PowerPoint X / 2004 crashes on startup

Apply the latest Office X updates, available at PowerPoint Updates

Try repairing privileges.
For OS 10.2+:

1. Go to Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities.
2. Open up Disk Utility.
3. Select your hard disk, then click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the button to "Repair Disk Permissions".

For OS 10.1.5:
Download the Repair Privileges utility, free from Apple, and run it.

Run Disk First Aid.
Run Disk First Aid. Instructions on how to run it in OS X are located on the Apple Knowledge Base.

You should be able to run it from a Safe Boot or from starting off of the OS X CD, but if you cannot, you can run FSCK manually (instructions are on the page).

Also delete the following files:
Office X:

• ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.PowerPoint.plist
• ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/PowerPoint Settings (10)
• ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/PowerPoint Temp

Office 2004:

• ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.powerpoint.prefs.plist
• ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/PowerPoint Temp

If that doesn't help, re-install Office X:

1. Insert the Office X CD, then open the Value Pack.
2. Open the Value Pack Installer.
3. Check "Remove Office", then install.
4. Run the "Remove Office" utility.
5. When done, re-install Office X from the CD, then re-apply the latest Office X updates See this page to learn where to find updates

Or, re-install Office 2004:

1. Launch the Remove Office tool, located in HD/Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Additional Tools/Remove Office.
2. Press the "Continue" button to locate currently installed copies of Office.
3. Select the version(s) of Office that you want to remove, and press the "Continue" button.
4. Choose what components you wish to remove. For a complete removal, choose to "Remove the Office 2004 folder," "Remove the selected Office 2004 system files," and "Preferences."
5. When the removal is complete, you can then re-install Office 2004 from the CD.
6. Then, run Microsoft AutoUpdate (in the Applications folder) to download and install the latest updates.

If that doesn't help, you could have corrupt fonts. Take a look at this article on the Microsoft Knowledgebase

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