Wednesday, May 02, 2012

How to fix error 80004003 in Windows Live Movie Maker

Error 80004003
A number of people have been reporting corruption issues (error 80004003) when trying to reopen a Windows Live Movie Maker project. It happens after a person has made changes to a WLMM project then he/she tries to reopen the project. WLMM displays an error (80004003) saying that it is unable to open the file.

Sorry, Movie Maker can't open this project file. The file might not be compatible with Windows Live Movie Maker or be corrupted.

If you are willing to wait, Microsoft will fix a corrupted file for you and if you aren't very technically savvy, that's what I would suggest.  Completely follow the instructions at that link, especially the last step where you submit a private request for support on this issue. If you don't receive any follow-up, post a question in the Microsoft Community Forums for Movie Maker.

This post is for anyone that wants to know what is happening behind the scenes, or that wants to try to fix the problem on their own.  It requires some PC knowledge.

The first step is to make a copy of the file so you aren't working with the original. You do this by copying the file in Windows Explorer then pasting it back into the same folder with a new name.  You'll want to use the copy, not the original. Right-click on the copy of the project file and choose 'Open With' and pick the Notepad application.  The file is text in the form of XML tags.  It's just a hierarchical mark-up similar to HTML.

Scroll to the bottom of the file to find a <BoundPlaceHolders> section. It says that the "Text" section has an extentID of 4. Looking just above that you should see a section that starts with <ExtentSelector ExtentID="4" which lists all the added titles and captions by number. Make a note of all these because you'll need them later.  You might want to select and print just this section, or paste that list into another window so you can refer back to it.

Now search further up for each section starting with <TitleClip. Ignore any sections that have a complete section between the <Effects> and </Effects> tags. Eventually you'll hit a few that just have <Effects/> (an empty Effects section).

Check if that ExtentID is in the list of ExtentIDs in the Text section from before (the ones you made a note of). If it isn't you can ignore this, but if you find that it has an empty Effects section *and* it is listed in that block of text ExtentIDs, that's a problem.

The quickest fix is to then go to the ExtentIDs section and remove that problem ExtentID.  It will remove that one problem caption and that will usually fix it, so you might be able to stop here. However, you should check all <TitleClip sections to be sure. After removing any problem ExtentIDs, you can save the file.

You should now be able to open the project in Movie Maker just like before. You may need to recheck your captions and add back any that were removed, but at least you won't have a completely corrupted project.

As a final step, I'd recommend downloading the latest version of Movie Maker to avoid corruption in the future.  That won't fix broken projects, but at least it will stop you from having this problem going forward.

It's really not all that magical and can be done easily, if you are careful and only work in a copy.

Edit: Since posting this, I've seen other corruptions unrelated to the captions. The newest corruption will still let you open the project, but you'll see nothing in the storyboard project area. Whenever I have encountered this, the cause was a VideoClip that had a start point (inTime) after the ending point (outTime). To fix this, you have to find the duration of the media item at the top and use that in place of the outTime for any clips that are set incorrectly. Again, always work in a copy, not the original.

136 comments:

  1. I have a suggestion for your next add-on to try to make available to us. The rumble effect. Makes it seem as if the video is shaking by zooming in just enough not to cause any unwanted black space, then quickly moves the video randomly. It would be similar to the video effects used for when an explosion goes off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While off topic of this post, I appreciate the feedback. I don't usually take requests for effects or transitions, so I can't give any guarantees on whether this may or may not happen. In the meantime, check the pinned post of WMM6 custom add-ons. I'd take a look at 'Earthquake' and 'PIP Bass, Bump and Wobble'

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  2. hiii. i tried this stuff but i guess its beyond me. i can't really wait for the windos ppl to fix it up coz its a video for my friend who's leaving for US this week. can you plz fix it for me?
    https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=C0C4EB5AF27B496D!185

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't guarantee that this (fixed file) will fix all the problems, but at least you should be able to open it. It looks like several of the captions at the end were lost, perhaps. Also, I'm not sure if the project settings are correct.

    But you still might want to try asking Microsoft for support to see if they can recover more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. omg! YES! i could open it. thankyouuuu so muchhh! ur my saviour! thankssss :)

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    2. oh my goodness i would be sooooooooo grateful if you would take a stab at fixing mine!?!?!? i think it is the corruption with the video time out being before time in. i opened a copy in notepad enouugh to see that but cant quite figure out how to correct it. will happily pay for help!!!! how can i get the file to you????

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    3. Sarah, you'd need to upload the file to OneDrive, make it shareable and post the share link here in a reply.

      Delete
  4. Hello, I'm writing from Barcelona, Spain. I have a "error 80004003" and I followed your instructions to fix it but I don't know why it doesn't work. Of course I've contacted the help center from Microsoft but no answer yet. Another thing is that I have the Windows Movie Maker version 15.4.3555.0308. I have 3 projects to give to a NGO for a non profit event and I really need to fix it. Can you help me please???
    Kind regards, Damaris. (damarisbun@yahoo.com)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't worry, you'll get a response from Microsoft. They will fix your file within 24-48 hours.

      Delete
  5. Error 80004003 on Windows Live Movie Maker Version 15.4.3555.0308: An Alternate Fix

    I recently experienced error 80004003. After Microsoft told me they couldn't fix the corruption when I was literally 10 seconds away from clicking [Save Movie], I began looking for other ways to fix my project. I tried what this page said and opened the project as wordpad only to find a blank wordpad starring me in the face.
    If fixing you corrupted project proves difficult, here is another way to fix it on Windows Live Movie Maker (worked for me.) Also heed this page and make a copy of the project before attempting to fix a corruption (with any method) in case things go badly.

    1)Select [Open Project]
    2)Right-click on the corrupted file.
    3)Select [Properties]
    4)Select [Previous Versions]
    5)Select the most recent version before the corruption.
    6) By selecting [Open], [Copy], or [Restore], you should have a non-corrupted, albeit possibly unfinished version of your project to work with.

    Please not that I've only tried [Restore] so I'm not sure if the other 2 options work. I've never experienced this error on earlier WMM's, but I see no reason this shouldn't work as well.

    Just for fun: The project I was making was 12 minutes in length. By restoring a previous version, I lost 30 seconds and 1 caption (far better than starting over.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I also had the some issue with a project that I was working on. What I did was scan through my project and looked for the tags listed in my I simply removed then entire entry starting with

    2. Goto the section ExtentID's and remove the entry line that you found the error in.

    Good to Go ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip! Certainly removing the offending caption works too. I left the option of trying to fix the caption, but you can always just recreate it in WLMM.

      Delete
  7. https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=3A5BE31E0C5D5501!107&authkey=!AIoZdNt2xLKAEwU

    i really need this fixed and skydrive isnt fixing it fast it enough. can you fix it? Its for a school project and i need to give it to my teacher as soon as possible

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That project file opens fine in Movie Maker. There isn't any problem with it. However, you need to make sure you have all the same source files. It looks like the project file is referencing video files and/or pictures on a network drive. Are you trying to edit a movie that you started at school? You can't just transfer a project file (.wlmp) and make it work. You need all the associated video and photos. It would be like trying to bake a cake with just a recipe and no ingredients.

      If you have the source files, but they are somewhere else on your hard disk, you can double-click on a yellow triangle and Find the actual location of the file. Otherwise you'll need to edit the project on the same computer where you started it.

      Delete
  8. Hi, i've post a question on the microsoft community forum.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/wlmm-problems-hopeless/4e79cc3d-fd9e-48b4-8278-adb6e0dc8694

    My problem is not difficult to explain; i was using win essentials 2011 wlmm, i was looking for more edit effects, so downloaded essentials 2012. Continued working on the file, when ready to render it in HD the trouble started. Found out a lot of people have this problem with the 2012 version. So... I've reïnstalled the 2011 version, but... it wouldn't open the files anymore. Although it has the same extension; .wlmp
    the response on the forum sad it is not backworths compatible.
    The answer i got, is not very helpfull. Is there a better option?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is slightly off topic, but I'll answer anyway. Yes, the project file format gets updated when you save in Movie Maker 2012. Internally, if you open the .wlmp in Notepad, you'll see that the project number changes from 65538 to 65540. I've not tried this, but see if you can simply change the number back to the earlier number and then open it in WLMM 2011.

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    2. thanks, but that didn't work. Guess ive got to start all over again. thanks anyway

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    3. Sorry to hear that. I guess the format is too different to work with a simple version change. I hope Microsoft finds a good fix for the issues people are having with MM2012.

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  9. This post is for those that want to try to fix a corrupted file themselves. If you aren't comfortable with doing that, please request support from Microsoft directly rather than asking me. I'm now providing the information or the link, but I can't fix files directly anymore.

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  10. Dear Blaine,

    Thank you. You save my day. Previously, your explanation was just too alien to me. But somne how I manage to understand, and problem solve. And all my hardwork remain intact. Thank you again and happy new year.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I got the same problm, and i am not tech savvy can u please fix it for me
    here is the link of my skydrive
    https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=A290BA8B9F796E45!149

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please submit a request to Microsoft to have your file fixed. I'm no longer able to fix each file that is sent to me. You can either do it yourself following the steps above, or use the link provided to submit your file for repair.

      Delete
  12. Hey Blaine, you saved my ass. Thanks for the info. Oh! And my mum wants to thank you too! Good work.

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  13. Blaine, Thank you for this fix! Sure beat having to wait around for the folks at Microsoft to get to it! Your fix worked like a champ!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey Blaine, I see your not fixing files any longer, and I can appreciate that. Seeing as you seem to know whats going on with this problem I can believe you get bombarded with "help me" requests.

    My file suddenly wouldn't open any longer after 19 hours of working on the project. I have tried the Windows Support team, that turned out to be a muddled mess but at the end they said they couldn't repair the project, and closed my support ticket! Nice....

    I am no computer sciences major, but I am pretty determined. The problem I am having with your solution listed above is it's coming across a little Greek to me, any way you have a video of you performing such a repair on a video posting site like FaceTube or similar? I know a lot of people (including myself) learn from watching better than reading. You could restore some faith in humanity by doing this, plus the added benefit you could make some $$ from monetizing your video!

    Thanks again for being an internet compatriot, and if you feel bored and want to take a crack at my doozy of a corruption, feel free:

    http://sdrv.ms/19Q717z

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your issue was a little different. It wasn't a corrupted text caption, it was a corrupted video clip. For some reason one clip was repeated twice and it had its start time after the end time.

      To fix this, create a copy of your rally.wlmp file. Right-click on the copy and choose 'Open With' and choose Notepad. Go down to the end and delete the following lines:

      <ExtentRef id="286" />
      <ExtentRef id="285" />

      Save the file and the copy should now open.

      Delete
    2. DUDDEEEE This totally saved my but. Mine had nothing to do with captions but to do with the time starting after the end time. I deleted that line and it opened up. Thanks so much. Microsoft said they couldn't fix it initially and are asking for my logs. Without this i would still be waiting.

      Delete
  15. HOLY FREOLIES!!!!!

    How did you do that!!!???

    Blaine, why has Microsoft not snatched you up and paid you bags of $$$$ yet? Incredible!

    I am glad I was able to provide you with a challenge.

    Can I pay it back somehow by linking to your website from my Youtube Channel and my site? I would love to tell the world of your skillz.

    Also, do you mind if I take you blurb above and throw it at my Support Ticket to rub it in?

    So going forward I am saving my file every 30 minutes or so, but I am not just clicking "save". I am using "save as" each time and adding a date & time stamp to the file name to prevent this from happening to me again.

    It is quite sad actually. WLMM is actually a fairly good program, I find it very fast when your on a roll. But I am really seeing the bugs come out of it as I am pushing it's limits. And the fact that MS hasn't fixed this in over a year is the saddest part.

    Blaine, you are a scholar and a gentleman and I thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Glad to help and feel free to pass the info on to support. As for credit, sure, a link to Blaine's Movie Maker Blog would be nice.

      Delete
  16. Hi Blaine,

    Unfortunately I am facing the same problem. I worked on this project for 48 hours and just when I was saving it for the last time, it started giving me the "windows media can't open this file". I already have submitted the request to Microsoft but no response yet. Its a birthday surprise for my husband tomorrow and I really don't understand how to fix it. I tried following your instructions above but it seems difficult to me. Can you please please please help me a little to fix this problem.? I really do appreciate that.

    Hamna

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Blaine, I messaged you yesterday already. I have tried your trick as discussed above and did find an error that I corrected, but the program still won't open. I also sent it via Skydrive to Microsoft, but I haven't heard back yet. I also spent several hours on the phone with tech support. I would be more than happy to pay you to fix the file for me. It is invaluable to me. Please please please help me-- I would be forever grateful.
    https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=25BBC7C9724F4FA6%21110

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @JennyD, Title 279 was the problem. After removing it, the project can be opened again. Here's the file for download:
      Martha 60th Tribute (Fixed).

      Delete
  18. Blaine!! I am literally in tears right now. Thank you so, so much! Please let me know how I can compensate you for your time. You have really saved me. THANK YOU!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could do one thing for me... I need some people to try out our annual Christmas puzzle and give some feedback on whether the instructions are clear enough, if it is fun to solve and if you are able to figure out the answer (and view the secret video). Other than that, no remuneration is necessary; hope your movie turns out as you expect and everyone enjoys it.

      Delete
  19. Hi Blaine. My name is Bente Kristin Johansen and I have the same problem as Jenny, and I have tried a lot of solution without being able to solve it. I've also uploaded to Sky Drive - sending a request, waited 24 hours, but they have not answered yet. I've done this three times now. Now I tried your solution, but I'm not able to find something wrong - so I quess I'm doing it wrong when looking in notepad. Could you please help me? I will compensate for the job, of course. My file: Kristine Sofie Valborg Karlsen is uploaded to Public Skydrive: https://skydrive.live.com/?mkt=nb-NO#cid=8175B1E462BF62BD&id=8175B1E462BF62BD%21110 and my e-mail adress is: bkri-jo@online.no ... the file si big - but I will compensate you... so please, please, please. Best regards from Bente Kristin Johansen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of the captions had gotten corrupted. I have uploaded a fixed version of your project file:
      Fixed project file

      Delete
    2. Oh my God!!! I'm muted... speechless... I am so GRATEFUL Blaine... this project I've been working on almost 6 hours every day for 4 1/2 month... and I've tried everything suggested on the support forums and so on... nothing worked and nobody could help me... and here you are... fixing it just like that!! You are an Earth Angel... maybe you find that term strange... but You Are... THANKYOU!!! You must let me pay you. Please let me compensate you. I wish I could give you a BIG HUG... but I'm sending you one instead.Thankyou Precious Soul... whereever you are ... Thankyou ... Blessings and Light and Best Wishes to you. Thankyou.

      Delete
  20. Thank you so much for this! It worked perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Okay, Blaine, I fixed it! I'm so happy it's ridiculous.
    I'm very stubborn so after commenting here I kept trying things and touching the code and thinking if it was probably a particular line causing the problem.
    And that was the case! Turned out to be line:

    Holy Mary... Such a specific thing!
    Thanks anyway for opening my eyes to this type of fixes!! You rock!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello Blaine,

    here's Annika from Germany. Like the others I have a problem with my Windows Live Movie Maker File. I cannot open it anymore and the programm says it's error 800400.

    I allready contacted Microsoft twice but they did not reply, as well I tried to fix the problem with the help of your homepage but I could not solve the problem so far. I guess there's something wrong with a video file...

    Would you be so kind and have a look at my file?
    It would mean very very much to me. Right now I am staying away from home and edit videos for my friends and family to report about my stay in a foreign country. This video took me ages and I hope that it can be fixed!

    Thanks a lot so far!

    Annika

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Blaine,

    My name is Laura, I tried to fix my file but it didn't work. This assignment is worth 30% of my final mark and due tomorrow please, please try to fix it. I will be eternally grateful! https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=83242C94FBE0BAEE%21589
    thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura, I'm sorry I didn't see your comment sooner. I've uploaded a fixed version Documentary2 (Fixed).wlmp. I hope you got an extension and this still helps. The problem was two clips had a negative duration (in point was after the end point). I took the second half of the clip. Hopefully that is correct. If not, at least you can edit it again now.

      Delete
  24. help - i need this fixed for a birthday party tomorrow :(
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=ADE7599CF8EF3C0%21179


    please help... koullka@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were a couple corrupted captions. Try this fixed file: evvie (Fixed).wlmp.

      Delete
  25. Blaine,
    Thank you so much, I thought all hope was lost and that I'd have to recreate the video from scratch to edit it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Woohoo I fixed my file thanks to your blog! I had a problem with Movie Maker were I split a clip where everything goes white after the split. I made the mistake of saving the fit after I made split it and I try to open the file again and it won't open properly. So I went through the ExtentRef id= tags and started deleting one that weren't in sequence. It took me a little bit but I finally got it to open. Thanks dude your blog saved my 5+ hours of work! =)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hello Blaine,

    I made caption on this short video. But it is not working after i closed it and reopened. the problem is subtitle is working just fine, but the video is not.
    Id like to ask little help please!
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/mpusty8p9pyqv7j/%D0%90%D0%B3%D1%83%D1%83%20%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%82%D0%B3%D1%8D%D0%BB.wlmp?dl=0

    Thanks much, M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That project file is not corrupted. It opens correctly and shows a storyboard/project area. First check the zoom slider in the lower right corner. You probably want to have that set all the way to the right to see as much of your video as possible. Next, make sure you still have the file on your computer. When I hover over the clip, it says it is looking for Desktop/MJ/The Greatest Speech Ever Made.mp4. Movie Maker needs that file to still be around in order to complete your project.

      Delete
    2. Correction, the video is in C:\Desktop\MJ\True Classics

      Delete
  28. Hi Blaine,
    Are you still fixing corrupt files?? I've been working on this for 4 months for my anniversary next week and now it doesn't open. I've already sent this to Microsoft Support but nothing yet. Thank you for anything you can do.
    Rich
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DF78548B803EB872%21105

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about the delay... I found 3 corrupted captions in the file. Here's a link to Anniversary_1 (fixed).wlmm.

      Delete
  29. WOW!!! Thank you so much!!! I thought I lost everything - you are awesome!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=ABE568D9338C413%21107

    Hi Blaine, I have contacted Microsoft several times in the past week and to no avail short of them trying to make me pay for more help. This project is for my husband's 50th surprise party and I tried following your directions above, but I'm so confused. I put my file on OneDrive for Microsoft to try to help me, and although it says they need 24 hours, it has been a week and no one will/can help me. I have talked to no less than 5 technicians that have not helped me. I am devastated I cannot open this. I have worked so hard on it. Can you please help me??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay, I'm a sucker for surprise party videos... I went through the file and found ExtentID 115 was an empty title so I removed it. The fixed file will be available on my OneDrive for about a week. Here's the link to your fixed file..

      Delete
  31. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  32. https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=602A0E6E208B08B7%21107

    Hi. I've tried to contact Microsoft, but they ask me so much money.
    Please help. I've been working on this project for hours and it's extremely important.
    It would mean the world to me if you just could have a look. I find an error than it cant open because it's corrupt?
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry, but your file is actually corrupted with non-text characters. I'm not sure what happened but it isn't the standard problem of Movie Maker having written an invalid caption. If you right-click on your project file and choose 'Open with' and then 'Notepad', you'll see exactly what I mean. The beginning of the file and the middle of the file has garbage characters. I don't suppose you have a backup of the file anywhere? Or perhaps you have "Previous versions" turned on?

      Delete
    2. Hi. my name is Jong-Hyun
      please help me :(

      https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=2218b815d66bc894&id=2218B815D66BC894%21106

      Delete
    3. JongHyun, sorry about the delay. I was busy yesterday and today, but here is your fixed file:
      Fixed project for JongHyun Choi.

      Delete
  33. Hi,
    I need help. tried to contact Microsoft but they weren´t able to help me.
    Can you please take a look:
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=97307F15C3DA6AFD!356&authkey=!AB9ar__CujR50aM&ithint=file%2cwlmp

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi Blaine, can you take a look at this file for me? https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C47E21C61531C668!105&authkey=!AAtw8R83BMYpW2A&ithint=folder%2cwlmp Thanks,
    Sean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about the delay, Sean. I don't see a file loaded on your OneDrive anymore. I assume you got it fixed already?

      Delete
  35. Blaine,
    Have you seen more BoundPlaceHolders than just this [4]?








    I'm thinking I could fix this issue very quickly with a small application I could write. I'd like your input. You can email me at napoleonag [dot] tss [at] gmail [dot] com.

    And if you have any text snippets of other WLMP files where the ending points are messed up; I might be able to address those programmatically too.


    Regards,
    Larry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The BoundPlaceHolders match with the types of tracks that Movie Maker supports. At the moment the only choices appear to be 0 to 4.

      The first category (0) never has any placeholders listed.
      The main video clips and photos go in track 1 (Main)
      Added music goes in track 2 (SoundTrack)
      Narration goes in track 3 (Narration)
      Text (titles and captions) goes in track 4 (Text)

      I've used a small script to help me track down the issues, but I haven't gone as far as writing an application to fix the errors. It shouldn't be too difficult to do though. If you want to collaborate, let me know. I have quite a few corrupted files that you could use for testing.

      Delete
  36. Hi Blaine,
    This is Vasilis, from Greece. I've been working on this project for the last week and just minutes before I could finalize and save it, what do you know, I can't open it any more. Here's the link to the file https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=37E71DC26A8DF36B&resid=37E71DC26A8DF36B%21106&authkey=APZFSd4uQhtk9A4 , I would be really, REALLY grateful if you could take a look at it and see if you could fix it. Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Blaine, you are ace! I can open it just fine now. Thank you, merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete

  38. Hello,

    I can´t request Microsoft to fix my file, because they say it´s not available in my country. So I´m basically stuck with it. I knoe it is a lot to ask, but could you consider fixing my file or at least have a look at it? I am willing to do something in return, if there is anything. I also understand if the answer is no.

    Thanks for reading my message and I'd appreciate a reply, even when the answer is no, so I can move on.

    Link to my file:
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=834EEDB3DB292F61%21243

    It's a 3-min movie, it was 99% done and I was just about to save it and convert it into a real movie... I decided to move a text caption, somewhere in the end of the video, and when I did that moviemaker completely crashed. Next time I tried to open my file it gave the same error as for where this blog is for. I've tried for hours to fix it, but I couldn't manage it because I am probably not smart enough on these kind of situations.


    Regards,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm busy at the moment but I'll try to look at it within the next couple hours.

      Delete
  39. Hello,

    I am stuck! I have a movie maker project file, and It has gone corrupt. I have tried your solution posted above (thank you for that!) but it has not worked. The problem is that I have no title or captions in my project. Rather, I believe that it is a corrupted video or audio file that is the cause of my problem. I saw that you gave a similar solution to another person above, and I think that my case is just the same. Please, please can you help me!! This project is immensely important and I am literally heartbroken that I cannot access it at the moment.

    Thanks,
    T

    https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=cd06e358aaf86fec&id=CD06E358AAF86FEC%211199&action=Share

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were 4 video clips that had the incorrect ending time. It seems like Movie Maker sometimes stores the difference between the inTime and the outTime, instead of the actual outTime. For example, there was a clip that started around 6 seconds and went to the 11 second mark. But MM stored 5 as the outTime.

      In any case, the corrected file is here:
      final (fixed).wlmp

      Let me know when you have downloaded and tested the file. Otherwise I'll delete it after a week.

      Delete
    2. WOW.

      Blaine, I literally just let out a scream of joy. THANK YOU sooooo much for your assistance. You just made my day and i thank you IMMENSELY for doing this for me!!!

      Delete
  40. Similar issues as others...corrupted video files with nothing seeming tohelp (unsinstalled windows essentials, reinstalled). Windows7, moviemaker 2012...
    any suggestions?
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=2ACB20DB61B82976!106&authkey=!AO47cOqAT6mYvfk&ithint=file%2cwlmp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The project file is not corrupted. It opens fine. If you are talking about how it says your source files missing and/or corrupted, that could be that the format of your files isn't 100% compatible with Movie Maker. Try converting them to .wmv and using those instead.

      Delete
  41. Please Blaine try and fix my file, I really need help. It wont open and this took a very long time. Please!
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=E9A1E02A026B5AA1%21106

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry to say that your file is completely empty. It has nothing but zero bytes (0x00) within it. Do you have a back-up or a prior version? If you right-click on the file, do you have an option to go back to a Previous Version?

      Delete
    2. No, they won't let me see older versions of it. When I right click it and look in the information box it says 23.7 KB (24,361 bytes)

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    3. No different files Blaine, no restore or anything. Thanks though, if you could try one more time for me it would be highly appreciated. Thank You.

      Delete
    4. I can't make bytes appear when they are zeroes... I'm sorry.

      Delete
  42. Hi, really sorry to bother you but i REALLY need this file to work ASAP :|
    Could you please help me?
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41827916/robotDiago_short_3.wlmp

    I fall in the new corruption type (i can load it but no storyboard shows)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about the delay; I was busy yesterday. The issue was with the durations. In 6 places the outTime was earlier than the inTime so I changed that so it goes to the end of the clip. The updated file can be found here. Please let me know when you have downloaded and tested the file.

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    2. MANY THANKS!
      Everything works well now, you really helped me here :)

      Delete
  43. Hi Blaine really appreciate any help you can offer in fixing my file. I spent days on it then it became corrupt after my computer crashed. I tired the steps you listed but couldn't find anything missing. Microsoft help have been useless so far and really hoping its a simple fix. I have uploaded it to here: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=F9AACB53F67A75A1%21113

    Really appreciate any help you can offer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I looked at your file. Almost every clip has an outTime that is zero or earlier than the inTime. That's why it won't open correctly. I started manually copying each media item's duration (from the top of the file) into the outTime for each corrupted clip, but after about 30 minutes of that, I'm only about 10% done. I don't really have the energy to continue trying to fix the file. Try the Microsoft Forums again and hopefully they have an automated tool rather than my manual process.

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  44. Hi Blaine, I've been working on this project for a while and movie maker randomly crashed and now will not open because it gives me the corrupted error message. I uploaded it here: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A723577915D2A964!106&authkey=!APVt9vpCoHn1MaA&ithint=file%2cwlmp

    Thanks for any help you can give me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! That was really corrupted. There were numerous places where the end time on a clip was listed as 0, so I had to copy the total clip duration from the header. There were also a couple that had an outTime before the inTime that needed a similar fix. Took me awhile but the edited file is now available: Indoor track 2014-2015 (fixed).wlmp. I would save your project file frequently with different names so if this happens again you can go back to the prior version. It's quite a chore for me to have to manually fix all the durations this way and if it had been any longer I might have given up.

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    2. Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it.

      Delete
  45. Hi Blaine,

    How can I fix this file? It's for my charity project, really appreciate it!
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1D88BA47EE196311!207&authkey=!APpO0E4mFCXuo7s&ithint=file%2cwlmp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll help this one time... Basically it was exactly as described above. There were two corrupted captions (TextExtent=218, 229) that I removed. Double-check the rest of your captions are as expected.

      The updated file is Sara 4 fixed.wlmp

      Delete
  46. Blaine,
    Apologies if this request already came to you - I couldn't find where it did. I have a movie maker file my son was working on for weeks, and all of a sudden it is corrupt. Tried sending to Microsoft - they said "can't fix." Could you look at it and see if this is true or not? Here is the link to the location on one drive of the file.
    https://onedrive.live.com/?id=F6EE68A74E8846D5%21118&cid=F6EE68A74E8846D5

    I just need to see if it is fixable or not so I can tell my son if he has to start over.

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards,

    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dennis, I'm really sorry to say that I have to agree with Microsoft. If you open it yourself in Notepad, you'll see that the file is empty. It's actually just a large file with lots of "null" bytes and nothing else. It is truly corrupted and can't be recovered. Sorry. :(

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    2. Ok - I just needed to be sure. I'm making him backup everything up daily for the future. Thanks so much for trying.

      Delete
  47. Hi Blaine,

    i worked on my project like one week and now i cant open it anymore.
    i tried to fix it with your instructions but i failed.
    i also started a request on microsoft´s help page, but as you also posted on this blog they will stop support in one week or so.
    Now i want to ask you if you could take a look at the project file?
    That would be super cool, maybe i can give you something in return.

    Greetings, Lukas

    ReplyDelete
  48. Hi Blaine,
    Any chance you are still fixing projects? I was working on a video for my students' with special needs who are graduating on Wednesday. As I was splitting a clip near the end of the video, the project froze, the area where the video clips are went all white and the program shut down. I had been saving regularly prior to this and the file had opened regularly before. Now it cannot open at all. Please let me know if you could take a look!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reply with a link to the project on OneDrive and I'll see if I can find a problem.

      Delete
  49. Hi I sent a support request to Microsoft and the replies "

    We have tried to revive or recover the file that you have sent and we are sorry to inform you that the file has not been recovered via our recovery tool as it has been deemed by the system as corrupted." can you help me fix the file or tell me is there any possible way to fix it? https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ah9CdcIHnGsjaRRAY28z0NBMYRA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I concur with Microsoft support. The file is completely empty except for about 104KB of 0 bytes. So it is unrecoverable. Sorry :(

      Delete
  50. It works! I can´t believe it but with this post I was able to repair the file. You´ve saved me hours and hours of work! Thank you!! (from Argentina)

    ReplyDelete
  51. Hey. If you're still checking this blog, I wanted to thank you for these instructions. I never did find any empty effects sections, but I just deleted all the ExtentIDs, and the project loaded, without the captions of course. Then I removed the ExtentIDs one by one (from a different saved copy) until I got it to work. No one else was really any help with this, so thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey legend I did this after reading your comment and it worked!I surely missed something. People who do these things are SAINTS arent they

      Delete
  52. I realize this is a very old post but if you're still doing it I could really use some help. I've seen that you can repair corrupted wlmp's. I was working on this stupid fanvideo for The Tommyknockers, I had three hours of my life invested in it and Movie Maker stopped working. I frantically saved the project but when I tried to open it again Movie Maker says my project was corrupted and that it can't open it. I've tried to follow your steps here but I just can't seem to find what's causing it to not open. Please help me. Here's a link to it on OneDrive:
    https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=86A4AD2D8F871543&id=86A4AD2D8F871543%21105&parId=root&o=OneUp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not able to retrieve any file from that link. Perhaps you didn't set the permissions to public?

      Delete
    2. You replied FAST, you're amazing. But I don't know what happened, I went to check the link and it says my account has been temporarily suspended... I have no idea, literally all I've ever used that account for is uploading that single file. I'll just start over on the video, I was honestly doing it for practice so it's not TERRIBLE that I have to do it over, just extremely annoying to see three hours of work gone. I really do appreciate your VERY quick response and willingness to help but it seems that Microsoft is against me. Thank you again though, you seem like a real legend and I really do appreciate what you do. :D

      Delete
  53. I leave these here in case someone will have the same issue a had.
    First of all I want to thank the op. This page helped me solve my problem.


    I was editing a small video for a project and I had a short (~1sec) clip in my project. The clip could pe copied multiple times to generate a longer video(the clip was repetitive). I used Ctrl+C to copy and then I pressed the Ctrl+V a few times. The next thing I know the screen flickers, windows pops a notification that the video driver stoped after witch I get BSOD. The problem was that I would get a BSOD everytime a would open the project.
    So I tought to open it in notepad and I saw that it was actualy an xml.(or at least in that style)
    I scrolled down a bit and gues what. There were a lot of entries for video clip but many of them had the same inTime and outTime. (probably because I pasted them to quickly the program didn't set the time entries correctly and having multiple clips starting at the same time must have completely confused my graphics card.
    The fix was to delete all but one of the video clip entries with the same in and out time and to delete their ExtendRefs from the end of the file.(if you don't delete them movie maker will say that the file is corrupted, thanks to this page I found about those refs at the end)

    I hope my English is understandable and this helps someone who might encounter the same problem.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Dear Blaine,

    I have followed your instructions to fix the problem manually (because Microsoft no longer gives support for Movie Maker), but I encounter a few problems:

    I found the section and the section that starts with <ExtentSelector ExtentID="4" but ther is no list of added titles and captions there.

    Furthermore the word <TitleClip apparently doesn't even appear in the whole document, only <VideoClip.

    I am really lost here, can you please help me? (I wanted to add my file to this post to show you, but I can't figure out how to do that...)

    Kind regards,

    Evi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Read the Update section at the bottom of the post. That's what most people are encountering these days. You probably have a <VideoClip (or more) with a negative duration.

      Delete
  55. Hey Blaine,

    I've been looking at your work and you seem to have a very strong reputation and knowledge with movie maker.

    I was working on a project of mine and in the process of editing, the Windows movie maker crashed and upon re-opening the program, the corrupt message appeared. I have attempted your suggested fixes, but it seems rather than having extra ExtentRef, I have the feeling that I am rather missing some. Either way, I am having some troubles deciphering and successfully fixing my issue. If I could have some guidance or awesome suggestions to my file, that would be fantastic!

    My file can be viewed below on my onedrive,
    https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsOjAzKLFRpGgVohqtuPjd01jrQP

    I highly appreciate your response and will forever commend you for the assistance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't see an ExtentRef for 17, 27, 135, 37 or 49. But more troubling is VideoClip 143 and 144 have an outTime that is smaller than the inTime.

      Delete
    2. Thank you so much for your swift response Blaine!

      You're so correct Blaine, like I said, a very unusual situation in my opinion.

      What recommendations do you have for this scenario?

      Thanks again.

      Delete
    3. If the clips for ExtentRef 17, 27, 135, 37 and 49 are supposed to be there, then I would add the ExtentRefs to the section below. If not, delete those references above.

      As for VideoClip 143 and 144, make the outTime a bigger number. You should then be able to open the project again.

      Delete
  56. Hey Man, sorry to bother you.
    I'm having the same problema, i tried to fix it like u showed. But when i open the file with the notepad it is blank, however if u select anywhere in the pad it seems like it has something there but is is invisible.
    Can u help me by leading me to the point where i am mistaking?

    Or if its not too much if u could fix it for me. tanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It should show up. You might try Notepad++ instead but I doubt the results will be different. I've seen other corruptions where the file contains nothing but null bytes and isn't recoverable.

      Delete
  57. Blaine.. thank you for rescuing my Movie Maker Project (3 days of work)!

    ReplyDelete
  58. Much appreaciated help, I had several files that got corrupted after splitting them up, I couldn't see the storyboard anymore (although everything was there). Editing the file via notepad & setting back the inTime to "0" in the respected files did solve this. Wow, didn't think it was that easy :)

    Again, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  59. Hi Blaine, You seem like the man to go to for a corrupted Movie Maker file. Can you help?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't see any link to a corrupted project file.

      Delete
  60. Link from One Drive:
    https://1drv.ms/f/s!AvXkuIpKF4K4jVorcZ5f0OOmfDTS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were two corruptions for ExtentID 120 and 124 where the outTime was smaller than the inTime. Here's the CW17 fixed.wlmp. Let me know you got it and tested it. If I don't hear from you, I'll delete it in a week.

      Delete
  61. Blaine thank you so much, you should be making money from your skills.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Blaine thanks so much my man it worked

    ReplyDelete
  63. Hello Blaine, I know this article is quite old but i just wanted to THANK YOU! Really! It helped me. I changed the outtimes and it worked! I'm a girl and I've never done something such as changing something in notepad, cuz thought it was hard. But now i can open my project and didn't lose my 8 hours of editing! You're my savior.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Hey mate I I have a huge file that I've gone over a few times and fixed the outtimes and removed the extent ids (it was all 4 of them if that matters) But am on a time crunch if you can possibly have a look in the next day or two I will insist on compensating you for your work!

    ReplyDelete
  65. Please disregard my last post, I got lucky with removing a few at a time and found it quickly! thanks man you are a total legend.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Spent 4 hours working on a video in WMM 2012. An older version, sure, but it was used intentionally to make a video look old. I added a new video, selected it and tried to do a split into 2 clips, and WMM froze and closed. Now it's telling me the file is corrupt and nothing looks wrong in my XML editor (it has built-in syntax check). I even made a new video that is virtually identical and compared to two files in a string compare tool, and it can't find any major differences. What would you suggest I check?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you want to post a link to a OneDrive file, I might have time to look at it tomorrow.

      Delete
    2. Sorry about the belated response. I lost the bookmark and had to find this post once again. Long story short, I managed to get it working. I basically had to strip out anything that could have been an issue, and then add it back in node by node until the error threw. Definitely was a learning experience!

      Delete
  67. Hi Blane, I am not sure if you are still fixing files, but I have tried everything and really dont want to start over. I stayed up all night editing, and right as I was about to finish my file froze and clips started to disappear and Movie Maker crashed on me. Ever since, it's been saying it's corrupt or not compatible with movie maker. Any way you can help me out?

    https://westgasits-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/swoods10_my_westga_edu/EqKle63yPMNBjTx8FxvCKZEBvWQGGSK3uJlBzx_REa_G0A?e=Qwe4sO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That link doesn't seem to be public. I can't look at the file until the weekend, but if you post a public link I'll try to look at it then.

      Delete