A sound file can be either embedded in a presentation or linked to it:
- By default, if the sound is a .wav file and 100 kilobytes (KB) or less in size, it's embedded. It's part of your PowerPoint .ppt file and will travel with the presentation.
- A .wav file that is more than 100 KB and all other types of sound files are linked to your presentation. They play from a location outside the .ppt file and are not a physical part of it.
So, if you're going to show the presentation on another computer, you need to make sure your linked sound files have been copied to the same folder as the presentation you will be showing. This makes the files accessible and also updates the links within PowerPoint so the files can be found when you need them to play.
Package for CD (File menu), a new feature in PowerPoint 2003, simplifies these file path logistics by copying all the files to one location (a CD or folder) with your presentation and updating all the links for the media files—definitely the best way to proceed.
More about .wav files
The 100-KB maximum size to embed .wav files is a default setting in the Options dialog box (Tools menu). On the General tab, you can raise the maximum size to 50,000 KB, but remember that extra size makes your overall slide show file size bigger.
