Windows movie maker 2.6 unspecified error?

Answer 1

An unspecified error in any program could be caused by a number of things. More detailed information regarding the error is needed before this question can be adequately answered. (For instance: what other messages accompany the error?)

Answer 2

Unspecified errors are really annoying (especially when they do not tell you the cause of the error). But, they will occur from time to time... with programs of any type.

The best thing to do in the case of a continuous 'Unspecified Error' is to restore your computer to a time when it worked well (without problems). All Windows-based computers have a Restore option. You can find it in > Start > All Programs, Accessories, System Tools.

I did some checking and found another 'fix' for unspecified errors occurring with Windows Movie Maker v2.6. The following instructions were provided:

Go to a command prompt (Start|Programs|Accessories|Command Prompt) and type

Set

followed by the Enter key

The resulting output usually contains a line like:

TEMP=C:\DOCUME~1\UserName\LOCALS~1\Temp

The stuff after the = sign is the path to the temporary files folder. You need to change directory to the parent folder of this temporary files folder (usually C:\DOCUME~1\UserName\LOCALS~1) by executing command

CD C:\DOCUME~1\UserName\LOCALS~1

followed by the Enter key

Then check that the Temp sub-folder exists using the dir command. If it doesn't already exist, create it using

MD Temp

followed by the Enter key

In my case the folder was there but the attributes included the read-only flag, so I reset the attributes by executing command

attrib -r +a -s -h Temp

followed by the Enter key

Start Movie Maker and it works.

Note: you can perform all of the above steps using Windows Explorer if you aren't using the defaults of hiding system files etc. but it's easy using the command prompt.

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These instructions appeared to have fixed the unspecified error in Windows Movie Maker for several users experiencing the problem.

But, before attempting this 'fix' I would suggest trying a System Restore first.