To start your troubleshooting effort, take a minute to read the "Things You Should Know" section on my "Home" page. Next, proceed to the "Troubleshooting Vista Basics" section below and perform the steps listed. After completing that process, you'll have a rock solid foundation for your troubleshooting and can proceed with confidence to the next steps toward a resolution.
"Troubleshooting Vista Basics"
* You need to know what version of the Vista Operating System you have installed and are having problems with.
* Basic Initial Steps To Perform:
* Basic Initial Steps To Perform:
- Shut down Movie Maker
- Run anti-virus
- Run spyware/adware
- Defrag your drive(s)
- Log off and Shutdown your system
- Unplug system from wall outlet for 30 minutes. (eliminates "idle" currents)
- Plug back in and boot up your system
- Recheck Movie Maker for issue
Take a look at the categories listed below, decide which one most closely relates to your issue and start there. My hope is that you are able to quickly find your issue and possible resolutions.
DISCLAIMER: All recommendations are on a "TRY AT YOU OWN RISK". I assume NO responsibility for results. I have not tested all the offerings, merely re-compiled them here as a
quick reference.
NOTE: this section of the repository reflects Vista versions of Movie Maker. Many aspects hold true between the Vista versions and XP versions, but not all. You are welcome to try the offerings listed here, but I cannot guarantee outcomes. If you do not see your specific issue on this page, Check the "XP Issues" page for it. The potential resolution may be common to both versions.
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Common Questions
Typically the same retail vendors as XP versions. Since Vista is relatively new,
there are not a lot available yet.
Adorage packages have not been reworked yet, but Pixelan is already available.
there are not a lot available yet.
Adorage packages have not been reworked yet, but Pixelan is already available.
- Movie Maker forum post #127249 Read this post first.
- Movie Maker forum post #126998
- Considerate_Guy's site
- Movie Maker forum post #2203
- Movie Maker forum post #109498.
- Rehans' site
Currently, they can be found at Movie Maker forum post #126761
The project files aren't backwards compatible. A project made in 2.x (XP) can be read and used in 6.0 (Vista), but the reverse is not true. The format is
different and there is no way to "back convert" your Vista projects.
You can use the same video files in both versions, so if you save your movie from Vista it can be imported into XP, but all the individual edit points, splits, titles, music, etc. will be incorporated in the movie and no longer be editable directly.
You can use the same video files in both versions, so if you save your movie from Vista it can be imported into XP, but all the individual edit points, splits, titles, music, etc. will be incorporated in the movie and no longer be editable directly.
WMM 2.6 is intended only for Windows Vista. It has the same output profiles as Vista Movie Maker 6.0 which include the 'Windows Media Portable Device (1.0 Mbps)'
choice. According to the Vista Movie Maker site, this equates to a 640x480 profile at 1.0 Mbps.
The only output options are DV-AVI and WMV. You can create custom WMV profiles for other resolutions/bitrates, but there is no way to add a completely different
output type like MP4. You would have to do that as a separate step after the movie is saved in DV-AVI or WMV format.
Here is an example of the first line of an XP xml code:
TransitionsAndEffects Version="1.0" SpecialIconFileID="1033" SpecialIconResourceID="101"
Version 1.0 means this effect works with the XP version of Movie Maker (version 2.x).
If this said 2.8 it would be the Vista version of Movie Maker (version 6).
This is what the first line would look like if it were Vista Compatible:
TransitionsAndEffects Version="2.8" SpecialIconFileID="1033" SpecialIconResourceID="101"
The Movie Maker forums are currently working to color code Vista xml's in purple.
Not all of the codes are this way, so be sure to check the version numbers before implementing.
TransitionsAndEffects Version="1.0" SpecialIconFileID="1033" SpecialIconResourceID="101"
Version 1.0 means this effect works with the XP version of Movie Maker (version 2.x).
If this said 2.8 it would be the Vista version of Movie Maker (version 6).
This is what the first line would look like if it were Vista Compatible:
TransitionsAndEffects Version="2.8" SpecialIconFileID="1033" SpecialIconResourceID="101"
The Movie Maker forums are currently working to color code Vista xml's in purple.
Not all of the codes are this way, so be sure to check the version numbers before implementing.
Basically the changes are:
- Change the version from 1.0 to 2.8 (first line)
- Change the long GUID number to "TFX"
- Add a unique string for GUID so it doesn't collide namewise with other titles
- Change InternalName to Animation
Note: not all the XP versions of xml code can be altered and work in Vista versions.
Some require compiling a .dll file like "Comp A add B".
- Copy/paste the code into "Notepad" and save it in your "Documents" folder as yourcodename.xml.
- Next, navigate to "C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\Shared" and make a new folder called "AddOnTFX".
(You will have to have admin rights to be able to do this).
- Then copy the .xml to that folder.
- Restart Movie Maker and then you should have new effects.
There are big caveats with trying to install both. The main problem is that they share a collection, but not cooperatively. So if you open up one version, then
the other, it will clobber your collection. Obviously the project files from 6.0 aren't usable in 2.6 either.
If you do want to try and run both, there is a utility designed to backup the collection and launch the desired version 2.6 or 6.0. See this Movie Maker Forum post for this utility.
If you do want to try and run both, there is a utility designed to backup the collection and launch the desired version 2.6 or 6.0. See this Movie Maker Forum post for this utility.
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From a forum poster:
"...I finally uninstalled Nero Essentials and everything is working fine. "...
"...I finally uninstalled Nero Essentials and everything is working fine. "...
No resolution at this time, however, one forum member posted this possible workaround:
"...Put all of your other edits in first (music, title cards, text, etc.), see how it all looks in the preview and then as your LAST STEP, add in the transitions. That's what I plan on doing on my next project as the transitions will all carry over when you burn the actual movie onto DVD (as I found out with success when I burned my last project). ..."
Another member posted this:
"...I had been adding audio clips, and some sound files were overlapping. When I pulled them apart, the preview window worked again."...
While another member posted this:
"...Go to the time line. Right click on a movie file and select "properties". Then get out of that box by canceling. Bingo. The programme will preview normally. "...
*These are all potential fixes, but the actual issue is probably an incompatible codec in a source file somewhere in your project.
Best course of action at this time would be to convert the source file to a compatible format.
"...Put all of your other edits in first (music, title cards, text, etc.), see how it all looks in the preview and then as your LAST STEP, add in the transitions. That's what I plan on doing on my next project as the transitions will all carry over when you burn the actual movie onto DVD (as I found out with success when I burned my last project). ..."
Another member posted this:
"...I had been adding audio clips, and some sound files were overlapping. When I pulled them apart, the preview window worked again."...
While another member posted this:
"...Go to the time line. Right click on a movie file and select "properties". Then get out of that box by canceling. Bingo. The programme will preview normally. "...
*These are all potential fixes, but the actual issue is probably an incompatible codec in a source file somewhere in your project.
Best course of action at this time would be to convert the source file to a compatible format.
Look at the contents of the DVD...
It should contain a TS_VIDEO folder with a .vob file and other stuff.
If it doesn't look like that, then you haven't made a valid video DVD.
If it does look correct (and you used DVD Maker), then the problem could be that you have an older DVD player.
Some players don't like the fact that DVD Maker doesn't burn a TS_AUDIO folder.
It should contain a TS_VIDEO folder with a .vob file and other stuff.
If it doesn't look like that, then you haven't made a valid video DVD.
If it does look correct (and you used DVD Maker), then the problem could be that you have an older DVD player.
Some players don't like the fact that DVD Maker doesn't burn a TS_AUDIO folder.
See this Movie Maker Forum Post
This links you to a lengthy forum thread, but in summary...try removing XVID codecs first.
This links you to a lengthy forum thread, but in summary...try removing XVID codecs first.
Disconnect any external or jump drives BEFORE importing to Movie Maker.
There is an ongoing thread dealing with this issue on the Movie Maker forums. There have been several workarounds posted in this thread, so check it out. The
issue seems to appear when adding a transition right after a video clip. A forum member posted this on another thread:
..."It seems the problem maybe related to the graphic card and its memory allocation. As I mentioned in my previous post I was using on board graphic card with Intel dynamic memory allocation (no possibility to fix a minimum required). After unsuccessfully seeking a technical solution to the display problem I decided to cough up another +$100 and I have installed ATI Rodeon X1300 card with dedicated 256MB DDR memory. It seemed to do the trick. The storyboard and timeline are working fine now. I have about dozen video clips and over two dozen picks arranged in a slide show with fade transitions and added background music for the total duration of about 35 minutes..."
It may be a clue or a potential fix...
Click here for the Movie Maker forum thread
..."It seems the problem maybe related to the graphic card and its memory allocation. As I mentioned in my previous post I was using on board graphic card with Intel dynamic memory allocation (no possibility to fix a minimum required). After unsuccessfully seeking a technical solution to the display problem I decided to cough up another +$100 and I have installed ATI Rodeon X1300 card with dedicated 256MB DDR memory. It seemed to do the trick. The storyboard and timeline are working fine now. I have about dozen video clips and over two dozen picks arranged in a slide show with fade transitions and added background music for the total duration of about 35 minutes..."
It may be a clue or a potential fix...
Click here for the Movie Maker forum thread
In XP, you could turn off clip creation during capture or import. In Vista, this option disappeared.
You can work around it by selecting all your clips and then using the 'Combine' feature from the menus.
You can work around it by selecting all your clips and then using the 'Combine' feature from the menus.
See Forum post #109236 for some workarounds that others have used until a
solid fix is found.
*An e-mailer indicated that this was prevelent with OEM software versions...with no resolution. They were going to use another video editor.
*An e-mailer indicated that this was prevelent with OEM software versions...with no resolution. They were going to use another video editor.
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The minimum requirements are for a video card that support pixel shader version 2.0 and vertex shader version 2.0 both in hardware. Many of the on-board video
cards that came with PCs a year or two back dealt with one or the other of these in software emulation which is not adequate for Windows Movie Maker's purposes in Vista.
The requirements for the Vista UI (at least in the basic version without Aero) are less than that of Movie Maker.
Your options are to upgrade your video card, or to downgrade your Movie Maker to version 2.6 (this is a recompiled Vista version of 2.1 from XP which doesn't use the hardware acceleration of your video card.)
The requirements for the Vista UI (at least in the basic version without Aero) are less than that of Movie Maker.
Your options are to upgrade your video card, or to downgrade your Movie Maker to version 2.6 (this is a recompiled Vista version of 2.1 from XP which doesn't use the hardware acceleration of your video card.)