by AJ George 
Do you often find yourself chugging away at a presentation, only to have PowerPoint crash and give you some variation of the "MS Office has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience," message? I find that the majority of software users do not regularly check for system updates, and many times the solution is just this easy.
From PowerPoint's File tab, choose Help > Check for Updates.
You will be redirected to a Microsoft website that will scan your computer and recommend updates as necessary.
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About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Writer and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."