Why does PowerPoint 2003 crash when I insert an AVI file?

[AndrewClark]

When I go insert>movies and sounds>movie from file and select a .avi file,
powerpoint says that it has encountered an error and has to close. What can
I do to stop this?

 

[Sonia]

Try opening PowerPoint and start a new blank presentation. Insert the AVI.
Does the same thing happen?

Try going to Start > Run and type mplay32.exe and click OK. Go to File > Open
and locate your AVI. Click on the "play" icon. Does the video play?

 

[AndrewClark]

I have been trying for a while, but it doesn't work. The video doesn't play
when I try to play using mplay32.exe

 

[Sonia]

If it doesn't play in mplay32.exe then it isn't going to play in PowerPoint.
See http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/multimedia.htm for the
detailed information.

What is the source of the AVI? Is it from a digital camera? If so, try
changing the file extension from AVI to MPG.

 

[AndrewClark]

That's great! It works now, thank you very much