Office shapes move or duplicate themselves when I click them (VISTA/Windows 7)

Problem

• Shapes move up or to the right slightly when you click them.
• If you're pressing Ctrl while clicking the shapes, PowerPoint may duplicate the shapes.

Solution

This only seems to occur under Windows Vista and Windows 7. If you have either of those Windows versions and experience this problem, you need to locate the main PowerPoint executable file, POWERPNT.EXE, and change its properties, specifically one called Desktop Composition.

If you have Windows 7

• Quit PowerPoint if it's running.
• Click the Start button in the lower left corner of your Windows desktop.
• Type: "POWER" into the Search box at the bottom of the pop-up menu.
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint should appear under Programs near the top of the search results.
• Right-click it and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
• In the Properties dialog box, click the Compatibility tab.
• Put a checkmark next to Disable desktop composition.
• Click OK.

If you have Windows Vista

• Quit PowerPoint if it's running.
• Go to My Computer, open the C:\ drive and navigate to Program files, Microsoft Office, Office 11 (or Office 12 if using PowerPoint 2007, Office 14 if using PowerPoint 2010).
• Locate the file POWERPNT.exe.
• Right click on POWERPNT.exe and select Properties.
• Select the Compatibility tab.
• Put a checkmark next to Disable desktop composition.
• Click Ok.

That's all there is to it

Start PowerPoint back up and go to work. You may see a message saying that the color scheme has changed to Windows, Vista Basic and that some visual elements are disabled temporarily. Apparently that's a side-effect of disabling desktop composition. Don't just click the X to get rid of it.

Instead, click where it says to click for "More Information." A dialog box will pop up with the option to check "Don't show this message again."

By checking that box, you won't have to see the annoying color scheme message every time you start PowerPoint. This applies to PowerPoint 2010 and Windows 7.

Thanks to PowerPoint MVP Shawn Toh (tohlz) of PowerPoint Heaven for this solution and to Martin C for the Windows 7 suggestions, and to PowerPoint MVP David Marcovitz for the tip about permanently getting rid of that silly color scheme message.

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