Powerpoint 2007 Will Not Play Movie (AVI) Files

Powerpoint 2007 seems to have a problem with AVI files. Any file with the suffix ".avi" will display a black rectangle when played, instead of showing the video clip. It appears that Powerpoint tries to play them using an outdated API that fails with these video files. Some have suggested reverting to an old version of Powerpoint, or reducing the graphics acceleration setting of Windows; both are equally undesirable solutions. Evidently, this bug does not affect all systems.

There is a very simple work-around that will allow AVI files to play. Change the file-name suffix to ".wmv"or ".mpg" and reinsert (or insert) the renamed video file into the Powerpoint presentation. The video file should now play, despite the fact that it is still an AVI file (that has been incorrectly named to pose as a WMV or MPEG file).

Hopefully Microsoft will fix this bug in some future version. For now, this workaround provides a means to play AVI files with minimal effort.

NOTE: Changing the file suffix does not require converting the video to WMV or MPEG format; the video file is still in AVI format.