PPT97: Movies Do Not Play When Moved Cross-Platform

ID: Q190397

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you double-click a movie in slide view, you may see the following caption rather than a bitmap:

   QuickTime(tm) and a Video decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Double-clicking this caption does not generate any error message or result in any action.

CAUSE

When you insert a movie on a slide, PowerPoint actually creates a link to the original movie file.

The error messages occur for one or both of the following reasons:

You copied the presentation to another computer but you did not copy the movie files. Or, you copied all the files, but PowerPoint cannot find the movie files.
The type of link required to play the movie isn't supported by PowerPoint or the operating system. For example, PowerPoint for the Macintosh cannot activate Windows Media Player objects.

RESOLUTION

1. When you copy your presentation between a Macintosh- and a Windows-

   based computer, be sure to copy all the movie files.

2. Make sure that your movie files can be played on the destination

   computer.

3. Open the file on the destination computer.

4. For each movie object, do the following:

   a. Delete the movie.

   b. Reinsert the movie.

5. Save the presentation.

NOTE: Windows-based programs can only play QuickTime movies that are saved without dependencies (also called "flattened" QuickTime movies.)

MORE INFORMATION

It is possible to convert .avi movies to QuickTime movies (and to convert QuickTime movies to .avi movies.) There are several utilities available, some of them shareware, that can do this.

Additional query words: ppt97 m_powerpt w_powerpt quicktime quick time avi mov movie cross platform

Keywords          : kb3rdparty kbinterop kbole
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Hardware          : x86
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: November 20, 1998