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Q130158: PPT: Double-Clicking File Opens Wrong Version of PowerPoint

Article: Q130158
Product(s): Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:4.0,4.0a,4.0c,7.0,95
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbinterop
Last Modified: 11-MAY-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, version 7.0 
- Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.0a, 4.0c 
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 95 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you double-click a file to open it, a different version of PowerPoint than
you expect starts.

CAUSE
=====

This behavior occurs if you have multiple versions of PowerPoint installed on
your computer. When you run a version of PowerPoint, it registers itself in the
Windows registry and takes ownership of files that have the .ppt extension and
certain system registration entries. If you then run a different version of
PowerPoint, it registers itself. It owns the files having the .ppt extension and
system registration entries until you run another version of PowerPoint. This
means that if you double-click a file with a .ppt extension, the most recently
run version of PowerPoint tries to open the file.

WORKAROUND
==========

If you want to open the PowerPoint presentation in a specific version of
PowerPoint, follow these steps:

1. On the Windows Start menu, point to Programs and then click Windows Explorer.

2. Open the \Windows\SendTo folder.

3. Create three shortcuts--one for each version of PowerPoint you have installed
  on your computer. To do this, follow these steps:
  a. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Shortcut.

  b. In the Command Line box in the Create Shortcut Wizard, type the path and
     file name for the Powerpnt.exe file you want to use. Or, click Browse,
     select the Powerpnt.exe file you want to use, and click Open.

  c. Click Next.

  d. On the "Select a Title for the Program" panel, type the description you
     want to use, and then click Finish.

  e. Repeat steps a through d for each version of PowerPoint.

After creating the shortcuts, you can select the version of PowerPoint you want
to open the file by following these steps:

1. Right-click a presentation file, and then click Send To on the menu that
  appears.

2. Select the version of PowerPoint you want to open the file.

Additional query words: 4.00 4.00a 4.00c 7.00 Win95 right-click mouse step on properties ppt95

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbinterop 
Technology        : kbOSWin95 kbOSWinSearch kbPowerPtSearch kbPowerPt700 kbZNotKeyword2 kbPowerPt700Search kbPowerPt400 kbPowerPt400c kbPowerPt400a
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0,4.0a,4.0c,7.0,95
Issue type        : kbprb

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