How do I open two PowerPoint presentations in seperate windows

Open 2 presentations.
1. Click tools>>Options.
2. In the view tab, under the category Show you will see "windows in taskbar"
3. Uncheck windows in taskbar and click ok.
Now you will have two powerpoint presentations in two seperate windows within the PowerPoint application.  Click on the Restore Window button in the upper right corner for the slideshow (not the PowerPoint application).  You should now see 2 presentation windows within the powerpoint application.
PowerPoint 2007 gives you additional window functionality on the ribbon interface.

*Nods* Nice one Glenna :)

Now, the method Glenna described is probably a lot better then mine, unless you want to run two different PowerPoint instances.
Actually, remind me to look into the options next time, before i use a sure-fire method that requires twice the memory, along with some other inconveniences. :)

~Irial

Thanks,  I was hoping 2007 would open in 2 instances like Word, but they did make it much nicer and easier to move between 2 presentations.

Hi ccatarella

The only method I've successfully been able to Open two or more PowerPoint Windows in the past is Internet Explorer:
Open Internet Explorer
Click File
Click Open

Alternatively you could edit the .ppt File extension or you can create an Internet Explorer Shortcut under C:\Documents and Settings\Username\SendTo - Right click a PowerPoint file select SendTo Internet Explorer.

The method Glenna has suggested above will give you two instances of PowerPoint in the Taskbar but it's still remains in the one Window.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Not true, if you follow my instructions there will not be two instances of PowerPoint in the task bar.

>> Not true, if you follow my instructions there will not be two instances of PowerPoint in the task bar.

Confirmed.

The existing power point window will simple harbour two sub-windows with each a separate powerpoint presentation in it. Perhaps you confused my solution with Glenna's, as mine DID open two completely separate instances on the task bar? However, my solution allowed for opening two different files at the same time, in two different windows on the taskbar. Can you please explain where you based your comment on, as i'm rather interested what you did to cause this? :)

Kind regards as ever,
~Irial

To clarify:
The orginal tweak you described using for Excel is a modifcation of file associations and will never work with PowerPoint
If what you need is to be able to compare and edit presentations side by side, tiling the presentations within a maximized PowerPoint window should meet your needs
If you truly need to open multiple instances of the PowerPoint application, Irial's brute force method should work
Opening Presentations within Internet Explorer runs them using the PowerPoint Viewer which will allow you to view the presentations, but not edit them.
So it all depends on what you want to accomplish.
Some additional links:
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00476.htm
http://pptfaq.com/FAQ00189.htm
http://www.123ppt.com/forum/topic/77.htm

Hi there

I was assuming ccatarella was using duel screen mode and wanted two separate windows
"2 Seperate presentations in edit mode much like having 2 Excel spreadsheets open side by side "

As Glenna clarified above the fix opens two separate task bar items but not two different instances.

The Internet Explorer fix works, I don't get the viewer on my own system, however tried on another and I do, however I just need to click Edit Slides and it opened a separate instance that I could edit - save.

Cheers

Yes, I should have clarified.  I'm talking about having two files, for instance:
One.ppt and file Two.ppt

Both open side by side to work on both, say a presentation from 2006 and revamping it in another window to easily copy/paste and/or view content.

Much like you can do with Excel (using the tweak I mentioned on the File Open property). Having powerpoint constantly open within the same "Window" for both files is not what I want. I need to have both viewable at once not just see them in the task bar seperately.

This is a tricky one, running it as another user is one workaround I had thought of but there has to be something better.... or perhaps Microsoft is just stubborn.

If anyone else has an idea let me know, thanks again for everyone's input thus far

It seems that this was addressed in another thread...  Didn't seem to be a work-around in that case either... (except for running the application under different credentials)
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Applications/Q_21382313.html

The RunAs nails your problem 100% - and you can create a shortcut using the RunAs credentials to make this very easy.

Good Luck!

In my mind that is a work around not a true solution/answer as you'd need to make another user account either locally or on the domain to run it.... both of which from my perspective is prone to issues especially on a large scale.

I'll accept it as the answer and award points... It seems silly that Microsoft would make PowerPoint a single instance.

Thanks all for your input