Vista and PowerPoint

[dshippee]

Hello all,

I have had a Vista machine (new computer) in the sanctuary for the last 6 months running PowerPoint on the big screen for each service. Over the last month or so I have been getting a random Vista stop error during service and the system reboots. Does anyone have any experience with Vista and PowerPoint 2003 incompatibilities? How about Vista stop errors?

The only new thing on the machine recently is smart clock. I downloaded it to use as a countdown timer for a congregational meeting. I haven't changed the system to not reboot automatically as this always happens during a service and I need to get back up and running ASAP. Last Sunday it happened right at the end of service and then again during the post service announcement loop.

What information do I need to make the diagnosis easier? Should I remove Smart Clock? Anything else I can do?

Thanks,
Dave

[katanna]

I can't help you much, except to say that we use Vista and PPT 2003 every week and have no problems... Wish I could help out more.

Matthew

[[Admin] osborn4]

Yes. I'd remove smartclock as a first step. I've not heard of people having problems with it, but I haven't heard much about it since Vista came out.

If removing smartclock doesn't restablize your system, it may be the system memory.

[dshippee]

So...

I booted up the computer last Sunday and Vista had some updates to install before things got going. I rebooted the computer to finish the update install and when the machine came back up I had three error screens in a row from smart clock.

I uninstalled smart clock and rebooted again. Last Sunday went off without a hitch! I'll post again after I get another service or two down with no problems. My take at this point is that smart clock doesn't play well with Vista. I understand that many things don't play well with Vista.

Thanks,
Dave

[dshippee]

Well today was interesting to say the least. I came in and booted up the computer only to find out that the bulb in the projector had blown out and we don't have a spare on hand (they're expensive ya know!). So... no PowerPoint today!

So I set up the sound system and looked for bulbs online before service started. No slides and no PowerPoint meant not much for me to do so I left the desk, yes I did, and sat with my family during the sermon (I wasn't far from the desk in case something needed adjusting, it didn't). When I returned, the computer had restarted after a stop error! The thing wasn't even in use! I had two FireFox windows open, that's it! I copied the error screen to a file and e-mailed it home during offering. I left Outlook open and went back to sitting with the family until announcement time. Came back to the computer and it had reset again!

Obviously it wasn't Smart Clock and it wasn't PowerPoint. What else could do this after so many months of running smoothly? I don't have time for this kind of thing right now. Our interim pastor has offered the use of a Mac. Ummm Thanks, I think.

Any opinions out there?

Thanks again,
Dave

[MPCC Media]

Do you know how to do a clean install of Windows? That's where I usually start. It has never failed me yet.