Windows Movie Maker won't import .av files

I want to make a video with the WMM on my Vista, but my video files are in
..avi format and WMM says that the file could not be imported because of an
unspecified error.
Can anyone help?

What codec do they use? Do they play in WMP?

I'm not sure what a codec is, but I think it's DivX.
And yes, they play in WMP.

I have the same problem, in addition to most of the others mentioned in this
forum!

Suggestions offered seems to revolve around sorting potential codec
conflicts, however has any one out there in the new world of Vista, Microsoft
Staff included, actually mananged to get Movie Maker to work properly?

Looks to me like there are heaps of basic bugs in this program - a real
pain in the arse since simple HD movie editting was the main reason I bought
Vista. Come on Microsoft - SORT YOUR ACT OUT SOON!

What specific issue are you facing? What specific codec do those files use?
What specific decoder are you attempting to use for that codec?

Not sure about the codec stuff. I simply captured HDD footage into Movie
Maker, editted it then saved it as an AVI file. When I try to import the
finished movie back in from my hard drive to it view it or edit some more -
it doesn't import.

So not sure how codecs play a part in this as I'm importing the same movie
that Movie Maker just created - surely the codecs used to create it should be
the same ones used when importing it? How could I have a problem with codecs?
Also how do you work out which codecs are being currently used/which is
needed if not currently installed, etc?

My laptop is brand new with Vista Ulitimate, surely Movie Maker should be
able to create then import/play back its own movies?

You website link is impressive, however it seems to be focussed on WMP, do
you have any Movie Maker specific tips?

Thanks for your interest.

Does export/import to WMV work here... ?

Hi. I also have a problem importing .avi files to WMM. It used to work a
few weeks back and I was even able to burn the videos but it suddenly stopped
working. Whenever I try to import the .avi files I downloaded from my video
cam a message comes out that it cannot import because .avi is not a supported
file. My downloaded .avi files also does not play in the windows media
player and the windows media center (it also used to play before). I'm using
Vista Home Premium. Can anyone help me?