windows movie maker crashing

[thecrock]

Hope this post is in the right place.

I have been trying to edit together some short movie clips using wmm but the program keeps crashing, movie maker has had no problems importing the video or audio files but i can't add more than one or two clips before it stops responding, i have been adding a clip and then saving the project but it is annoying having to close and then re-open the app every time it freezes (about every ten minutes). I'm very new to windows movie maker and haven't read any guides yet as it seems so straight forward. Does anyone else here have the same problem? Too many codecs installed? Am i pushing it too hard?
I have a 2.80 ghz processor so my pc should be up to it. Perhaps i need to prepare my sources better as i am combining mpeg,wmv, asf etc..I thought as wmm was having noproblem actually importing the files that i wouldn't have to worry too much about file extensions but..

Thanks in advance.

[jimmalenko]

The only times I've had WMM crash has been when there's a problem with my source files - corrupt files, corrupt headers ... and so on. You might just confirm your files are OK by trying to open them with virtualdub - version 1.3c can still open ASF or WMV files. If virtualdub can open them correctly without errors, then it's more than likely not your source files.

[p_l]

When I had a similar problem a while ago, that Windows Error Reporting was actually useful for once. Based on its report, I did a search for and removed a file called subtitds.ax

Problem solved in my case, but here are some similar avenues you may wish to explore:

http://www.eicsoftware.com/PapaJohn/MM2/MM2-Issues-Acceleration-and-Codecs.html

Good hunting!

[TBoneit]

Just to ask, You are using the latest Windows Movie Maker? Not the original one?

[thecrock]

I'm using vers 2.1 with xpsp2.

[TBoneit]

Well Sounds like time to look at the clips themselves for problems. This assumes that the hardware and software is solid.

Do you have any other weirdnesses that could be software caused by things like Spyware/Adware or Viruses? Does the computer run rock solid otherwise?

Could it be not enough memory for the size clips you are adding , when this happens look at the hard drive light and see if it is steady accessing the drive, this could be a sign that Windows is using virtual memory and is busy swapping to the hard drive. You're sure there is plenty of room on the drive?

If the Files are AVI and large then it takes time for them to load as windows has to read the whole file before going on to the next step.

WMM isn't popular here as far as I can tell. I do not use it myself, but it works, it is priced right and can do a lot for the price. It just takes a bit of knowledge to get the settings right for what you want to do.

Maybe someone can suggest other software if you give more details. Source type of files. What you are trying to do with them etc.

For example Virtualdub can add AVI files together or edit them. VideoReDo can edit MPG/TS/VOB files or stitch them together. TMPGEnc 3.0 Xpress can take most file types and edit, Combine or convert them to DVD, SVCD, VCD, MPEG, AVI or WMV for example. However none of the above can do transitions between scenes so it depends what you want to do. Alternative s/w may be better for you.

Cheers

Alternatively what if you used other software to take all of your files and make one big file and then import that into WMM?