Windows 7: How to make PPS default

W 7 laptop.. however I have not gotten Microsoft Power Point Viewer 2007 to auto open when, I open a PPS.
What's the little trick to make this happen for me before I pull my hair out ?



Thanks for any help with this problem.

Hi LPt

Don't know if any of this will help, but here goes:
1. The viewer may be damaged or corrupt. Uninstall (control panel > programs and features) and reinstall.

Download PowerPoint Viewer 2007 from Official Microsoft Download Center (Published 12/3/2007)

2. Make sure the file associations (control panel > folder options > file types tab) are correct.

3. Try using PowerPoint Viewer 2010 instead.

Download PowerPoint Viewer from Official Microsoft Download Center (Published 10/25/2011)

Hi Marsmimar....Thanks for your reply.. Do you happen to have a screen shot of how theses setting should look ?,
I can follow your instructions, I'm just not at all sure what should be ticked, or left alone.
I'm using my laptop with Windows 7 , I E 9
Thanks so much again.

I don't have a screenshot available for PowerPoint Viewer. But it should be relatively simple to change/add a file association. If you have a PowerPoint file on your computer you can right click and select 'Open With'. Select PowerPoint Viewer if it's among the listed programs. Or, click the Browse button, find PowerPoint Viewer and select it manually. There should also be a check box that says to open all such files with that program by default.

Or, you can also right click a PowerPoint file, then click Properties and select the General Tab. You should see "Open with" and a Change button. This will also allow you to set an association for a new file type.

You may have to first locate where the PowerPoint Viewer is located. If you go to your start menu > all programs, right click PowerPoint Viewer and then click Properties. On the General tab you should see Location: with the file path for the viewer. It will probably be C:\Program Files\Microsoft\ .... or something similar. This will be to where you have to Browse when setting the file assciation.

Sorry if this is confusing. I sometimes confuse myself.

But here are some screenshots with a PDF file as an example. Using the Open With option and browsing and also the right click option and browsing.





Please tell me I'm not the cause of you pulling your hair out!

Hi No.... you aren't the problem at all !!!.. if it's anyone it's myself... lol


I think this may have originated as this laptop is part of a Home Group, with those permission settings ( Security tab :Group or users names ) I peeked where you suggested,I see myself with 2 differing names.. one is as Admn. ,one as my name of this computer.. or something similar..
so that's probably why this isn't working properly.. opening up as it did on my desktop. I did NOT make any changes.
Thank you so much for your help and suggestions.

Hi LPt,

Here's another option as well. I don't think this has anything to do with Homegroup or permissions.

You can start at option #2 in this tutorial to set the powerpoint viewer as a default for .pps files.

Default Programs - Associate a File Type or Protocol

You're going to find the .pps file extension in the list and see what program is associated with it, if it isn't powerpoint viewer you can click the change program button and find powerpoint viewer.

marsmairar, hi ..Sorry it took me this long to reply to your last message..
I have followed your tips above.. I DID find PPS on the page.. YES it's showing as pps on my list,
I have had it to work correctly as you showed me, I see a tiny bar at the bottom when I'm downloading a pps to view.. after it completes , I click to open on that small screen where it downloaded..( a small screen where I can see other things I've also downloaded ) I can then
view the pps, this loses the sound, that does seem to be a round about way to use the PPS viewer.. it was more straight forward on my old Windows XP.... when opening a pps from
my e-mail message.. it would just open up in a pps viewer, sound and all.
Thank you so very much.

If you feel adventurous, this free viewer may be a better alternative than the Microsoft viewer. I used it for quite a while until I broke down and installed OpenOffice. Sorry I didn't think of it earlier. Old age, doncha know.

As with all free things, watch out for unwanted toolbars, add-ons, etc.

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