Cannot open previously saved project

[Pete]

I have now created two projects, but having closed Windows Movie Maker and
re-opened it, I cannot open either of them. I get the pop-up message
"Windows Movie Maker has encountered a problem and needs to close". Please
help - one of them was a 48-minute movie and took me all day to edit
together. Thanks!

 

[Ellis]

Pete...I'm having same problem...although I've used MM many times without
problem. I'm getting following error msg: "....not indexed and cannot be
imported". I hope someone has a fix...Ellis

 

[Graham Hughes]

How are you trying to import if you cannot open your project?

What bit comes before the ....... not indexed?
This sounds like your wmv file is corrupted, and should be run through
windows media file editor to reindex it.

 

[Graham Hughes]

Have you made any changes to your pc since you last saved these projects?
Can you start a new project, import something and save. Will this re-open?

 

[Ellis]

Thank you, Graham for your reply. First, I may have changed my computer
since my last MM action. You also asked about "bit's before the error msg:
The full error msg was: "The file C:\Documents and Settings\Ellis\My
Documents\New Folder\Paul50.wmv\ is not indexed and cannot be imported.".
But, beyond that, I also used Microsofts own file, sample.wmv, and got the
following msg: "...sample.wmv could not be imported. Unspecified error" Any
hunches?

 

[Pete]

Hi Graham. Thank you for your response. No changes to my PC, and now I have
a new symptom: I can't even import any videos. As soon as I select a file to
import and click "Import", I get the same pop-up: "Windows Movie Maker has
encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the
inconvenience." I would try reinstalling, except that it came pre-installed

 

[Graham Hughes]

Try system restore back to when it used to work, or back to before some
changes that you know you have made.
If this doesn't work, you can always undo the restore.
Have you tried indexing the file?
Did this work?
As the windows file doesn't work, it could be a problem with windows itself,
so maybe do a repair installation of XP.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

 

[Pete]

Thanks Graham. I was hoping to fix this without reinstalling everything,
which would be probitively complicated due to the sheer volume of stuff I'd
have to back up first. I can't just do a repair installation of XP as it
came preinstalled on my machine and I don't actually have XP - just the
recovery CDs I made when I got the computer.

Not sure what you mean by indexing the file.

What if I installed XP Service Pack 3 again? Windows Media Player is on
that...

 

[John Inzer]

Thanks Graham. I was hoping to fix this without reinstalling
everything, which would be probitively complicated due to the sheer
volume of stuff I'd have to back up first. I can't just do a repair
installation of XP as it came preinstalled on my machine and I don't
actually have XP - just the recovery CDs I made when I got the
computer.

Not sure what you mean by indexing the file.

What if I installed XP Service Pack 3 again? Windows Media Player is
on that...

=================================================
Maybe the following links will offer some ideas:

How to index a .wmv file with
Windows Media Encoder
http://tinyurl.com/wjz5m
or...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/mediaadvice/0065.mspx#EAF

Windows Media Encoder 9 Series
http://tinyurl.com/g37zo
or...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx

Also...

Some WinXP users have reported problems
after installing IE7. If this applies to your
situation ...uninstalling IE7 may be worth
a try.

(927177) How to uninstall Internet Explorer 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177/en-us

More info:

Movie Maker 2 Crashes and Hangs
http://tinyurl.com/bqgyx
or...
http://www.papajohn.org/MM2-Issues-Acceleration-and-Codecs.html

Movie Maker always has to close
http://tinyurl.com/fw76b
or...
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.moviemaker/msg/ae88267a9e023836