powerpoint audio issues with XP, PPT 2003 package for cd - deteriorated sound etc

[Sonia]

Use your original presentation that was created in PowerPoint 2000 and play it
in the PowerPoint 97 Viewer
(http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/Ppview97.aspx). The PowerPoint 2003
Viewer is not needed and has a bug that prevents the sound from being played in
a presentation that was created in PowerPoint 2000 or 97. Then let us know if
there are problems.
--

Sonia Coleman
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Team
Autorun Software, Templates and Tutorials
http://www.soniacoleman.com

 

[CHARLES E NICHOLLS]

Hi There ,
I was wondering if anyone out there can shed light on some probs Ive been
having :
1. I created a powerpoint presentation with linked wav files in powerpoint
2000 on a Windows 98 machine . Worked fine in powerpoint itself but no audio
in 2003 viewer. I read that it had to be saved in powerpoint 2003 in order
to get audio from that viewer- so took files to a friends pc which has XP
and powerpoint 2003. I resaved my presentation in 2003 and used package for
cd, with the following annoyances:

1. The cd will auto run in XP but the audio has deteriorated - almost
distorted at times
If I copy the files from the cd back on to hard drive and run from there -
sound quality is fine again - ie prob is when its all running from cd . I
tried it on another machine with XP with same results. SO at the moment if I
want to distribute the cd presentation I'd have to get the recipients to
load cd on to hard drive and play from there - which defeats the idea of
having the auto run cd ...any ideas .. or bugs with XP ? I need the sound
quality reasonable as its to promote my band ...

2 When I played the cd back on my win 98 machine - no audio . copied cd
contents to hard drive - audio fine again .. I made a new cd on my 98
machine but put everything in a folder on cd - and audio worked fine again -
running from folder on cd and no deteriration in quality - I used this same
CD then on an XP machine and again got deterirated sound. SO Ive got around
this win 98 prob by having a batch file in root of cd which changes dir to
the folder and then runs the viewer in the folder ...but Id be interestd to
know if anyone out there could tell me why ..I think the links must be ok
....but why would it work from within a folder on cd and not from root of cd
like it should ? And why is sound quality deteriorated using the CD on XP
and its fine on WIN 98 ? and its fine on XP when CD is copied to hard drive
?

Any help would be much appreciated -

 

[Sonia]

How many Windows XP systems have you tested it on? Does the problem occur on
all of them, or is it specific to just one system?

 

[CHARLES E NICHOLLS]

HI Sonia, Thanks..
I wanted to use 2003 viewer as I have gifs in my pres which 97 viewer doesnt
support . BY loading the presentation into 2003 ppt and resaving it - I can
get sound to play and get around the 2000 / 2003 viewer bug - and works okay
when I use cd presentation option in 2003 and copy resulting files from cd
to hard drive in XP machine and windows 98 ..
However if I try and play direct from cd - In xp machine the sounds are
warbly
and 98 machine wont play sound unless it is played from a directory on the
cd ..
So I can get around my probs if the cd files are copied to hard drive for an
XP machine to get good sound again and I burn files to subdirectory on the
cd for a win 98 machine .. but I really wanted to distribute it as a cd auto
play type. THe win 98 prob is okay coz it will still run from cd as
mentioned but I want to get around the bad sound from CD on XP machine ...
THanks again ..any ideas ?

 

[CHARLES E NICHOLLS]

I tried it on the XP system that the cd was created on and also on another
XP computer elsewhere - exactly same symptoms - I tried original cd I burnt
and also another I burnt using burning software on my 98 machine with same
symptoms ...running the same files from hard drive okay but from files on
cd - changes sound ... its strange it works fine from win 98 but not XP and
cd files were created on XP machine ! From memory I tried opening ppt file
on cd with powerpoint and using view show with same results as using ppt
viewer exe
Maybe I should go back to XP machine and re insert the audio . The version I
am trying was from one created in 2000 and resaved in 2003 and using package
to cd - I didnt redo sound insertions.. or maybe I should try making an exe
or save wavs into ppt instead of it linking ? Would it be possible to send
you my ppt and 1 shortened wav for you to try ..I dont want to put you to
too much trouble but it is an interesting phenomena - it would be about 3.8
mb
THANKS AGAIN ...Charles

 

[Sonia]

The other possible differences would include hardware and drivers and Windows
updates, etc., etc. If your systems don't have the latest service packs
installed, I would encourage you to apply them. If you are autorunning the CD
on all systems, then they are all testing the presentation in the PowerPoint
Viewer from the CD. I know of no sound issues with the Viewer.

 

[CHARLES E NICHOLLS]

Hi again Sonia,
Since message below Ive tried the cd again at an internet cafe on about 4
machines with XP - this time sound was fine ..do you know if there have been
different upgrades of XP or service packs ..ie have Microsoft had any bugs
that would explain it .Only difference between the machines I can think of
is In the first 2 machines I tried it on powerpoint was installed on the
machine although the cd used its viewer anyway- I believe the last 4 I tried
it on didnt ...but the viewer would use the dlls on the cd in all cases
whether or not powerpoint was installed on the machine ? very perplexing ..
thanks again for your time ..much appreciated
Charles