Message when starting PPT: "[Add-in Name] must be installed ... " (WebEx / Click To Run)
You start PowerPoint and see a message like this:
[Add-in name] must be installed using the installer program available at http://www.pptools.com/downloads.htm. Installing it using PowerPoint's Add-ins dialog box or by double-clicking the PPA file won't work. PowerPoint upgrades, other add-ins or the Click-To-Run version of PowerPoint may also cause this message to appear.
First and most important
Don't worry. This isn't a huge problem, nothing's badly broken and it's almost always simple to fix.
Why it happens
Normally you only see this if you try to install one of our PPTools add-ins by using the Add-ins dialog box in PowerPoint or by double-clicking the add-in's PPA file. Please don't do either of those things. Use the installer we provide instead.
Other things can cause this message to appear:
- Trust Center settings: In PowerPoint 2007 or later, go to the Options dialog box, click Trust Center, then Trust Center Settings. Click Add-Ins on the left and make sure there's no checkmark next to "Require Application Add-ins to be signed by Trusted Publisher". Click OK then click OK again, then restart PowerPoint.
- Upgrading your copy of Office. The Office installer tries to move your existing PowerPoint add-ins to the new version PowerPoint. This doesn't always work.
- Installing PPTools add-ins in "Click-to-Run" versions of Office or PowerPoint (see below)
- Installing certain other software that includes a PowerPoint addin.
- WebEx online meeting tools. See below for more information.
- TechSmith's Camtasia Office add-in (Camtasia itself causes no problems
- ScanSoft's PaperPort software
Office updates, some other problems
Re-installing your PPTools add-ins almost always fixes the problem.
Consider this a great opportunity to visit the PPTools Download Page to get the latest version of your PPTools add-ins.
Quit Powerpoint, run the installer for each PPTools add-in you want to install, re-start PowerPoint and you should be good to go.
If that doesn't solve the problem, follow the instructions here: How to uninstall ALL PPTools and then re-install using the new installers.
Office Click-To-Run versions
When you download Office 2010 or the trial version, Microsoft encourages you to install what they call a "Click-to-Run" (CTR) version of Office. Unfortunately, it's intended more for home users and in some respects it's not an appropriate choice for business users. Our best suggestion is to uninstall it and install a full version of Office (you can request a DVD when you purchase Office online and you should ALWAYS do this; it only costs a few dollars extra and it'll save you hours or days of trouble if your hard drive fails.).
How can you tell if you have the CTR version? Click File | Help. In the version information at the right side of the screen it will say something about Click-to-Run.
If you must use the CTR version of PowerPoint, PPTools add-ins will probably function correctly, but you'll see this annoying message at startup. We're waiting for Microsoft to provide adequate documentation for the CTR version so that we can solve the problem. Until they do, you may have to suffer this message at every PowerPoint startup. We apologize for the trouble.
WebEx
The conflict with Webex' software occurs when you share a PPT presentation during a meeting. You may see this error message from PowerPoint either then or the next time you start PowerPoint.
We've worked directly with WebEx and have identified the cause of problem. It's up to WebEx to solve it. If it occurs, please contact Webex tech support and ask about an upgrade to version 26 or higher of their software.
If the updated software isn't available yet or you can't install it for other reasons, here are two simple workarounds:
- Export your presentation to UCF before starting the meeting, then share the UCF file instead of the PPT.
- Or from the main menu bar, choose PPTools, MasterBar, Prefs. In the resulting Preferences dialog box, click each of the listed PPTools add-ins, then remove the check next to Active. As you deactivate each add-in, its toolbar will disappear. Then start your meeting and share any PPT files you need to. When done with the meeting, use the same dialog box to reactivate your PPTools add-ins.
TechSmith's Camtasia Office Add-in
If you run into conflicts between TechSmith's add-ins and PPTools, check the TechSmith site for an updated version of your software. To the best of our knowledge, TechSmith has solved the problem.
ScanSoft PaperPort
Several PPTools users who've installed ScanSoft's PaperPort software have reported problems. In all cases so far, uninstalling PaperPort's addin and reinstalling the PPTools add-in(s) has solved the problem.
As far as we know, it's not possible to have both the PaperPort PowerPoint add-in and PPTools add-ins installed at the same time. We've attempted to contact ScanSoft about this but so far have received no reply. We apologize for any inconvenience.
We haven't heard from a customer with this problem in years, though. It seems likely that ScanSoft has corrected it.
Check the registry
If you're comfortable working with the Windows registry:
- Open Regedit.
- Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\PowerPoint\AddIns (9.0 is for PowerPoint 2000; substitute 8.0 for PowerPoint 97, 10.0 for 2002/XP, 11.0 for 2003, 12.0 for 2007, 14.0 for Office 2010 and so on).
- Look for any PPTools folders under Addins. There should be none so if you find them ... and you're CERTAIN that they're PPTools addins ... select and delete them.
- Close Regedit
- Start PowerPoint to see if the problem is solved.
If that didn't make perfect sense, don't mess with the registry. Click the Contact link on this page and get in touch with us. We'll help you sort it out from here.
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