I've just purchased an upgrade of Powerpoint in the belief that I only needed  
  
an upgrade because I already have Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003.  
  
However I cannot get past the validation screen - I follow the on screen  
  
instructions and put my Office Basic Edition 2003 disc in the D: drive but it  
  
just hangs.  
  
Can anyone help please?

Read the box carefully and see if it has some text titled "System Requrements"  
  
or "Applies to" or something similar.  The upgrade eligibility is also  
  
documented at  
  
http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/howtobuy/default.mspx#XSLTsection126121120120  
  
and unfortunately the Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003 is not eligible for  
  
any upgrades.  It's a specially licensed version that manufacturers include on  
  
many off-the-shelf or customized systems and it is licensed "as is" and only for  
  
the system you purchased.  That's why it is relatively inexpensive.  
  
You'll need to purchase the "full" version of PowerPoint 2003.  
  
--  
  
Sonia Coleman  
  
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Team  
  
Autorun Software, Templates and Tutorials  
  
http://www.soniacoleman.com  
  
"Bob" <Bob@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message  
  
news:B3127ACD-C814-40A3-BAFC-264016B9275F@microsoft.com...

IMO, the blame (and the M-word) belong to the people who think up these weird little  
  
exercises in marketing weasality and user aggravation.  
  
And then change the rules with every release.  
  
Not your fault at all.