Ok the fast way is via SnagIt, ofcourse you need to install it first, then go to Complements and find the SnagIt bar, then the Flash icon, just click it search the swf click insert and you’re done.

Sure, there’s a hard way too. Basically you need to insert the swf movie with an ActiveX control (scary enough), process is more complex so you better check the following links:

• Here’s the Adobe reference
• And the Microsoft PPT 2003 reference
• Microsoft PPT 2007 too
• Geetesh already tried to explain this process here

Ok. Here goes a small tutorial… I made a video of the process, then upload it to YouTube, and it got a little blury, anyway you may watch it here and I’ll describe the steps below (BTW all this happens on Windows XP):

You will need the latest WinZip version:
http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm

And the latest Flash Player version:
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

The steps to unzip and run:

1. Right-click the *.zip file and select “Extract to here”
2. A new folder will be created with the zip’s file name and folder stucture.
3. Open that new folder and find the SWF file.
4. Right-click the *.swf file find the “Open with” menu
5. Click on “Choose program” and scroll-down to “Macromedia Flash Player 8” (or higher version).
6. File should open.

You may also choose Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) instead of Macromedia Flash Player 8 for opening the file, which is usually the default option but it will probably take longer and send some security messages or errors, and maybe won’t open some linked elements in the SWF file.

I strongly recommend the Macromedia Flash Player option.

This is a common problem with Xcelsius. I have come across this message so many times. Therefore, I decided to post this as a reminder instead of tattooing it on my arm.

The fix is easy:

1. Close Xcelsius
2. Uninstall Flash Player “by the book”.
3. Reinstall Flash Player with Internet Explorer (with IE7, not with Firefox)
4. Restart Xcelsius (should work).

Note that you will have to reinstall an additional Flash Player for Firefox (manually, as for version 2.0.0.7). Then you will have two Flash Players, one for Firefox, one for everything else that runs on Windows, so learn to live with it.

The causes that might have got you to this problem:

1. By willingly removing the IE7 Flash Player on the Control Panel, thinking you do not need it because you use Firefox.
2. Your unbelievably safe & sound Windows OS (Vista or XP) crashed, then restored itself to a point where you didn’t have the IE7 Flash Player installed.
3. When your IE7 just doesn’t have a Flash Player because, hehehe… you had never used it.

The links for cleaning up this mess:

1. The BusinessObjects-Xcelsius Help Page
2. The uninstall “by the book” Flash Player EXE
3. Flash Player Download (page will detect browser brand)
4. Blog post about this very issue affecting PowerPoint performance.