Problem with playing an mpg file in Powerpoint 2002.

[Steve]

Hello,

Can anyone help with this please? I have a Dell Latitude D410 running
Windows XP Pro Sp2 with all Windows updates installed. The version of Office
is Office XP which is 2002. I have been to the Update Office website and
installed all the available updates for Office.

Heres my problem.

I have a short mpg file (only 412 KB) which i am trying to play in
Powerpoint 2002. I am using the method Insert > Movies and Sounds > Movie
from File. I can browse to the file and select it but when Powerpoint
attempts to add it it displays garbage instead.

The file plays perfectly in Media Player on the same laptop. It also plays
perfectly if i play it using mplay32.exe on the same laptop. In addition it
also plays perfectly within Powerpoint on several pc's running Windows XP
Pro Sp2 which have Office 2000 installed, not 2002 so this seems to be a
Powerpoint 2002 problem and not a codec or graphic card driver issue (i
would guess.....).

Has anyone seen this behaviour before and if so can anyone suggest a
solution? I'd be most gratefull for any help.

Many thanks,

Steve.

 

[Austin Myers]

Steve,

Try locating the video and presentation in the same folder with a short
path. (IE C:\test) Re-insert the video and see if it works.

If not you may want to give PFCMedia a try. www.pfcmedia.com It has a
fully functioning two week trial and can be downloaded for free.


Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

PowerPoint Video and PowerPoint Sound Solutions www.pfcmedia.com

 

[Steve]

Austin,

Thanks for the tip. Here's what i tried.....

I created a simple presentation and moved the file to the same folder but
unfortunately i got the same result when i tried to insert it. Strangely
enough when the garbage appears it is not confined to within the
presentation window if you get my meaning. Rather it appears as a large
square block of garbled characters which jumps all over the screen then
Powerpoint 'hangs' and i need to use Task Manager to quit.

Do you have any other ideas mate? Sadly using another app is a no no...

Steve.

 

[Steve]

** Update **

I found a workaround....

By opening dxdiag.exe and disabling DirectDraw and Direct3D, all movie clips
could be inserted into Powerpoint 2002 and played without problems.

Thanks anyway, thats one to remember....

 

[Guest]

If you convert your .mpg file to either an .avi or an .wmv, you will be able
to open it in Power Point. A good program to do this is "ConvertMovie", or
for a .wmv file you could easily use "Windows Movie Maker"


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