Movies do not play in your slide presentation if you insert a movie from a UNC location that contains a long path and file name in PowerPoint 2000 or PowerPoint 2002 (883519)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, when used with:
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows Server 2003
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows XP SP1
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4

SYMPTOMS

If you insert a movie from a UNC location such as \\servername\share that contains a long path and file name in one of the programs that are listed in the "Applies to" section, the movie will insert but will not play in your Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentation.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if all the following conditions are true:
  • The UNC path and the file name of the movie that you inserted contains more than 127 characters.
  • You insert the movie in a Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 slide presentation or in a Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 slide presentation.
  • You run PowerPoint 2002 or PowerPoint 2000 on one of the following Microsoft Windows operating systems:
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
    • Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1)
    • Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4)

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Shorten the UNC path and the file name

Shorten the UNC path and the file name of the movie that you inserted to less than 127 characters. To do this, move the movie to a higher folder level before you insert the movie in your PowerPoint slide presentation.

Method 2: Use Microsoft Windows Media Player

For additional information about how to insert movies for Windows Media Player into your presentation, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

299284 Add-in to insert movies using Windows Media Player is available for PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2000

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/2/2004
Keywords:kbmm kbslideshow kbtshoot kbprb KB883519 kbAudEndUser
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