Why won't Windows Movie Maker play my videos?

Answer 1

If your videos will not play in Windows Movie Maker, they are probably in the incorrect format. Check the file name extension (format) by right-clicking the video and choosing Properties from the drop-down menu that appears.

File name extensions (formats) for video must be one of the following:

.asf, .avi, dvr-ms, .m1v, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .wm, .wmv

If your video does not contain one of the file name extensions listed above, then the video will need to be converted before importing it to Windows Movie Maker.

Answer 2

Videos that won't play on Windows Movie Maker are probably incompatible with the program. Check the file name extension (format). If it is not one of the following, you will need to convert it before importing it into the program:

.asf, .avi, dvr-ms, .m1v, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .wm, .wmv

Answer 3

Videos used in Windows Movie Maker have to be in the correct format (file name extension):

.asf, .avi, dvr-ms, .m1v, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .wm, .wmv

If they are not in one of the formats listed above, you will need to convert them before they can be imported/edited in the program.

Answer 4

It is not showing your video because the file name extension (format) is not compatible with Windows Movie Maker. The file name extension (format) has to be one of the following:

.asf, .avi, dvr-ms, .m1v, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .wm, .wmv

To check the file name extension of the video, right-click on it and choose Properties from the drop-down menu that appears. What is the extension? If it is NOT one of those listed above, then you will need to convert it before importing/editing it in Windows Movie Maker.

Free video converters are available online. Google: Free video converters and download one.

Answer 5

If you're saying that when you want to import media, the video doesn't show up...

The file format is probably not recognized.

You can try to import the media anyway by changing "Files of Type" to "All" but it's likely that if the program doesn't recognize the file as media it isn't able to decode the file anyway.

If you're saying that there are red X icons over your videos for a project...

Movie maker and most other video composing programs save projects as lists of file paths with various other values such as cutoffs.

These file paths point to a specific file (by a specific name and file extension) inside a specific set of directories with specific names... like this:

C:\My Documents\Videos\My Projects\dinner blaster.wmv

That directory points to "dinner blaster.wmv" (a WMV file) inside a folder called "My Projects" inside a folder called "Videos" inside a folder called "My Documents" on the drive C.

If any of the folders is renamed, deleted, or moved, or the file is renamed, deleted, or moved, the path won't point to that file anymore. So if you try to open the project and you've done anything that would make the file path different, the project file doesn't point to that file anymore.

Common causes:

• File path changed.
  • File deleted.
  • File removed.
  • File renamed.
  • Parent folder(s) changed.
    • Parent folder(s) deleted.
    • Parent folder(s) removed.
    • Parent folder(s) renamed.
• Project file moved to another computer.
  • Project file emailed to someone.
  • Project file put on a flash drive or other external memory device.
• Project file corrupted.
  • Bad save.
  • Bad load.
  • Memory sector damage.

Answer 6

More details on the problem you are experiencing with Windows Movie Maker is required before your question can be adequately answered.