Customizing the PowerPoint Viewer

You can use the Run command within Microsoft Windows to customize the way the PowerPoint Viewer 2007 starts and functions. In the Run dialog box, you can enter a command to start the PowerPoint Viewer without the startup splash screen, at a specific slide, and using a playlist (showing consecutive presentations). You can also show the Open dialog box at the end of the show and print a presentation. The command you enter uses switches and parameters to perform the functions you want. A switch determines the function you want to perform. In the command-line, the switch appears after the program name (PPTVIEW.EXE) with a a space, followed by a slash (/) and the name of the switch. The switch is followed in some cases by a space and a parameter, which gives direction. A parameter is typically a file name. For example, "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE /N3 "pres.pptx", where "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE" is the command, /N3 is the switch, and "pres.pptx" is the parameter. The path to folder is the location where the PPTVIEW.EXE file is stored. It's typically located in "c:\programs files\microsoft office\office 12\PPTVIEW.EXE"

Use the Run Command to Start the PowerPoint Viewer

Click the Start button, and then click Run (XP), or point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and click Run (Vista).

Refer to the adjacent table for commands to enter.

You can use only one switch at a time. Quotation marks are required if there are spaces in the path or file name; they are optional there are no spaces.

Click OK.

Command-line Switches
Switch	Action
/D	Show the Open dialog box when presentation ends. Example: "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE" /D
/L	Read a playlist of PowerPoint presentations contained within a text file. Example: "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE" /L "playlist.txt"
/N#	Open the presentation at a specified slide number. Example: "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE" /N3 "pres.pptx"
/S	Start the Office PowerPoint Viewer 2007 without showing the splash screen. Example: "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE" /S
/P	Send the presentation to a printer and print the file. Example: "c:\path to folder\PPTVIEW.EXE" /P "pres.pptx"

Did You Know?

You can create a shortcut to reuse a command-line switch. Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, click Shortcut. In the wizard, type the full path to the Viewer or click Browse to find it, add a switch and parameter to the path command-line, click Next, type a shortcut name, click Finish.