PPT97: How to Do Presentation Conference Between PowerPoint 7, 97

MORE INFORMATION

Chapter 32 of the Office 97 Resource Kit (ORK) contains instructions for setting up a presentation conference between computers running PowerPoint 97 and computers running PowerPoint 7.0. These instructions are incomplete. This article provides the instructions that you can use to try to run a presentation conference between PowerPoint 97 and PowerPoint 7.0.

In order to run a presentation conference between computers running PowerPoint 97 and PowerPoint 7.0, you must first do three things:

1. Replace the file Presconf.dll on every computer running PowerPoint 7.0 with an updated version.
2. Modify the registry file on every computer running PowerPoint 97.
3. If the computer that will be the presenter in the conference is running PowerPoint 97, change the default Save As type to PowerPoint 95 & 97 presentation.

I. Obtaining and Installing the Updated Presconf.dll

Obtain a copy of the updated Presconf.dll file available on the Microsoft Internet Site on the World Wide Web. It is compiled into a self-extracting file called Pp95conf.exe.

1. Run your Web browser and connect to the following Microsoft Web page:

   http://www.microsoft.com/powerpoint/work.htm

2. Click the "Update to PowerPoint 95 Presentation Conferencing Feature" link and download the Pp95conf.exe file.
   
   If your browser gives you the choice, choose to save the file to disk instead of opening it. If your browser allows you to choose a location to save the file to, save it directly to a floppy disk.
3. For each computer running PowerPoint 7.0, do the following:
   
   
   1. Make a backup copy of the file Presconf.dll. By default this file is located in this folder:
      
      C:\Msoffice\Powerpnt
   2. Insert the floppy disk that contains the Pp95conf.exe file.
   3. Run Pp95conf.exe.
   4. Read the End-User License Agreement (EULA). If you still want to continue, click Accept.
   5. Locate the folder where PowerPoint 7.0 is installed. If you installed PowerPoint 7.0 to anything other than the default location, click Browse (or type the path by hand) to locate the folder where you installed PowerPoint 7.0.

II. Modify the Registry on All Computers Running PowerPoint 97

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

For every computer running PowerPoint 97, do the following:

1. Run Regedit.exe (Regedt32.exe on Windows NT 3.5.1) and open the following key:

   \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\8.0\PowerPoint\DLLAddins\CONFERENCE

2. (Skip this step if you have Windows NT 3.5.1.) On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File. Click Selected Branch. Type a file name such as Ppconf.reg, and then click Save.
3. Double-click the value called ServiceName. Change the data from

   pptconference
   
   to
   
   conference

4. Click OK.
5. On the Registry menu, click Exit.

III. Change the Default Save As Type on the Presenter Computer

If the computer that is to act as the presenter has PowerPoint 97, follow these steps. If the presenter computer is running PowerPoint 7.0, skip these steps.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Save tab.
3. In the Save PowerPoint Files As list, click Microsoft PowerPoint 95 & 97 Presentation.
4. Click OK.

Known Issues

• Once you have modified the registry on a computer running PowerPoint 97, that computer can only participate in presentation conferences with other computers running PowerPoint 7.0 or PowerPoint 97 where you have also modified the registry. In order to participate in a presentation conference with computers running PowerPoint 97 where you have not modified the registry, you must restore the original registry settings.
• If your presentation contains fill or animation effects that are new to PowerPoint 97, they appear differently on the computers running PowerPoint 7.0.
• On-screen annotation may not appear correctly. If several people try to draw on the slide at once, some computers may become out of synchronization with the rest of the conference. If this happens, the presenter may be able to restore synchronization by backing up and then advancing one slide.
• Builds may not be synchronized. If your presentation contains builds and the presenter is using PowerPoint 97, the PowerPoint 7.0 audience members may become out of synchronization with the conference.