Re: #20050714 Crashes & Hangs
- From: "PapaJohn \(MVP\)" <PapaJohn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 01:45:24 -0400
I got an email a couple days ago from someone in New Zealand asking why he
couldn't access John Kelly's website. He was getting a restricted access
message and he wasn't allowed in....
I advised him to check with John Kelly... maybe you can review your
restrictions to be sure people from New Zealand can get in.
--
PapaJohn
Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 website - http://www.papajohn.org
tips and tricks: http://www.simplydv.co.uk/simplyBB/viewtopic.php?t=4693
Online Newsletters: http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/PapaJohn/Index.aspx
<webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5tsBe.69554$G8.9476@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Movie Maker FAQ 1 Last updated 6th January 2005
>
> Crashing and Hanging
> ================
>
> 1) What is a Codec?
> ==============
>
> A Codec is software that was first created to deal with the transposition
> of data from one form into another. One of the first important Codecs was
> a procedure still used today called Soundex. I believe the first proper
> use of Soundex was by the Mormons. Most of us use Soundex or its
> equivalent every time we use a spell checker. The Mormons use it in their
> vast database of all persons baptised by them. It enables very fast data
> searches on similar sounding words that are not necessarily spelled the
> same way. Soundex though is a one way procedure. Its a CODER The other
> part of the word Codec is derived from the word DECODER. Joining the two
> parts together we get the word CODEC...Codec.
>
> With regard to Codecs and any Video or Audio playing software. MP3 or WMA
> audio files have been compressed using CODER routines. When you play
> those files on your computer you are using the DECODER routines to produce
> a sound or video signal that can be seen/heard on your machine.
>
> With regard to Audio/Video editing software. A Codec is used to compress
> the data so that it occupies as small a space as possible usually on a
> hard drive. But in the case of editing a file the Codec must first expand
> the compressed data before the edit can occur and afterwards compress it
> again when the data is saved to a new file.
>
> The problems with Codecs arise from "Calls" A call is the expression used
> to define the way one software module talks to another so that
> information can be passed between the two. The problem occurs when the
> Call is not properly formatted, or the reply is not understood. This
> becomes a problem that the calling software must handle. When the calling
> software fails to handle the error it can do one of a number of
> things....the correct way is to contain the error and respond with an
> alternative approach and possibly inform the user that the error occurred,
> the other approach we are all to familiar with, either the software or the
> machine crashes and probably taking all of your hard work with it.
>
>
> 2) Movie Maker crashes, what can I do?
> ============================
>
> From item one above there is a good chance that your problem arises from a
> problem with a Codec. Movie Maker version 2.1 was supposed to address
> this issue by giving you the user the ability to disable one or more of
> the Codecs on your machine. The problem however is not fully addressed
> and results in some Codecs not being exposed to the disable option. If its
> that particular Codec that is causing the problem you are stuck.
>
> You need to know which Codec it is, where it is, possibly what other
> software installed it and what other dependencies exist. In other words
> you need to know a LOT of things. The proper way of dealing with the issue
> would be to remove the offending Codec but that's not very practical as
> you may really need the other software that depends on it.
>
> There is a temporary solution available in the form of a program called
> "Rename Codecs" It has been in use for perhaps a year now by many
> hundreds of people and with great success. There have been a total of 6
> times that the program did not solve the users problem (At the time of
> writing this) You can obtain your FREE copy of the program from
> www.the-kellys.org The basics of the program are that it will offer you
> the option of temporarily renaming Codecs that are known to be a problem
> for Movie Maker. You would do that before using Movie Maker. Once you are
> finished using the program you again run Movie Maker and use the RESTORE
> option to put those Codecs back into operation...its very easy to use.
>
> There is an additional option. You can use the options within XP to turn
> off the various levels of video acceleration that your graphics card has.
> Doing this is not a good idea but if you do you must understand that every
> program that relies on those abilities will either run badly or not at
> all. To turn the acceleration down right click your desktop and select
> PROPERTIES, then SETTINGS then ADVANCED and then TROUBLERSHOOT. You will
> then see a slider bar which should normally be positioned on the far
> right. You can move it one step at a time and then close the dialog down
> and re-try Movie Maker. You can repeat those steps until (and if) Movie
> Maker works properly.
>
> A lot of video programs give you the opportunity of taking a snap shot of
> the video displayed, Intervideo WinDVD 5 does a good job of this. Movie
> Maker also has this option. BUT, if you turn the acceleration down as
> above, you will no longer be able to take those snapshots. This is not a
> great problem of course as you can change the acceleration back. But it is
> rather tedious.
>
>
> 3) How do I make my system perform better and stop Movie Maker crashing
> =======================================================
>
> This is by far the best way of doing things. Whilst the Rename Codec
> program is a MUST when you really do need to keep "other" software on
> your system, the following approach will ensure that your system runs at
> its best speed and will be less likely to crash at all from Video or
> Audio problems.
>
> You need to download the latest versions of DirectX and the Windows Codecs
> pack together with the latest version of Windows Media Player. You should
> NOT try to install these packages via the Internet, you should get the
> standalone versions. The reason is obvious once you know it. Suppose
> those updates you did some time back are not working properly...it may be
> that they were not installed properly or it may be that a file is either
> corrupt or simply missing. How would you know??? The more experienced may
> spot the problem but the average user will not. So why download the full
> package??? That's easy. When you unzip a package several checks are made
> to ensure the integrity of the files inside the zip. If there is a problem
> you will be told there and then...the file is corrupt or damaged in some
> other way....you do not need to trust an install over the Internet and the
> possibility of data being missed....
>
> You can get the packages via these links...
>
>
> Codec Pack
> -----------------
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx
>
> DirectX
> ----------
> http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=1081813
>
> Windows Media Player
> ---------------------------------
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b446ae53-3759-40cf-80d5-cde4bbe07999&displaylang=en
>
> Movie Maker for XP
> ---------------------------
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.aspx
>
> The link for Movie Maker is actually a link to SP2 (Service Pack 2). This
> a large download. Its not to bad if you have a reasonably fast broadband
> connection, but if the download fails its a long way back to the start!!!
> Personally I would recommend you obtain A CD version of SP2...its
> available on the Windows Magazine and from Microsoft directly
>
> Drivers for your graphics card
> ----------------------------------
> I have discovered that most people are confused on the issue of drivers
> for their graphics card in that when advised to acquire the latest driver
> they go straight to the Microsoft website and get one from them. Their is
> a problem with that in that the drivers supplied by Microsoft are Generic.
>
> I made the mistake of going direct to Microsoft some time back and the
> result was that I could only run the machine in the basic "Safe Mode" the
> driver was the most up to date and was definitely more recent than the
> existing driver. It took some time to understand what was going on I must
> admit......
>
> The graphics card was an NVidia GForce 4 etc and was manufactured by
> Gainward. After several attempts at getting the Microsoft driver to
> install I decided that the download MUST BE corrupted in some way, So I
> went to the NVidia website and downloaded their driver (Same version
> number as the one from Microsoft) I had the exact same problems!!! In the
> end I went to the Gainward website and downloaded the most up to date
> driver they had.....once installed the graphics card performed better than
> ever and with more configuration options than I would ever need.
>
> So why did an older driver work better than the most recent from NVidia
> ??? Its simple when you know why .... Gainward produce high capability
> cards and in order to achieve some of their aims they change the way the
> NVidia chipset works. This requires a modified driver....and they produce
> their own. The card is still based on the NVidia and conforms to the basic
> design....but it runs very much faster because of code optimisation, and
> that optimisation is missing from the Microsoft or NVidia drivers.
>
> The result of all this is that you should ALWAYS go to the website of the
> MANUFACTURER of the card and not the manufacturer of the chipset (in my
> case NVidia)
>
> The Method
> -----------------
> Reboot your computer and install SP2. After the install has completed you
> should reboot your computer twice...yes boring but desirable
>
> After the reboot you should now install the DirectX pack and reboot again.
>
> After that reboot install the Codec Pack and reboot yet again.
>
> After that install Windows Media Player and reboot again
>
> Finally install the latest driver for your graphics card.
>
> Rebooting the machine does perform an important task. It completes
> installation process's and ensures that previously existing file locks are
> removed. Under certain conditions XP will not overwrite a file if it has
> been locked. Note that this is not the same as marking a file as Read
> Only.
>
> Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This utility can be obtained here...
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/portablemediacenter/decoder.mspx
>
> A very useful program but with a problem. It reports that I have the MGI
> MPEG-2 Video Decoder on one of my machines...I have NO MGI software on my
> system!!
>
> I would not let that put you off using it as it does have a useful purpose
> even though the same objective can be achieved via other already existing
> routes within XP. I am in favour of this program as it does give good
> advice on which Codec you should select as the preferred Codec
>
>
> 4) What files does Movie Maker NOT like?
> ==============================
>
> Any MPEG based file will cause Movie Maker problems even though they
> seldom cause problems for Media Player. There are a number of
> reasons...Media Player does not need the CODER part of the Codec and there
> are many methods/procedures/algothims used to Code an MPeg file and its
> that wide range of methods that Movie Maker can not address. Its not
> really a bug but the method of dealing with the issue, well there is no
> method...Movie Maker gives an error and crashes or it just crashes. The
> particular file extensions are Mpeg, MPG and MP3.
>
> JPeg still images can also be a problem and for similar reasons to MPeg
> files. There are a number of formats for a JPeg and it seems that the
> older formats are not properly dealt with. To work around the issue you
> can reduce the compression used in creating the JPeg and NOT use the
> progressive format method
>
> The best solution for these problems is to convert the file into a more
> acceptable format, and as it happens a format that is more easily worked
> on by Movie Maker...the conversion you should employ are
>
> MPeg, MPG convert to AVI, MP3 convert to WAV and JPeg, JPG convert to a
> standard bitmap BMP
>
> NOTES
> ======
>
> There are several other approaches you can take to solving a Codec issue.
> I have seen several other methods of solving the problem, and basically
> they don't. Instead they treat the symptom and not the problem itself.
> Several other methods involve damaging the picture of your computers
> layout (that's a bad pun by the way) and simply doing that involves the
> risk of permanent damage to that picture.
>
> The program Rename Codecs also damages that picture of your system but it
> does at least provide a user friendly way of restoring your system and
> that method requires no prior knowledge on your part about where, which
> and how to make those changes.
>
> All efforts are made to ensure that the information is accurate. As no one
> is perfect I would be happy to hear of any errors found in this document
> (send an e-mail to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx). If you have any doubts at
> all over following the advice given here you should NOT attempt it.
>
> The contents of this FAQ are liable to change with out prior notification.
>
> The Webmaster
> Check out the Free Video and Stills Hosting at The Kellys
> Coming soon Get your Personal News Distributor (PND from
> www.the-kellys.org
> www.the-kellys.org
> www.the-kellys.co.uk
.
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