diff --git a/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/exceptions/CorruptPowerPointFileException.java b/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/exceptions/CorruptPowerPointFileException.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..98f1e2c5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/exceptions/CorruptPowerPointFileException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+
+/* ====================================================================
+   Copyright 2002-2004   Apache Software Foundation
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+==================================================================== */
+        
+
+
+package org.apache.poi.hslf.exceptions;
+
+/**
+ * This exception is thrown when we try to open a PowerPoint file, and
+ *  something is fundamentally broken about it.
+ *
+ * @author Nick Burch
+ */
+
+public class CorruptPowerPointFileException extends IllegalStateException
+{
+	public CorruptPowerPointFileException(String s) {
+		super(s);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/record/Record.java b/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/record/Record.java
index b9dddf32b..1e6778a5d 100644
--- a/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/record/Record.java
+++ b/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/record/Record.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.util.Vector;
 import org.apache.poi.util.LittleEndian;
+import org.apache.poi.hslf.exceptions.CorruptPowerPointFileException;
 
 
 /**
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ public abstract class Record
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Default method for finding child records of a given record
+	 * Default method for finding child records of a container record
 	 */
 	public static Record[] findChildRecords(byte[] b, int start, int len) {
 		Vector children = new Vector(5);
@@ -98,6 +99,12 @@ public abstract class Record
 			int rleni = (int)rlen;
 			if(rleni < 0) { rleni = 0; }
 
+			// Abort if first record is of type 0000 and length FFFF,
+			//  as that's a sign of a screwed up record
+			if(pos == 0 && type == 0l && rleni == 0xffff) {
+				throw new CorruptPowerPointFileException("Corrupt document - starts with record of type 0000 and length 0xFFFF");
+			}
+
 //System.out.println("Found a " + type + " at pos " + pos + " (" + Integer.toHexString(pos) + "), len " + rlen);
 			Record r = createRecordForType(type,b,pos,8+rleni);
 			children.add(r);
@@ -148,7 +155,7 @@ public abstract class Record
 		} catch(InstantiationException ie) {
 			throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't instantiate the class for type with id " + type + " on class " + c + " : " + ie);
 		} catch(java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException ite) {
-			throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't instantiate the class for type with id " + type + " on class " + c + " : " + ite);
+			throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't instantiate the class for type with id " + type + " on class " + c + " : " + ite + "\nCause was : " + ite.getCause());
 		} catch(IllegalAccessException iae) {
 			throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't access the constructor for type with id " + type + " on class " + c + " : " + iae);
 		} catch(NoSuchMethodException nsme) {
diff --git a/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/usermodel/SlideShow.java b/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/usermodel/SlideShow.java
index 817bd0ce5..15b610ce0 100644
--- a/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/usermodel/SlideShow.java
+++ b/src/scratchpad/src/org/apache/poi/hslf/usermodel/SlideShow.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import org.apache.poi.hslf.record.SlideListWithText;
 import org.apache.poi.hslf.record.SlideListWithText.*;
 import org.apache.poi.hslf.record.PersistPtrHolder;
 import org.apache.poi.hslf.record.PositionDependentRecord;
+import org.apache.poi.hslf.exceptions.CorruptPowerPointFileException;
 
 /**
  * This class is a friendly wrapper on top of the more scary HSLFSlideShow.
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ public class SlideShow
 	// Ensure we really found a Document record
 	// If we didn't, then the file is probably corrupt
 	if(documentRecord == null) {
-		throw new IllegalStateException("The PowerPoint file didn't contain a Document Record in its PersistPtr blocks. It is probably corrupt.");
+		throw new CorruptPowerPointFileException("The PowerPoint file didn't contain a Document Record in its PersistPtr blocks. It is probably corrupt.");
 	}