Microsoft Knowledge Base Article
This article contents is Microsoft Copyrighted material.
©2005-©2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Terms
of Use |
Trademarks
Article ID: 212406 - Last Review: September 10, 2004 - Revision: 1.1
You receive an "Mmsystem 296" error message when you insert AVI or MPEG files in PowerPoint 2000
This article was previously published under Q212406
For a Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 version of this
article, see
291898Â
(http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=291898/EN-US/
)
.
For a Microsoft PowerPoint
97 version of this article, see
178307Â
(http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=178307/EN-US/
)
.
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a
problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the
Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help
topic in Regedt32.exe.
When you attempt to play a Motion Picture Experts Group
(MPEG) or Audio-Video Interleaved (AVI) video clip in Microsoft PowerPoint, you
receive the following error message:
Mmsystem 296: The
file cannot be played on specified mci device, may be corrupt or not in correct
format.
This problem occurs because PowerPoint cannot play some AVI
and MPEG files if the file is associated with ActiveMovie.
To resolve this problem, re-associate the AVI or MPEG file
type with Media Player. To do this, follow these steps:
- Select a file of the type (AVI or MPEG) for which you want
to change the association.
- Hold down SHIFT and right-click the file. On the shortcut
menu, click Open With.
- Click Mplayer (or Mplay32, depending on your version of Media Player) in the Open With dialog box. Click to select the Always use this program
to open this type of file check box.
- Click OK.
ActiveMovie may have added a registry entry that re-associates
files with ActiveMovie when you restart Microsoft Windows. If the entry is
present, remove it. To remove the ActiveMovie startup item from the registry,
follow these steps.
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry
Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
- Click Start, and then click Run. Type regedit, and then click OK.
- In the left pane of Registry Editor, open the following
subkey (folder):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- In the right pane, look for the following ActiveMovie
entry:
Collapse this tableExpand this table
| Name
| Data |
|---|
| ActiveMovie File Extensions | "ActMovie.exe
/Check" |
- Select the entry and press DELETE.
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 Standard Edition
| kberrmsg kbinterop kbprb kbgraphic kbcorrupt KB212406 |
Community Feedback System
Very often, it takes hours to solve a problem. Very often, you've looked high
and low, and have tried a lot of solutions. When you finally found it, chances
are, it was because someone else helped you. Here's your chance to give back.
Use our community feedback tool to let others know what worked for you and what
didn't.
Please also understand that the community feedback system is not warranted to be
correct, it's simply a system that we've built to let people try and help each
other. If something in a feedback response doesn't make sense to you, or you're
not comfortable making changes that the feedback talks about (like registry
edits), please consult a professional.
Thank you for using kbAlertz.com Feedback System.
-- Scott Cate