If security is a concern with your Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 documents, you can password-protect files, making it harder for curious individuals to read and/or modify the presentations.

1. Select "Tools" - "Options".

2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box opens, click the "Security" tab.

3. Next to "Password to open" enter a password that must be entered to open the current file.

4. If desired, underneath "File sharing settings for this document" enter a password that must be entered to modify the current file.

5. If you want to configure encryption settings, click the "Advanced" option and an "Encryption Type" dialog box will appear. Options include:

* Encryption Type: Choose your encryption algorithm.

* "Choose a Key Length" - Generally, the longer the key the harder your password will be to crack. However, longer keys may require more computing power, and some encryption algorithms may not support very long keys.

* "Encrypt document properties" - Choose whether or not a document's properties should be encrypted as well.

Click "OK" when you have finished choosing your encryption settings.

6. Click "OK" to save your encryption settings and close the "Options" dialog box.

Now for several warnings:

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