RUN PROGRAM action settings don't work any longer
Problem
Your PowerPoint 2016 presentation includes Run Program action settings.
In other words, you've selected a shape, then gone to the Insert ribbon and chosen Links | Actions | Run Program: SomeProgram.EXE.
Normally, this launches SomeProgram when you click the shape in slide show view, but that was then. This is now mid-October, 2017 or later and you have PowerPoint 2016 16.0.8431.1000 or later.
And it no longer works. You click the shape and ... and ... and nothing.
What's happened?
Microsoft has decided to turn the feature off in the interest of security and provided no warning that your presentations are now broken if they use this feature. Rude, right?
Solution
To get the old behavior back, you (or the IT admin) needs to add/modify this registry key:
In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Security
look for
RunPrograms
and change its value to:
- 1 Enable: prompt the user before running the program
- 2 Enable All: run the program, no prompt
- 0 Disable: disable the ability to run programs altogether
If there's no RunPrograms entry, create it as a DWORD and set its value to 1.
If none of that made sense to you, it may be best to find a nerd friend to make the changes for you. Making mistakes in the registry can cause all sorts of problems and possibly even disable your computer. Let's not do that.
Background
See this Microsoft article for more information about this change.