Vista 64 bit Movie Maker wont show avi files no matter what

Hello,

Movie Maker in Vista 64 bit won't play avi files no matter what.
I was working with Movie Maker in XP without any problems, but version 6.0
in Vista doesn't show video, i hear only the audio..

Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 64 bit English
Movie Maker 6.0.6000.16386
Vaio Laptop w/ core2duo T5800 2.0ghz w/3gb ram
Intel GM45 graphics

I have tried:
*Almost all versions of FFDShow, including beta versions and x64 versions
*Klite codec pack
*Divx codes
*Xvid codecs
*Vista Codec pack
*No codec (!)

+

disabling / enabling Avi Decompressor under "Tools -- Options --
Compatibilty" in Movie Maker..

Some people on forums tell to choose another decoder on this filters list,
but "Avi Decompressor (c:\windows\system32\quartz.dll)" is the one and only
filter whatever i do..

I also downloaded the Microsoft Hotfix here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b/945125/en-us , and was thinking
i'm finally so close to a solution to the problem, but the hotfix didn't
install, telling "the update doesn't apply to my system". It was the correct
one probably, i chose x64 version of that hotfix but it did not install.
Probably because my graphics chipset is not the one in the list.. But the
symptoms are the same.

Any solutions?

As there are well over 800 different avi file types, you need to find out
which one you have and install just the codec for that one.
Lots of avi files though, even if you have the right codec installed, will
not work in Movie Maker.
avicodec will tell you what codec is required and if you have it on your
system

Hello Graham, thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately, i have used a program to find out the codec, and installing
these codecs did not work.

The problem is not about finding the right codec. I have the right codecs.
If the codecs were not right, i wouldn't be able to watch them in Windows
Media Player. The problem is that Windows Movie Maker does not show them.

Tried every single codec out there on the internet, each and every one of
them show the avi video in Windows Media Player 11 but Windows Movie Maker
does not. It's so clear that this is an issue with the new Movie Maker
software, but how to fix it?

I don't get why Windows lacks support of avi in its products.. I'm using
Windows operating systems since i was a teenager, i'm now 38 and on each
install I had the avi-not-showing surprise. Downloading a simple program like
ffdshow shows each and every avi file out there on the whole internet, but
Windows products lack support of it.

* I have "myvideo.avi" on both my Win XP computer and Laptop with Vista 64.
* I have the same FFDShow codecs on both PC's.
* Media Player on both PC's show that video without any single problem.

* Movie Maker old version on computer with Win XP shows the avi video.
* Movie Maker new version on computer with Vista 64 does not - the same avi
video.

The problem is with the new Movie Maker on Vista Home Premium 64 bit.

I refer to this bit in my first reply
Lots of avi files though, even if you have the right codec installed, will
not work in Movie Maker.
Unfortunately xvid is one of those that rarely works in MM, so your best bet
is to convert the file to a wmv adn then use it.

I installed all the different codes and none of them works in MM. It crashed
my McAfee and I have to reformate the hard drive and reinstall everything.
Too bad!! But I found another MOV to AVI conversation program - Pazera Free
MOV to AVI. It
convert the MOV to AVI and Mpeg format. I converted the MOV file to AVI by
choosing different codes to check which one MM recongnizes and what
resolution the converted file has. The best one that I found is "MPG -> PAL
(DVD) or NTSC (DVD)" options. I import the mpg file to MM and create a
perfect project. Just want to share my experience. It's a very fustrated
experience to deal with MM in Vista environment. But at least, I get it done.

I refer to my first post, but then again, there is probably no point as I
have said it twice already........

Same problem.. lol...

I've spent like a whole day.. literally.. scouring the web, forums, all the
links on this site.. and Windows Vista x64 Movie Maker will not show video
for AVI's

Iv'e tried all codecs possible... This is the first decent thread I've
found with my exact problem too

Yeah, the problem is with MM No matter what codecs are installed, or
uninstalled, and reinstalled.. all at once, 1 at a time... all it shows is...

"Avi Decompressor (c:\windows\system32\quartz.dll)"


I use gspot to see what codecs i need, and there is a screen in gspot where
you can see all the installed codecs on your system... So i know i have the
codec. I can run the file in WMP too... just cant get video(only audio) in
MovieMaker

Convert your incompatible DivX .avi file to a compatible
format (.wmv for example) and you may have success
importing it into Movie Maker.

Have a look at the followng article for more detailed
suggestions:

Movie Maker 2 -
Importing AVI Files

guys, do you know how many avi file types there are?
Do you know what an avi actually is?

MM works with dv.avi, period. Any other is lucky if it works, and if it
doesn't well, no loss as MM wasn't designed to work with it. Best bet is to
buy another app designed to edit the type of avi file you are working with.

This is definitely a bug of sorts with MM Beta for Vista itself; The original
MM for XP had no issues running with the AVI files I am using (to that effect
I have several videos up on youtube).

MM Beta cannot simply seem to handle the AVI files period (and acts like
they are only audio files), and the hotfix, that specifies and acknowledges
there is a problem with MM will not install (claiming, interestingly, that
the hotfix has already been installed... funny, I've only just recently
installed MM with no hotfixes, so how can that be...).

Please quit linking to your site because it doesn't actually solve the
problem; your suggestion is to install the codec that is... what's this,
already installed?

To be blunt, without the codec I wouldn't be able to record the video in the
first place, let alone watch my video. MM is the only thing displaying the
fault, and as the process of elimination would dictate, if everything else
BUT that works, the fault lies with MM, not the codec.

To everyone else looking for a improper solution; download a converter and
change it from AVI to another format, until MM hopefully gets fixed. Heaven
Forbid if the older version provides me with more functionality than the
newer one!

[haeyy15]

Finally, I found someone who has the same problem as me. I agree with you, mayhem, this is actually a first for me too. Everyone's been telling me to install a codec pack, even my cousins, and I've been telling them that I have it installed but the problem is still there.

I've been seaching for a solution to this prob for like months now. When I bought my laptop, it was working fine until one day when I tried importing an avi file.

I guess I have to use a converter since there's no solution in changing the filter from the MM program itself. I just hope MM can solve this because it's really a hassle if someone keeps on converting many video files just to have a format that can get imported to MM.

Sorry, didn't know how to post properly last time.

Just wanted to chime in on the discussion. I'm suffering the same problem
(can only get the audio when importing video to MM). I'm using XP, not Vista,
so I don't think that's where the problem lies. My original files were.avi,
and when I couldn't properly import them, I converted them to .mpg files
using a 3rd party app, but I still can only get the audio when I try to
import to MM. By the way, the files play fine in MediaPlayer, in both formats
(.avi or.mpg). This is the first time I've run into this issue, was there a
recent patch or something that changed the behavior of MM? (ie I used to be
able to import either of those formats into MM with no problems).

Any real solutions to this would be greatly appreciated, I'm working on
something that needs to be finished by June 11!!!

In the meantime, I'm going to try converting those files into yet another
format, just to see if anything works. Will report back if anything works.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[adxdesign]

This problem has to do with the 64bit OS, not the wrong codec. In Vista x64 MM is a 64bit app and requires 64bit codecs. The movie plays fine in WMP because it's a 32bit app. Unfortunately, almost no one makes 64bit codecs.

Try installing MM 2.6, it's 32 bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...d-068fc0f80cfc (You probably will have to reinstall the codecs). It worked for me when I had to import an MP4.

BTW, for MP4s you have to rename it to .avi or else it will say invalid format. As long as you have an MP4 codec and it's .avi it will work.

It is not necessary for us to understand this in order to get something to
work, or lest of all, have something working. If prior additions (that is to
say, earlier additions) of MM worked well with an AVI file previously, and
now doesn't (we are talking the same type, used consistently), then it would
raise the point we don't need to know anything in order to use that specific
file-type (having not known it before anyway), or, better yet, we don't have
to technically fix anything either (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) in order
to get it to work.

Now what I don't get is why subsequent versions have, in actual fact, better
support in understanding and running video versions, and yet still manage to
fail in that task compared to their earlier predecessors.

I suppose next you'll want to attack me for not building my own type of
video editing software that runs various kinds of video files and generally
not being an expert in my field, when my benchmark, in actual fact, the work
of earlier generations of none other than the... same piece of software.

Well, 2.6 works for me. Indeed, older versions seem to be better at the job
than newer ones.

Planned redundancy, huh?

[delsadler]

I believe this should be PROBLEM SOLVED.

I had this same problem last year, after hours of searching for a solution and trying everything possible i gave up.

but my freinds have been bugging me for our holiday videos so i thought i would give it another go and BINGO!!!!!

i downloaded windows media player 2.6, didnt bother to remove the version that is faulty. just downloaded this version, Here is the

.....and it works, my avi files are now showing video :D
im not sure if this is an older version or newer, but its working for me.

let me know if this works people

[Zenman]

Hmm, well I just installed MM 2.6 (even though they recommend you shouldn't if you already have a version of MM installed) and although it will import these troublesome avi files with video included (yea!), the picture gets very pixelated and blurry when I drag it down into the timeline for editing. Any ideas on a fix?

I'm glad I found this board, I've spent DAYS trying to make my MM 6 work. Yes, I too am running Vista Premium 64 bit. The avi files I'm trying to work with are from my new Vado HD pocket camcorder. Do you think Microsoft knows about this MM/Vista/64x problem? I wonder if they would put energy into fixing it or are they focusing on Windows 7 now? Maybe we should write them emails asking them for help on this.

I forgot to mention a few things:

I’ve downloaded trial versions of about 8 other video editing software but they either aren’t compatible with these files, or they have too many limitations. AVS’s video editor was surprisingly the most compatible. It imported the files perfectly but their software stupidly makes it impossible to alter audio levels on the video portion wherever you want to. Which means you can either mute the entire video timeline, or have sound on it, but you can’t weave in and out with sound if that makes any sense. Yes, you can add multiple audio tracks but if you can’t mute the video timeline where you want to, it really sucks. I’ve really grown to like MM’s easy and intuitive interface.

I’ve played around with various formatters and changed these problematic Vado .avi files to wmv files. Yes, they will then work in MM but there are problems with this approach. One, it can take a LONG time to format all these files and it’s a step I would like to avoid. Also, most all of the formatters degrade the quality somewhat. It’s really noticeable in some of the clips. Again, AVS’s Converter seems to be the best of the ones out there and you can do custom settings to make a very high quality output file but it has some lame issues. For instance you can only format one clip at a time which is a real bummer! And it gives the same name to every output file so you basically have to type in a different name/number each time. Format Factory was great in this area. You could format multiple files at once and each would have a different numbered output name. And Format Factory is free! But yea, it degraded the files.

So you can imagine that I’ve spent considerable time on this. I really hope someone out there has a way I can directly import these Vado avi files into MM.

Sorry for doing three posts in a row. It appears MM 2.6 isn't intended for HD clips. Bummer.

I just updated my computer to the new 'service pack 2'. I had my hopes up that they were going to have a fix in there for MM 6 but nope, no such luck. I think Microsoft has pretty much abandoned MM. Their new version for Windows 7 is very, very lame.

I found a fix! I posted my question in the Microsoft forum and some guy named Zack pointed me to these codec package links:

First you want to uninstall any codecs you already have installed. Then install the 32bit package followed by the 64bit package. (This is for people with 64bit systems of course)

You still may have to play with the video filter settings in MM (Tools>Options>Compatibility) but this should help!

a video converter isn't necessary. Download these two vista codec packs (the 2nd one is specifically for 64bit computers) and MM will work! It took me a week of researching and trying different things to figure this out.

First delete any codecs you already downloaded then download:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5326

And then download:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5535

I hope this helps others passing through!

[KiaRioPirelli]

Download a video converter. I’m using the freeware version of Any Video Converter to take my AVIs and change them to MPEG 2, which MM for Vista 64 supports. You’ll still have your original AVI as well. With the new MPEG 2, MM will work just as it did in the past in good ol' Vista 32.

If you only want to watch something on your computer screen, MM 2.6 will certainly do the trick. If you want to publish a DVD of, say, Grandma's birthday party, a video converter will work. Any Video Converter is reasonably fast and delivers - so far - a video quality on par with MM for Vista32.

I hated Vista 32. Now I miss it and I REALLY miss XP!