Powerpoint file accesses the web, how, where, what, why ?

I received a powerpoint presentation that, when I first open it,
accesses the web. Kerio firewall tells me that :
'POWERPNT.EXE' from your computer wants to connect to xxxxxx.com
[123.123.12.12], port 80

After several minutes of viewing, it tries again (I get another Kerio
popup.)

How can I find out what/where in this presentation is calling out to
the website? This is a .ppt file, so I *probably* have access to the
raw programming...???

I am very computer literate, but have never used powerpoint. Any help
or suggestions would be very appreciated. Thanks.

Edit the PowerPoint file (either double click the .ppt or open PowerPoint
and open the file). Check each slide for images, sounds or video clips that
might be linked from the web. Try right clicking on each shape (image,
sound, whatever) and checking it's properties. Something in there came from
a web site.

"Joey" wrote in message
om...
I received a powerpoint presentation that, when I first open it,
accesses the web. Kerio firewall tells me that :
'POWERPNT.EXE' from your computer wants to connect to xxxxxx.com
[123.123.12.12], port 80

After several minutes of viewing, it tries again (I get another Kerio
popup.)

How can I find out what/where in this presentation is calling out to
the website? This is a .ppt file, so I *probably* have access to the
raw programming...???

I am very computer literate, but have never used powerpoint. Any help
or suggestions would be very appreciated. Thanks.

In article , Joey wrote:
I received a powerpoint presentation that, when I first open it,
accesses the web. Kerio firewall tells me that :
'POWERPNT.EXE' from your computer wants to connect to xxxxxx.com
[123.123.12.12], port 80

After several minutes of viewing, it tries again (I get another Kerio
popup.)

How can I find out what/where in this presentation is calling out to
the website? This is a .ppt file, so I *probably* have access to the
raw programming...???


Sounds as though there might be an image linked to a picture on the web.
Our free FixLinks demo includes a report tool that'll list the links in your
PPT presentation; that might help you track it down.

http://www.pptools.com


--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

I used your FIXLINKS tool and it reports that there are no links!!
Any other ideas on how it could be accessing the web?

(Note: it was quite a trick to download the demo, your links don't work, i
had to type in ftp:\\ and find the directory, then copy/paste to my hard
drive.)
...............................................
This DEMO reports all links but only repairs image links.
To repair other link types, please register FixLinks Pro
at http://get.pptools.com

LINKED PICTURES, SOUNDS, MEDIA; SHAPES WITH ACTION SETTINGS
Slide ShapeName Mouse Status Link Type
===== ========= ===== ====== =========
5 Picture 5 M/C N/A embedded picture
File: Embedded; no link

ACTION SETTINGS ON TEXT WITHIN SHAPES
Slide ShapeName Mouse Status Link Type
===== ========= ===== ====== =========
HYPERLINKS
Slide ShapeName Status Link
===== ========= ====== =====
TRANSITION SOUNDS
=================
(NOTE: transition sounds are always embedded, not linked.)

Approximate link storage: 0 bytes
.................................................
"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Joey wrote:
I received a powerpoint presentation that, when I first open it,
accesses the web. Kerio firewall tells me that :
'POWERPNT.EXE' from your computer wants to connect to xxxxxx.com
[123.123.12.12], port 80

After several minutes of viewing, it tries again (I get another Kerio
popup.)

How can I find out what/where in this presentation is calling out to
the website? This is a .ppt file, so I *probably* have access to the
raw programming...???


Sounds as though there might be an image linked to a picture on the web.
Our free FixLinks demo includes a report tool that'll list the links in
your
PPT presentation; that might help you track it down.

http://www.pptools.com

"Mike M." wrote in message ...
Edit the PowerPoint file (either double click the .ppt or open PowerPoint
and open the file). Check each slide for images, sounds or video clips that
might be linked from the web. Try right clicking on each shape (image,
sound, whatever) and checking it's properties. Something in there came from
a web site.

Thanks for the suggestion. This was the first thing I tried. I right
clicked on everything, looking for something in the hyperlink field.
All was empty.
This was confirmed by using the PPTools tool FixLinks.

Any other ideas? Can a script be embedded inside the .ppt somewhere?

In article , Clea wrote:
I used your FIXLINKS tool and it reports that there are no links!!
Any other ideas on how it could be accessing the web?

I'm assuming the IP address you quoted before was a dummy, not the real one the
firewall's reporting. What's the real address or domain?

Do you get the same alarm when you just start PPT up on its own, no files
loaded? Some versions do attempt to connect to the net on startup.

Do you have an AV program running and does it have an office scan feature?
That might be triggering a network connect attempt.

(Note: it was quite a trick to download the demo, your links don't work, i
had to type in ftp:\\ and find the directory, then copy/paste to my hard
drive.)

Thanks for letting me know you had trouble with this. Does your firewall have
any say in EXE downloads? I suspect that might be the problem here, because
thousands of people a month download these things and this is the first time
I've heard this complaint in five years or more.

...............................................
This DEMO reports all links but only repairs image links.
To repair other link types, please register FixLinks Pro
at http://get.pptools.com

LINKED PICTURES, SOUNDS, MEDIA; SHAPES WITH ACTION SETTINGS
Slide ShapeName Mouse Status Link Type
===== ========= ===== ====== =========
5 Picture 5 M/C N/A embedded picture
File: Embedded; no link

ACTION SETTINGS ON TEXT WITHIN SHAPES
Slide ShapeName Mouse Status Link Type
===== ========= ===== ====== =========
HYPERLINKS
Slide ShapeName Status Link
===== ========= ====== =====
TRANSITION SOUNDS
=================
(NOTE: transition sounds are always embedded, not linked.)

Approximate link storage: 0 bytes
.................................................
"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Joey wrote:
I received a powerpoint presentation that, when I first open it,
accesses the web. Kerio firewall tells me that :
'POWERPNT.EXE' from your computer wants to connect to xxxxxx.com
[123.123.12.12], port 80

After several minutes of viewing, it tries again (I get another Kerio
popup.)

How can I find out what/where in this presentation is calling out to
the website? This is a .ppt file, so I *probably* have access to the
raw programming...???


Sounds as though there might be an image linked to a picture on the web.
Our free FixLinks demo includes a report tool that'll list the links in
your
PPT presentation; that might help you track it down.

http://www.pptools.com



--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Clea wrote:
I used your FIXLINKS tool and it reports that there are no links!!
Any other ideas on how it could be accessing the web?

I'm assuming the IP address you quoted before was a dummy, not the real
one the
firewall's reporting. What's the real address or domain?

Yes, I "dummied" it. The actual address is a competitor of my company,
hence my suspiciousness!!!! (A company that has nothing to do with
microsoft, or powerpoint tools, or any software helper app, or anything at
all like that.)

Do you get the same alarm when you just start PPT up on its own, no files
loaded? Some versions do attempt to connect to the net on startup.

No alarm from PPT on its own.

Do you have an AV program running and does it have an office scan feature?
That might be triggering a network connect attempt.

Yes, AV running on a corporate network, I'm sure it does have office scan
feature. But it would NOT intentionally go to a competitors website...

(Note: it was quite a trick to download the demo, your links don't work,
i
had to type in ftp:\\ and find the directory, then copy/paste to my hard
drive.)

Thanks for letting me know you had trouble with this. Does your firewall
have
any say in EXE downloads? I suspect that might be the problem here,
because
thousands of people a month download these things and this is the first
time
I've heard this complaint in five years or more.

I don't *think* so... It appears that the download demo links on this page
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/FAQ00026.htm
point to files that aren't actually there. I found them, and copied them,
from
ftp://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/

Have you checked to see if there are any macros in the presentation?
Tools-Macros.

"Joey" wrote in message
m...
"Mike M." wrote in message
...
Edit the PowerPoint file (either double click the .ppt or open
PowerPoint
and open the file). Check each slide for images, sounds or video clips
that
might be linked from the web. Try right clicking on each shape (image,
sound, whatever) and checking it's properties. Something in there came
from
a web site.

Thanks for the suggestion. This was the first thing I tried. I right
clicked on everything, looking for something in the hyperlink field.
All was empty.
This was confirmed by using the PPTools tool FixLinks.

Any other ideas? Can a script be embedded inside the .ppt somewhere?

I don't see anything listed in there, either.
thanks.
any more ideas?

"Mike M." wrote in message
...
Have you checked to see if there are any macros in the presentation?
Tools-Macros.

Yes, I "dummied" it. The actual address is a competitor of my company,
hence my suspiciousness!!!!

That puts it in a different light, certainly!
As you've figured out, that pretty well shoots down the usual reasons for net
access.

It'd be interesting to see if you can narrow it down to a particular slide or
slides (make a couple copies of the presentation, delete the first half of the
slides in one, the second half in the other, save and see if either or both
exhibit the problem. Then keep dividing until you can isolate a slide with the
problem from the others. And if you can, I'd be *very* interested in seeing
it.)

I don't *think* so... It appears that the download demo links on this page
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/FAQ00026.htm
point to files that aren't actually there. I found them, and copied them,
from
ftp://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/


Weird. I've checked it a couple times today and it's worked fine. It might
have been a temporary glitch at the network or server end, I suppose.


--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================