The Open dialog box in PowerPoint 2003 only retains the Preview view

Consider the following scenario in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003. You configure the view in the Open dialog box to use a view other than the Preview view. To do this, you click Open on the File menu, click the Views button, and then click the view that you want. The view that you select is retained until you exit PowerPoint 2003.

Then, you start PowerPoint 2003 again. However, the view that you selected is not retained when you click Open on the File menu. The Open dialog box uses the Preview view even though you previously selected a view other than the Preview view.

This behavior occurs because PowerPoint 2003 does not permanently save the view setting that is configured in the Open dialog box. By default, the Open dialog box uses the Preview view. This behavior is by design.

This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Configure the Open dialog box in PowerPoint 2003 to retain the view that you previously selected

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Exit PowerPoint 2003.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Locate, and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find
4. Add the Microsoft PowerPoint registry subkey. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   2. Type Microsoft PowerPoint, and then press ENTER.
5. Add the Settings subkey. To do this:
   1. Click the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint subkey that you created in step 4.
   2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   3. Type Settings, and then press ENTER.
6. Add the Open subkey. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint\Settings subkey that you created in step 5.
   2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   3. Type Open, and then press ENTER.
7. Add the View subkey. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint\Settings\Open subkey that you created in step 5.
   2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   3. Type View, and then press ENTER.
8. Click Exit on the File menu to exit Registry Editor.

Method 2: Use the Views button in the Open dialog box to select the view that you want every time that you start PowerPoint 2003

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start PowerPoint 2003.
2. Click Open on the File menu.
3. Click the Views button, and then click the view that you want.
4. Repeat step 2 and step 3 every time that you start PowerPoint 2003.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.This problem was first corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3.