Audio will not play in Windows Word document

[ronaldbellamy]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I have a document created in Windows Word 2003 that opens in compatibility mode into Mac Word 2008. It contains a .wav audio file but when I double-click on the speaker icon I get an error, "Word cannot locate the server application for SoundRec objects."

How do I play the sounds in this document?

 

[CyberTaz]

No version of Word - Mac or PC - plays audio files, although they can be
'transported' in Word documents as embedded objects. The object embedded in
that file was apparently created by the Windows program called Sound
Recorder which isn't available for Mac, and that's the program being
searched for when the icon is dbl-clicked.

AFAIK, embedded sound objects aren't supported in Mac Word. That's why you
get the message. If you can have the sender forward a copy of the .wav
itself you can play it separately. Also, embedded audio is supported in
PowerPoint for Mac, so the sender could include it in a presentation file.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Hi.

I'll take issue with Bob's assertion that Word does not support embedded
audio files. You can insert audio files using the Insert menu in Mac
Word - just choose the Movies option and then choose a sound file. It's
a bit tricky in that Word is treating the sound file as a Movie, but it
does work.

I do agree with Bob's analysis of your troublesome sound object. Word
doesn't play the sounds that are embedded. Instead, Word calls whatever
application was used to create the sound and hands the task over to that
application.

In this case, as Bob says, Sound Recorder is being called on to play the
sound. Since you don't have Sound Recorder, Word thinks it can't play
the sound, even though you may have other applications (such as
QuickTime) that have no problem playing wav files. So on this aspect of
Bob's answer I am in complete agreement with him. I don't know of any
way to tell Word to use a different application from the one that
created the sound file in the first place.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
Co-author of Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One For Dummies
http://tinyurl.com/Office-2008-for-Dummies

 

[CyberTaz]

You've got your nerve...

<snip>

I'll take issue with Bob's assertion that Word does not support embedded
audio files. You can insert audio files using the Insert menu in Mac
Word - just choose the Movies option and then choose a sound file. It's
a bit tricky in that Word is treating the sound file as a Movie, but it
does work.

<snip>

Even though you are right I guess we both are ;-)

I had completely forgotten that -- since I have reason to add sound to a
Word doc approximately once every ten years or so. Thanks for the reminder!

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac