Hello there,
You sound as though you are suffering from a codec problem. There are two
root causes and below you will find the solution for each together with
somes notes on other issues.
1)
The one stop solution for that is a program called Rename Codecs and it is
available from my web site (Free). Make sure you check out the FAQ, on the
site, on what it does and how to run it (That will take about one minute of
your time!!) All the info you need is on the web site.
This reassuringly safe to use program requires no knowledge on your part
about what it is doing or how it is doing it or what it is doing it too!!!
neither do you need to know where any of these files are or whether it is
safe to rename them or not.....and best of all, ITS FREE !!!
2)
If this does not solve your problem then try the following out...it has
proved to be a successful procedure for a variety of problems.
1) Download the full version of DirectX Ver 9.0b, Media Player 9 and Movie
Maker 2.
2) Reboot you computer and Install DirectX
3) Reboot again and install Windows Media Player 9
4) Reboot yet again and install Movie Maker 2
5) Reboot one more time
Yes it sounds very tedious, but if you want to be certain all file locks
are removed so that the correct files can be installed this is the way you
have to go.
It is very important that you only download the full versions of these
programs and that you DO NOT attempt an install over the internet.
Other Notes
===========
There is in my view some very bad advice floating around that tells you to
unregister the offending codec. If you take this advise be warned that
unregistering any file and doing it wrong will more than likely stop the
program that file belongs to from working all together and may in an extreme
situation cause your entire XP system to fail. This is true whether you make
a mistake using the Registry editor or the registration program itself, one
mistake and you are potentially in deep trouble. Whatever you unregister in
this manner has to be restored and you should take note that the
registration of a codec can often involve more than one registry entry. If
you are expert in these matters you will have no problem.
I have also found that MP3, Mpeg and Jpeg files can cause problems, So...
Convert all MP3 to WAV
Convert all MPeg to AVI
Convert all Jpeg to BMP
For Video Conversion you should also check out the Knowledge Base Section
of my "Great Links" One of the websites in there "Video Help" has the best
collection of usefull information I have yet come across on converting
between the various formats together with links to the software needed.
