Powerpoint 2003 cannot open Powerpoint 2008 created presentation

[veisler]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

Recently I was sent a Powerpoint 2003 file from a Windows PC. I am using a new MacBook with Office 2008 installed - with all updates. I made edits to the presentation in Powerpoint 2008 for Mac. Once I made the edits, I saved the file, ensuring I Saved As the Format Type 'PowerPoint 97-2004 Presentation (.ppt).' Through Entourage 2008 I sent the file back to the original sender.

Unfortunately, the send could not open the edited file using PowerPoint 2003.

I tried sending the file to another user who has PowerPoint 2003 running on Windows, and they got the same error.

Does anyone know how I can solve this problem? Obviously I want folks to be able to read and edit documents edited with Office 2008 and sent with Entourage 2008 without any hassle.

As a tangent I triple checked my Entourage email settings and it is configured to encode email attachments as 'Any Computer (Apple Double).' I even tried changing the encoding to 'Windows (MIME/Base64)' just for kicks, and got the same result.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Thanks,

Vaughn

 

[David Marcovitz]

The PowerPoint 2003 people should make sure they have two things
installed:

(1) They need to have the latest service packs installed. PowerPoint
2003 without any service packs has always had trouble opening other
PowerPoint files.

(2) They should install the compatibility pack. PowerPoint 2003 is
capable of opening .pptx files so if they install the compatibility
pack, there should be no need to save to a PPT 97-2004.

On your end, you should make sure that the files have the proper
extension (either .ppt or .pptx).

--David

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

Recently I was sent a Powerpoint 2003 file from a Windows PC. I am using a new MacBook with Office

2008 installed - with all updates. I made edits to the presentation in Powerpoint 2008 for Mac. Once
I made the edits, I saved the file, ensuring I Saved As the Format Type 'PowerPoint 97-2004
Presentation (.ppt).' Through Entourage 2008 I sent the file back to the original sender.

Unfortunately, the send could not open the edited file using PowerPoint 2003.

In addition to David's good suggestions:

1) What error messages did they see when they tried to open the file?

2) Are they trying to open the file from within their email program (I'm assuming you emailed the
file)? If so, that may not work; they should save the attached file to their computer's hard drive
and open it from there.

I tried sending the file to another user who has PowerPoint 2003 running on Windows, and they got the same error.

Does anyone know how I can solve this problem? Obviously I want folks to be able to read and edit

documents edited with Office 2008 and sent with Entourage 2008 without any hassle.

As a tangent I triple checked my Entourage email settings and it is configured to encode email

attachments as 'Any Computer (Apple Double).' I even tried changing the encoding to 'Windows
(MIME/Base64)' just for kicks, and got the same result.

 

[veisler]

David,

Thank you for the excellent suggestions and extremely timely response.

However, I am not sure how realistic those suggestions are in my particular case. I hope/expect to be able to send/receive files such as this to large numbers of enterprise users over time. Many of those folks will not have control over their environments in order to ensure they have the proper updates and compatibility packs.

Additionally, in my particular case, I will frequently send files to 50-100 recipients at a time, many times per week. I cannot expect, assume or request all of them to execute those suggestions.

I did check was able to confirm that the file has the .ppt extension.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Vaughn Eisler

 

[veisler]

In addition to David's good suggestions:

1) What error messages did they see when they tried to open the file?

2) Are they trying to open the file from within their email program (I'm assuming you emailed the
file)? If so, that may not work; they should save the attached file to their computer's hard drive
and open it from there.

Steve,

Thank you as well for your timely response and excellent suggestions. In answer to your questions:

1) PowerPoint cannot read <filename>.

2) Both recipients tried to open the file directly from Outlook and separately saved the file to their local hard drive and then open the file. They both received the same error in both cases.

Please let me know if you have any other thoughts.

Thanks,

Vaughn

 

[CyberTaz]

One more suggestion: Zip the files before attaching. The Evil Henchmen of
the Exchange Nether Region on The Dark Side will dice up a Mac file sooner
than deliver it whole.

Granted, you can't control how other users maintain their system nor how
their IS is managed. However, if those environments aren't being updated as
per the suggestions made by David there are a number of Security as well as
other performance issues at risk. If minimum maintenance is not being done
there really isn't anything you can do - nor should you accept
responsibility for the outcome

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

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Steve,

Thank you as well for your timely response and excellent suggestions. In answer to your questions:

1) PowerPoint cannot read <filename>.

2) Both recipients tried to open the file directly from Outlook and separately saved the

file to their local hard drive and then open the file. They both received the same error in
both cases.

That does suggest file corruption.

I'd give Bob's suggestion a try ... see if ZIPping the file helps.