Slow software

Symptoms

This article is for those that are experiencing slow performance, freezing, or crashing during a presentation. An example might be that PowerPoint is slow to respond to mouse-clicks or you experience a time lag of half a second or more with slide transitions.

Background

Much has been written on the Internet by technical bloggers about the fact that PowerPoint 2013 is a more cumbersome piece of software than PowerPoint 2010. This is also true of Office 2016 in general due to its heavier system requirements.

Potential Issues from Software Versions and Add-In Conflicts

Ensure that you are using the latest version of OMBEA Response. You can download the latest version from our downloads page
Ensure that you have removed or disabled conflicting add-ins from Microsoft PowerPoint.
Ensure that you have also removed or disabled conflicting add-ins from Microsoft Excel. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.
Ensure that you have the very latest Office updates. You can check this page from Microsoft for more information.

If you are using Office 365, your updates may be distributed via monthly or Semi-Annual “update channels”. You can read see the [update history of these channels online]. (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office365-proplus-by-date)

You may try to temporarily disable your antivirus to see if it helps. Anti-virus software can sometimes interrupt the communication between PowerPoint and Excel, which affects the speed of drawing the chart.
Check there are no apps running in the background and hogging computer resources to the detriment of your presentation.

PowerPoint may also slow down if you, as the presenter, are on the same wifi network as all the delegates. This usually applies when using ResponseApp, but can also affect PowerPoint’s speed when using ResponsePad.
If you are using ResponseApp we strongly suggest that the presenter, if possible, uses use a wired ethernet connection to the Internet.
If you are using OMBEA ResponsePads, there is no need for an Internet connection at all. We suggest you try disconnecting from the Internet to see if this speeds up performance.
If there are any Office 365 “Connected Services” associated with the account but not being actively used by the presenter, such “Connected Services” may be removed. Try disabling these Connected Services. This article will show you how.

Potential Computer Hardware Issues

Run Disk Cleanup

Go to File Explorer
Right-click on C:
left-Click Properties.
You will find Disk Cleanup in the General tabe.
Clear out the Temporary files. You may also wish to run other cleanup operations, but these will not be related to OMBEA or PowerPoint.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

Within Powerpoint - Click on File>Options>Advanced>Display - Disable Hardware graphics acceleration. - Disable slide show hardware graphics acceleration

Disable animation of controls and elements in Windows

Press the Windows Key + R
In the box the appears, type sysdm.cpl
Click on the Advanced tab
Within the Performance box click Settings
Deselect Animate Controls and Elements in Window

Links that may be helpful

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/why-your-office-365-apps-may-be-running-so-darn-slow/ https://www.tenforums.com/microsoft-office-365/77315-office-power-point-runs-very-slow.html https://www.brightcarbon.com/blog/powerpoint-tips-how-to-speed-up-office-365-performance/ https://www.pegasustechnologies.com/quick-way-to-speed-up-microsoft-office/ https://www.trishtech.com/2018/01/how-to-disable-animation-in-windows-10/ https://www.aryaka.com/blog/3-reasons-to-blame-your-network-for-slow-office-365/