PowerPoint Viewer out of sight

Q. I have a question about PowerPoint Viewer 2007. I get a lot of mail that has attached PowerPoint Slideshow files but cannot view them. I use Microsoft Media Player as my default player, but apparently it does not support PPS files. Is there another media player that supports multiple file types that I can install as my default player?

A. Let’s start out with one clarification. Windows Media Player is intended to play videos or music, not PowerPoint shows. From what I can tell, no media player will play PPS files, although if you still want to try another media player, I’d recommend VLC since it plays almost all video and music file types. You can download it at www.vlcplayerdownload.org.

Your issue seems to be that even after downloading the PowerPoint viewer, it still isn’t the default program on your computer to open PPS files.

There are two possible solutions.

One is to select PowerPoint Viewer as the default program for opening PPS files.

Start by downloading and saving a PPS file to your computer’s desktop. Right-click on the file and select “Open with ...” If PowerPoint Viewer is suggested as a potential option, choose it and make sure the “Always use the selected program to open this file” box is checked. Click “OK.”

If PowerPoint Viewer is not suggested, you’ll need to browse to find the correct program and select it, again ensuring the “Always use the selected program ...” box is checked. Click “OK.”

The process above is one you can follow with any file extension that you’re having trouble opening, particularly if you get a message that there’s no program associated with the file.

If that doesn’t work, try to download and install the latest version of PowerPoint Viewer at www.microsoft.com/downloads. Search for “PowerPoint Viewer” in the box at the top and the appropriate download (updated May 5, 2010) should be one of the first search results.

Installing this software should make PowerPoint Viewer the default program used to open PPS files.

A LITTLE NUDGE

If you ever need an extra reminder for the items on your to-do list, you may enjoy trying Nudgemail.

This nifty little free tool lets you send e-mail reminders to yourself, with delivery held until the date and/or time you specify.

For instance, if you message nudge@nudgemail.com with “February 20” in the subject line and “Mom’s birthday” in the body of the e-mail, you’ll get e-mail at 6:30 a.m. Feb. 20 reminding you to call your mother.

You also can set reminders for two minutes, two days or two months before the time you set, and make them recurring.

A recent partnership with Google means you can also send items directly to your Google calendar.

The only drawback seems to be that you can’t set both a date and a time for your reminder to be delivered, but the folks at Nudgemail say they’re working on it.

Learn more at Nudgemail.com.

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