MPEG video won't play

I’m using an older version of PowerPoint 2003 on a laptop connected to a Sony LCD projector. I can play an MPEG video on the laptop, but it won’t play on the projector. My computer is about 8 years old and I’m using Windows XP. Any help?

I think it’s because you can only use DirectShow on one output device at the time in XP and below (you can have more in Vista though). I think it’s remedied by going to your display properties, then setting the projector as the primary display. Right-click on your desktop, and pick properties. In the settings tab, it will look like this pic:
http://www.thoughttechnology.com/faq/bioinf2008_files/display%20prop.png
Where it says “1. Plug and Play monitor on blah blah blah”. Click that on your window and pick the projector.

If that doesn’t work, try turning off hardware acceleration temporarily while playing the video. (I say temporarily because that takes a bit hit on performance).
Instructions on how to do that here:
http://www.deskshare.com/Resources/articles/dmc_turnoffhardwareacceleration.aspx