windows live movie maker won't launch.

for some strange reason, windows live movie maker won't launch. I don't know when it started doing this, because it's been a while since I last used it.

no matter how many times I click the icon to launch it, nothing happens. the blue revolving icon indicating that it's busy appears for a moment, then it disappears

any ideas how I can fix it?

Im going to presume Windows 7 and its downloaded as part of the Live package.

Maybe its had a Live update gone wrong, maybe as a first step uninstall and redownload?

Might be worth looking in the below thread for some troubleshooting options:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7pictures/thread/c39853a8-1859-42e6-b79a-24fc623e02fb

Gorman said:

Im going to presume Windows 7 and its downloaded as part of the Live package.

Maybe its had a Live update gone wrong, maybe as a first step uninstall and redownload?

Click to expand...

yeah, that's correct.

I uninstalled it and redownloaded it again, but it still won't launch

paul1224 said:

Might be worth looking in the below thread for some troubleshooting options:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7pictures/thread/c39853a8-1859-42e6-b79a-24fc623e02fb

Click to expand...

had a read through that and it doesn't seem to be related to the problem I am having. they said that they got an error message saying it couldn't load.

I don't get any sort of message, it just doesn't load.

My first thought on that would be that it starts to load and gets stuck but it still shows as a running task. When you try again, Windows "knows" that it is already running and cancels the load action.

Next time it happens, open the Task Manager (press CTRL, SHIFT and ESC keys at the same time) and go to the Process tab. Look in the list for an entry called "MovieMaker.exe" (it may have a slightly different title in Windows 7 - especially if you are using the 64 bit version) - highlight that and click the "End Process button at the bottom of the screen. Wait a few seconds and try again.

If that doesn't help, post back. I know that some Windows apps can refuse to load if the files stored in a hidden folder become unreadable for any reason - I'll have to have a dig around to see if that applies to Movie Maker. If it does, it may just be a matter of deleting a couple of files. There were problems with Movie Maker not working with specific graphics cards but I'm pretty sure that was resolved a while ago.

pengipete said:

My first thought on that would be that it starts to load and gets stuck but it still shows as a running task. When you try again, Windows "knows" that it is already running and cancels the load action.

Next time it happens, open the Task Manager (press CTRL, SHIFT and ESC keys at the same time) and go to the Process tab. Look in the list for an entry called "MovieMaker.exe" (it may have a slightly different title in Windows 7 - especially if you are using the 64 bit version) - highlight that and click the "End Process button at the bottom of the screen. Wait a few seconds and try again.

If that doesn't help, post back. I know that some Windows apps can refuse to load if the files stored in a hidden folder become unreadable for any reason - I'll have to have a dig around to see if that applies to Movie Maker. If it does, it may just be a matter of deleting a couple of files. There were problems with Movie Maker not working with specific graphics cards but I'm pretty sure that was resolved a while ago.

Click to expand...

moviemaker.exe isn't running, but when I try to launch it, it momentarily appears in the task manager before immediately disappearing again.

I've also noticed when trying to launch WLMM, a process called werfault.exe pops up, and then disappears along with moviemaker.exe

any more suggestions?

wefault.exe is just Windows Error Reporting - it's running because Movie Maer failed to launch rather than causing the problem.

There are a few known causes for Movie Maker failing to launch:-

>Not having Windows Media Player installed or if you've disabled it - if that applies, re-install or enable WMP then reboot.

>Using some older versions of Nero software - check Nero's website for updates.

>Conflicts with some old graphics card drivers - make sure yours are up to date

>Corrupted files in Movie Maker's profile - uninstall Movie Maker, reboot, run CCleaner's cleaner once and then run CCleaners registry cleaner at least twice until no more problems are found - reboot and then reinstall Movie Maker

You could also try going to the Windows Control Panel, open the Problem Reports icon and use the "Check for new solutions" option - that will use those error reports to check with Microsoft to see if there are known problems with you version of MM.

windows media player is installed and is enabled, I don't think that is it. I use the nero software that came with my PC, nero 9 essentials, and I don't think there is an update for that.

my graphics card drivers are up to date and have been since they released them some time ago.

I tried uninstalling windows live essentials completely and scanned with ccleaner, and rebooted as you suggested, but after reinstalling, it still won't launch.

the last thing I tried was the problem reporting route, but that just told me no solutions to my problem could be found.

these are the technical details if they help

Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\MovieMaker.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: MovieMaker.exe
Application Version: 15.4.3508.1109
Application Timestamp: 4cda7233
Fault Module Name: aticfx32.dll
Fault Module Version: 8.17.10.1063
Fault Module Timestamp: 4d23df44
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0001ed54
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 2285973714

Click to expand...

According to that report, there problem is actually with your graphics card's drivers. I believe you have a Radeon 5970 and rolled your drivers back last month due to another issue (according to that report, you are at least two versions behind the latest). I suspect that something went a bit wrong during that roll-back and the Movie Maker problem is a side effect of that. The good news is that there's a new version of the drivers - released after you had that problem - I recommend uninstalling your current drivers then reboot and run CCleaner's registry cleaner a couple of times until you get no "issues" reported then install the latest drivers.

Hopefully, that will sort it - post back and let us know.

To save you some time - here's the new drivers (I'm assuming Windows 7 X64) - http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownlo...ang=us&rev=&ostype=Windows 7 - 64-Bit Edition

hmm, that's odd. I don't recall rolling any drivers back so I'm at a loss at how that came up.

anyway, I followed your suggestions, and downloaded and installed the latest drivers, but sad to say that after trying to launch WLMM, it still failed.

Al.Neri said:

hmm, that's odd. I don't recall rolling any drivers back so I'm at a loss at how that came up.

anyway, I followed your suggestions, and downloaded and installed the latest drivers, but sad to say that after trying to launch WLMM, it still failed.

Click to expand...

I remembered seeing this thread - http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...-driver-stopped-responding-amp-has-recovered” - I assumed that you would have followed Gorman's advice.

Regarding Nero, this is the advice from Microsoft's release notes for Movie Maker...

Videos may not render in Movie Maker if Nero software is installed on your PC

Some Nero software installs video filters that may conflict with Movie Maker. If you encounter this issue, please contact the software manufacturer to see if an update to their software is available. For an immediate workaround, you can unregister the NDParser.ax installed by Nero Ahead. You'll need to re-register NDparser.ax to allow Nero to function correctly again.

To unregister or re-register NDParser.ax, do the following:

• On the WindowsStart menu, click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
• Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
• Type: CD %programfiles%\Common Files\Ahead\DSfilter and then press Enter.
• To unregister or re-register NDParser.ax, do one of the following:
  
  • To unregister, type: regsvr32 NDParser.ax /u and then press Enter.
  • To re-register, type: regsvr32 NDParser.ax and then press Enter.

pengipete said:

I remembered seeing this thread - http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...-driver-stopped-responding-amp-has-recovered” - I assumed that you would have followed Gorman's advice.

Regarding Nero, this is the advice from Microsoft's release notes for Movie Maker...

Videos may not render in Movie Maker if Nero software is installed on your PC

Some Nero software installs video filters that may conflict with Movie Maker. If you encounter this issue, please contact the software manufacturer to see if an update to their software is available. For an immediate workaround, you can unregister the NDParser.ax installed by Nero Ahead. You'll need to re-register NDparser.ax to allow Nero to function correctly again.

To unregister or re-register NDParser.ax, do the following:

• On the WindowsStart menu, click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
• Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
• Type: CD %programfiles%\Common Files\Ahead\DSfilter and then press Enter.
• To unregister or re-register NDParser.ax, do one of the following:
  
  • To unregister, type: regsvr32 NDParser.ax /u and then press Enter.
  • To re-register, type: regsvr32 NDParser.ax and then press Enter.

Click to expand...

yeah, I remember that but I didn't actually roll back. I downloaded an earlier driver version and installed that after the proper driver uninstallation routine. since then I updated my drivers again though.

I tried the regsvr thing, but I got a message saying that "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect, then when I tried the next bit, I got this

It depends on what Nero apps you have installed plus if you are using Windows X64 they could be installed in your Pragram Files(x86) folder. Without knowing exactly what is installed on your PC and where it is installed, it's going to be a nightmare trying to go through this bit by bit. Can you just uninstall Nero, reboot then use CCleaner's registry cleaner to try to remove anything Nero leaves behind. This is just a temporary step to see if Nero really is the problem. Obviously, you'll need to make sure that you have you Nero serial number to hand sp you can re-install it later. When Nero is completely removed, see if Movie Maker runs.

According to what I've found online, Nero is causing havoc with Windows 7 and is preventing all sorts of apps and games from running. I've found loads of info on how to disable parts of it but no simple solution to the problem that doesn't involve crippling it to the point where it is unusable. I'll try and find some more info but it's a bit difficult as I won't have my PC for a while because it's going in for repairs which means I've no way of testing anything. I don't like advising any action that I haven't tried on my own PC - just in case it causes more problems than it cures. If I can find something online that is safe and reversible, I'll let you know but otherwse, uninstalling Nero is the only safe option I can offer.

If that doesn't work, you need to tell us if you have any other multimedia apps installed including video editors, DVD/Blur-ray players, DVD/blu-ray creators, codecs and video converters. Can you also please provide the error reports when Movie Maker fails to load - to save me having to guess what's happening each time. Also, can you tell us if you sent the Windows Error report that I asked you to do in an earlier post. Also, having Nero Essentials 9 doesn't mean that you are up to date - some or all of the individual files that Nero installs may have been updated - you need to check them rather than simply looking at the overall program's version number. I believe you can check for updates from within Nero - I think you ave to click the logo in the bottom left of the main Nero window but I've no way to check that - if you can't find it, use the built-in help files.

completely uninstalled nero, rebooted, run ccleaner, rebooted again, tried to run WLMM and once again failed.

the only other thing I have installed fitting those descriptions is powerDVD 9, but that has been on my computer since day 1 at the same time I have successfully managed to run WLMM

by windows error report, do you mean what I C&P'd earlier from the problem report thing? if so, yeah I did. if not, what else are you referring to?

We need to see the latest report to see if it is the same process that is blocking Movie Maker.

sorry, forgot to add it

here it is

Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\MovieMaker.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: MovieMaker.exe
Application Version: 15.4.3508.1109
Application Timestamp: 4cda7233
Fault Module Name: aticfx32.dll
Fault Module Version: 8.17.10.1065
Fault Module Timestamp: 4d40a78e
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0001edc4
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 2314454366

Click to expand...

It's still pointing to the ATI drivers as being the problem and - having looked around the net - you are not the only one affected. So far, I haven't found any cure - just suggestions and - frustratingly - people who don't post back to say if they worked. There are two suggestions I've seen in a few forums but they are both very risky as it means either messing about with the registry or downloading .dll files from unverified sources so I'm not going to recommend them.

As it stands, I can only think of one last thing to try...

Disable your internet connection then remove the graphics card drivers, reboot, go into Safe Mode, run CCleaner's reistry cleaner then reboot to Windows. If you have removed all traces of the GPU's drivers, Windows will load some very basic, generic drivers for your graphics card - if it loads ATI drivers, it means that you have an unknown number of old drivers on your PC and you'll need to keep on uninstalling and cleaning until all of them are removed. When you finally have the Windows default drivers running, reboot again and when Windows re-opens, run Movie Maker. If it works, we'll know the root cause of the problem. You can then install the latest ATI drivers and see if Movie Maker works - if not, all you can do is submit a report to AMD/ATI through their website and hope that a later update will address the problem.

I did all that and rebooted, but it didn't load any generic windows drivers. right now, the only thing listed in my device manager is "standard VGA graphics adaptor"

I tried running WLMM anyway and got a message saying that it could not launch because my computer didn't meet the minimum requirements. then it tells me to update my drivers.

"Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" means it is using generic drivers - just enough to get you a display but none of the extra features.

Now we know that Movie Maker is installed and working correctly - if it wasn't, you wouldn't have received that error message.

We've done all we can remove any potentially conflicting old ATI files. The trouble is that ATI - like so many hardware companies, has a bad habit of installing all sorts of garbage and then making it impossible to remove completely. There is an app that can remove everything installed by ATI (and others) called Nasty file Remover but it's a very old program and I don't know if it is safe to use it with Windows 7 - especially the X64 version. Given the risks involved and the fact that we're talking about a free movie editor not working, I'm not sure that it's worth taking the chance. If it was my own PC or I ad it in front of me, I might be tempted to clean the registry manually but that is way too complicated and risky to even think of doing via a forum.

All I can suggest now is that you reinstall the ATI drivers and reboot. If Movie Maker works after that - great. If not, I think we just have to accept that somewhere on your system there's a conflict which can't be resolved by us as users. You can submit a bug report to ATI and stay on top of any updates to see if it is fixed in a later driver release and keep looking around the internet but otherwise I think we've done as much as we reasonably can. Beyond that, keep upto date with all updates from Microsoft - not just the major ones for Windows - as it's possible that Microsoft will update Movie Maker and that will correct the problem.

The real problem is that this issue clearly doesn't affect every ATI user - it would be more widely reported if it did - so I'm thinking it's actually a combination of elements - possibly due to having codecs from Microsoft, Nero, ATI and Cyberlink all on the PC at the same time. It could even be that one or other of those apps has forced an installation of some incompatible Windows components - older version of Visual C++ or .Net framework. Unfortunately, the only way to check that would be to completely reinstall Windows, Movie Maker and the graphics card drivers to see if Movie Maker works and if it does, install the other apps one at a time to see which one finally tips the balance. I just think it's worth it for a freebie movie editor and still no guarantee it would work. Even if it did work, you'd have Movie Maker but lose something else.

I'll keep looking around and if I do find anything, I'll pm you. Other than that, I can only hope that someone else can come up with a solution.