000 installation, and then click Add/Remove.


  5. In the Microsoft Office 2000 Maintenance Mode dialog box, click Repair Office.


  6. In the Reinstall/Repair Microsoft Office 2000 dialog box, click to select Repair errors in my Office installation, and then click Finish.


  7. When the Office Repair is finished, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are, click Yes and let Windows restart.



STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words: powerpnt ppt powerpt ppt2k pp2000 input output sys six can't finds find encountered io box, boxes, squares, question marks, garbage scramble scrambled

Keywords : kberrmsg kbusage kbdta
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug


Last Reviewed: October 7, 1999
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