Thread: Can I protect my presentation?

Having produced a large presentation in Powerpoint, I am about to copy it to DVD for other people to use. Is there a way of protecting my DVD against it being copied?

That depends on what kind of protection you're after. On a basic level, it's not possible to copy-protect a data DVD in the same way that film companies can do for movie discs. In order for your recipients to be able to use it, it's necessary that the disc is not protected in any way. However, it is possible to prevent the file itself being used by anyone who's not authorised.

You can password¬protect the Powerpoint file from within Powerpoint - when you save the file, click Save As, click the Tools menu at the top-right of the Save window, and select Security Options. In the dialogue box that appears, you can set a password to open the document, and a password to modify it. If you set a password to open, only people to whom you give the password can use it - anyone who makes a copy of the DVD will not be able to use the presentation unless they know the password.

Note that they will require Powerpoint XP (2002), 2003 or 2007 to open your document. This method works but it has a couple of flaws. Firstly, if the password leaks, the security is gone, so you have to trust whoever you're sending it not to divulge the