Insert Flash in PowerPoint for Windows Users

To insert Flash movies inside PowerPoint, you need four things:

1. Microsoft Office PowerPoint: A copy of PowerPoint 97, 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007 (or a newer version). This will not work in the free PowerPoint Viewer.
2. Microsoft Internet Explorer: Although you really don’t need this in the process of inserting Flash, it is required since this takes care of the ActiveX runtimes. Most versions of Windows come with Internet Explorer built-in. You can always get the latest version here…
3. Shockwave Flash ActiveX Control: This is a helper application that allows Microsoft Internet Explorer and other applications that can interact with ActiveX controls to show Flash movies. PowerPoint is one such application that can rely on the Shockwave Flash ActiveX control to play Flash movies on PowerPoint slides.

   Your copy of Microsoft Internet Explorer probably already has this ActiveX control installed, but since this is frequently updated, you should visit the Adobe site and check.

   The Shockwave Flash ActiveX control can be auto-installed at:

   www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?
   P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

   Since this control installs on its own, make sure you visit the above link using Microsoft Internet Explorer — the Flash plug-in for Firefox is not the same, at least not in this case!

   If you need to view more options, visit:

   www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/

4. A Flash SWF Movie/File: If you don’t have any Flash clips, you can get some here…

The next thing you need to do is assemble everything in one folder…

PowerPoint 2007 users also need to enable the Developer tab in the Ribbon… — if the Developer tab is already visible for you, proceed to assemble everything in one folder…