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Here's a question that I was asked recently:

Geetesh, I hope it is OK if I ask you a question about PowerPoint. You seem like the expert that can help me. I have a Mac with PowerPoint 2004 installed on it. My daughter created a PowerPoint at school on a 2007 version and can't make it work on our 2004. Should we buy the new 2008 version of Microsoft Office for the Mac. If we do, is that compatible with the the 2007 version. I want her to be able to take her work from school and be able to work on it at home. What do you think? Thanks for your time.

I am guessing your daughter created a PowerPoint presentation in the new PPTX file format that is native to both PowerPoint 2007 for Windows and PowerPoint 2008 for the Mac. So, yes upgrading to PowerPoint 2008 on the Mac will allow you to open and save PPTX files that will let your daughter take her work from school to home, and back.

Alternatively, you can get the free Open XML File Format Converter for Mac that will let you open and save these PPTX files from within your existing PowerPoint 2004. This is a great solution if you just need to view the PPTX files in PowerPoint 2004. On the other hand if she needs to work on those files at home, and move them often between home and school, then I suggest you upgrade to PowerPoint 2008. Since she is a student, you can get the three-license version of the Microsoft Office 2008 Home & Student version for around $100.

Labels: office_mac, powerpoint_2007, powerpoint_2008

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If you have multiple versions of PowerPoint installed, you might find that when you double-click on a PPT or PPTX file, it opens in a version of PowerPoint that's different from the one you want it to open!

Now you can reinstall all your versions of PowerPoint (and Microsoft Office) again in the sequence you want -- and that might take a few hours, or you might do a few registry tweaks -- and that's not for the faint of heart, or even if you are scared of the registry!

So it was a great thing that one of our readers decided to share this DOS batch file with us that makes the whole process painless. Having said that, do this at your own risk -- and if you are comfortable!

Damian McDonald is the founder of Visual Newmedia which has over 15 years’ experience in developing communication solutions for a number of leading global brands.

Here is the code you need to paste in your batch file -- just replace this line:

set PathStart=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE

to reflect the name of the partition where your copy of Microsoft Office is installed -- for example, if you installed to the D drive, the above line would change to:

set PathStart=D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE

OK -- here is the batch file:

REM **********************************************

REM Version 1.1 Date: 29/11/09
REM By Damian McDonald
REM www.visualpresenter.com.au
REM Registers the required Version of PowerPoint if it exists.

set PathStart=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE
set PathEnd=\powerpnt.exe
set DirNum=11
set Version=2003
@echo Off

:Start
CLS
ECHO. Select the Version of PowerPoint to register.
ECHO.
ECHO 1. PowerPoint2003
ECHO 2. PowerPoint2007
ECHO 3. PowerPoint2010
ECHO.

set choice=
set /p choice=Enter your selection or Q to Quit.
if not '%choice%'=='' set choice=%choice:~0,1%
if '%choice%'=='1' goto 1
if '%choice%'=='2' goto 2
if '%choice%'=='3' goto 3
if '%choice%'=='q' goto end
ECHO "%choice%" is not valid please try again
pause
Goto Start

:1
CLS
ECHO.
set DirNum=11
set Version=2003
IF NOT EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" ECHO PowerPoint %Version% does not appear to be loaded.
IF NOT EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" pause
IF EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" ECHO Registering PowerPoint %Version%.
IF EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" /regserver
Goto End

:2
CLS
ECHO.
set DirNum=12
set Version=2007
IF NOT EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" ECHO PowerPoint %Version% does not appear to be loaded.
IF NOT EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" pause
IF EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" ECHO Registering PowerPoint %Version%.
IF EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" /regserver
Goto End

:3
CLS
ECHO.
set DirNum=14
set Version=2010
IF NOT EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" ECHO PowerPoint %Version% does not appear to be loaded.
IF NOT EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" pause
IF EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" ECHO Registering PowerPoint %Version%.
IF EXIST "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" "%PathStart%%DirNum%%PathEnd%" /regserver
Goto End

:End
@echo on

REM **********************************************

Thanks Damian!

Labels: multiple_versions, powerpoint, programming

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This questions has been asked often, and with PowerPoint 2010 coming up, it's been asked more frequently. The question is about having multiple versions of PowerPoint installed on the same machine, and if that can cause any problems?

The answer is that generally you should see no problems as long as you follow some guidelines:

1. If you want to install an older version of PowerPoint, and you have newer versions installed -- then you first need to uninstall the newer versions first. Always reboot after each install or uninstall.
   
   Make sure you have the install media for all your PowerPoint (and Microsoft Office) versions -- and the serial numbers too!
   
   
2. Now install the oldest version you want -- for example, the oldest to newest sequence would be:
   
   PowerPoint 97
   PowerPoint 2000
   PowerPoint 2002 (XP)
   PowerPoint 2003
   PowerPoint 2007
   PowerPoint 2010
   
   After installing each version, reboot your system and install all available updates and service packs before proceeding to install the next successive version. Yes, you need to reboot after installing updates and service packs too!
   
   And if your version of PowerPoint needs online activation (as all versions after PowerPoint 2002 do), then activate before installing the successive version.
   

By default, the newest versions will take over the associations for the PowerPoint file format but if you need to open a particular file in an older version, you can always use the File | Open options in that version to open that file.

Also, on one of my Windows Vista machines I have no problem having PowerPoint 2003 and PowerPoint 2007 open at the same time -- don't know if this works everywhere though -- do try how it works for you!

See Also: Microsoft Support - Information about using 2007 Office suites and programs on a computer that is running another version of Office

There's also a very interesting discussion on this subject on Indezine's LinkedIn group.

Labels: multiple_versions, powerpoint

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I got this question from someone who works in a institution that has students with disabilities: How can I set up PowerPoints so that when the mouse is held down, the slides do not trip through whole presentation. I work with students with disabilities who sometimes find this difficult.

The answer is to change the mode in which PowerPoint plays the presentation. You can access the settings to make these changes through the Set Up Slide Show dialog box, accessed differently depending upon the version of PowerPoint you use:

• PowerPoint 2007 and later users can select the Slide Show tab of the Ribbon, and click the Set Up Slide Show button.
• PowerPoint 2003 and previous versions' users can choose the Slide Show | Set Up Show option.

Either way, you end up bringing up the Set Up Show dialog box that you can see in Figure 1, below.


Figure 1: Set Up Show

At the top right of this dialog, you'll need to select the Browsed by an individual (window) option -- and you can also decide whether you want the Show scrollbar option checked. Click OK when done, and save your presentation.

Here are some thoughts, caveats, and observations to be aware of:

1. Choosing this option means you don't get to play your PowerPoints in absolute full screen show mode -- there will be a title bar visible.
2. You can still use the keyboard to navigate to the next and previous slides. In fact, all keyboard commands will work.
3. The settings to enable this play mode, as explained above work only with the active presentation, and is saved within the presentation. You'll have to enable these settings for each presentation you want to not advance with mouse-clicks.

Labels: basics, edit, powerpoint, show

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