Link from Slide to File on Hard Drive

[TimMcGaw]

I set up a hyperlink on a text line in one of my slides.... which is
supposed to link to, and open, an html page on my hard drive.

When I click on this link in "slideshow" mode...... the process of
opening the targeted html file on my hard drive is painfully slow, and
only proceeds after Powerpoint (Not Norton Antivirus) presents me with
a warning that files often contain viruses and do I REALLY want to link
to this file.

This happens whether I inactivate my automatic Norton antivirus options
or not.

It also happens even if I go into Powerpoint preferences and deselect
the "enable macro virus protection" option.

I KNOW there are no viruses in any of my files and I DO INDEED want the
hyperlink to open the target file, therefore I don't need to see this
annoying warning everytime I click on the hyperlink in my Powerpoint
slide..

Can anyone please advise me how I eliminate this unnecessary, annoying
warning message?

Thanks
Tim

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Tim,

Your conclusion is correct. The warning message is from PowerPoint, not
Norton AntiVirus.

Perhaps user input will convince the worry-wort at Microsoft who forced
this dialog upon us that it is really not needed, or should be able to
be turned off. Use the Feedback feature on PowerPoint's help menu to
express your opinion on this topic so that someone at Microsoft will see it.

Meanwhile, there is a work-around. Visual Basic has a Follow Hyperlink
method. The code is very simple. Here's an example:

Sub GoToGoogle()
ActivePresentation.FollowHyperlink
Address:="http://www.google.com", NewWindow:=True, AddHistory:=True
End Sub

To make a Macro turn on the Visual Basic toolbar (View > Toolbars >
Visual Basic). Click the Visual Basic Editor button. In the Editor
choose Insert>Module. You can paste the above sample into the module.
Then from the Editor's File menu return to PowerPoint.

There are lots of ways to fire macros. Control-click on any drawing,
shape, or picture and choose Assign Macro from the dialog. You can also
use the Action buttons from the drawing toolbar. When your presentation
is running and you click an item it will run the macro and open the
desired URL without nagging you like a child.

-Jim