Disappearing embedded images (Word 2003 SP1)

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I just built a new system and installed Office 2003. Word now exhibits an odd problem (not shown by Excel, strangely enough). When I embed an image, usually a digital photo (jpg) or even an Excel chart, some or all of the image won’t appear. If I see most or all of it and scroll up or down, that portion of the image off the screen is wiped away. If I select Print Preview it appears there and sometimes comes back in. My monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 753df, refresh rate at 75 or 85 Hz (doesn’t matter) with a new Radeon 9600 Pro video card w/256 MB. Since embedded jpegs in Excel do not exhibit this, I think there is something funny in Word. Updating to Office 2003 SP1 did not fix the problem.
Help would be sincerely appreciated.

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Although you have updated Office, have you also updated your video driver to the latest version? Often “strange” occurences such as you are describing can be rectified by updating driver files.

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Good idea, but no cigar. I updated the drivers and the problem remains.

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See if MSKB article WD: Picture or Object Does Not Appear in Word Document sheds light on the problem.

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Thanks again for the suggestions.
I tried uninstalling WOPR 2003, and the problem went away. Then I reinstalled WOPR and the problem did not recur. Must have had something to do with the order in which I did things – install Word 2003, install WOPR, update to Office SP-1.
Ya live & learn.

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Thanks again for the suggestions.
I tried uninstalling WOPR 2003, and the problem went away. Then I reinstalled WOPR and the problem did not recur. Must have had something to do with the order in which I did things – install Word 2003, install WOPR, update to Office SP-1.
Ya live & learn.

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I have a similar problem (happens on PPT and Word….posted this question on PPT section). Originally, I was losing clip art and inserted charts. I also uninstalled WOPR and now clip art works but charts still don’t.

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If the MSKB article I posted a link to higher up in this thread, and the PowerPoint FAQ page I referred to in post 440678 don’t help, try Help | Detect and Repair… in either program.

For Word, you can also check out Phil Rabichow’s Systematic Approach to Behavioral Problems in Word (97/2000).

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Glad I found this thread.

We have been experiencing similar problems at work — but only with a few users. I work a helpdesk. I have had three users call me after we have upgraded their workstations from Word 2000 to Word 2003. They also have the disappearing images — especially if embedding screen shots, etc. But the symptoms are exactly as described in this first post.

Weird thing is — we help users through Windows XP’s Remote Assistance. If I remote into their machine, then the images in the Word doc appear. As soon as I disconnect from remote to them, then the images are unviewable again. The image corner handles are there, and as he says, if you scroll up and down you can get a glimpe of them. But other than that, they are invisible.

Are you saying the best fix is to re-install Word? We use a network install (an *.msi) that is the same for everyone. So I’m not sure why this is only happening on certain machines, unless others rarely embed images.

pribb

(p.s. – some of the Microsoft articles linked to above do not apply to Word 2003. And this seems to happen ONLY in the 2003 version. I have already tried the MS suggested tips for those items that do apply to the 2003 version, with no luck)

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Could it be a permissions problem? Perhaps those users lack permissions for the graphics filters used by Word, or for the corresponding registry keys, while you (and other users) do have those permissions. (Just grasping at straws, admittedly…)

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Hmmm…

I have no idea where you would set permissions for graphics filters registry keys. But I will see what I can find.

(Hans! You surprise me! You usually always have the answer to everything off the top of your head!)

pribb

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Does the image any behave better if selected, copied, and pasted into a new document (created using a native Word 2003 template)? Just wondering whether there might be something in the “guts” of these documents that isn’t converting properly.

Also, if they are not pictures (i.e., they are PBrush or MSPhoto embeds), try converting them to pictures either in Word or in the original editor. (Added: Using Alt+F9 to toggle field codes should reveal whether the images are EMBED fields rather than pictures, at least for in-line images.)

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If the MSKB article I posted a link to higher up in this thread, and the PowerPoint FAQ page I referred to in post 440678 don’t help, try Help | Detect and Repair… in either program.

For Word, you can also check out Phil Rabichow’s Systematic Approach to Behavioral Problems in Word (97/2000).

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I have a similar problem (happens on PPT and Word….posted this question on PPT section). Originally, I was losing clip art and inserted charts. I also uninstalled WOPR and now clip art works but charts still don’t.

Reply | Quote

See if MSKB article WD: Picture or Object Does Not Appear in Word Document sheds light on the problem.

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Good idea, but no cigar. I updated the drivers and the problem remains.

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Although you have updated Office, have you also updated your video driver to the latest version? Often “strange” occurences such as you are describing can be rectified by updating driver files.

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We have had this problem in our office and one of the users found the solution. The hardware acceleration which is found in display properties (troubleshooting) needs to be turned down to the second marker. Mine was on full and when I changed this all of my screen shots and graphics appeared like magic. This does not seem to cause problems to anything else by turning it down low. Also if you can only see part of a graphic make sure the spacing is set at single, double or a normal line spacing setting – when it is changed to exactly 12pt and other settings like that you will only see the bottom portion of the screen shot.

I hope this helps

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Ah — I never saw your response (probably because it replied to the intial post, so I didn’t get notified of a new post on this thread)
and I was just logging in today to say we also found the answer. And it was just what you said — turning down the hardware acceleration on the graphic card seemed to work.

The only common denominator I could find with all these machines that had this error, was that they were each running “Intel 82915G Express Chipset” on video. I turned down the hardware acceleration on that (DISPLAY PROPERTIES – SETTINGS – ADVANCED – TROUBLESHOOT) and the problem cleared up.

This makes sense with the earlier post in which I said that when I would remote into their machines it cleared up. Using remote assistance often turns off all but “essential” acceleration (which is why people often complain to me that as I remote to their workstation, their wallpaper disappears until I get out).

pribb

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