Error: 80070003 - “The system cannot find the path specified”

Anonymous
2011-11-30T16:00:31+00:00

Hi Everyone,

We received questions from customers receiving the error message 80070003 - "The system cannot find the path specified” when they try to launch Windows Live Movie Maker.

Windows for home | Other | Music, photos, and video

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2011-11-30T16:48:21+00:00

Please refer to the following information if you are receiving the Error 80070003- "The system cannot find the path specified” when you try to access Windows Live Movie Maker.

  1. Ensure you have installed the latest version under: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker. The current 2011 version is 15.4.3538.513.

2.  Download an Up dated VGA card driver - Movie Maker makes extensive use of the video card GPU (graphics processing unit). Computers with video cards that are not intended for high-end graphics usage or older cards may encounter issues in rendering video and effects in Movie Maker.  The display driver affects the reliability, performance, and quality.

Below are the steps on how to check the version and VGA card driver date to determine if it should be updated.

MS Diag/ DirectX Diagnostic Tool.

  1. Click on Start button and type “dxdiag” in the Search programs and files box and press Enter key on the keyboard.
  2. Click on the Display tab and you will see the driver details including the driver version.
  3. If your VGA card driver seems outdated please go to the VGA card driver manufacturer and see if a newer version is available.

Important note: If you still encounter the issue while running the most recent version of Windows Live Movie Maker and you’re VGA card driver is updated please provide us log files and registry keys information for us to investigate it further.

Below are the steps on how to do so:

Collect Registry Keys:

  1. Start -> Run then type regedit and then click OK.
  2. If prompted to allow the program to make changes to your system press the Yes button.
  3. From regedit navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
  4. Right click on the software folder and then select Export
  5. When prompted name the file Users and then click Save.
  6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
  7. Save this export as Machine.
  8. Right-click on the Users that you saved on your Desktop and click Send To, choose Compressed (zipped) folder.
  9. For assistance on how to gather Log files please click here.

Was this answer helpful?

4 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

52 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-13T09:21:44+00:00

    movie maker cannot find specified path

    i have uninstalled reinstalled after reboot still get the same error even when i open it from the file location.still can't see where to send user registry files,it says private section below !!! can't see that anywhere,John

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-28T19:19:24+00:00

    On Windows 7, I traced the problem with Process Monitor, and discovered I was missing %AppData% and %LocalAppData% environmental variables. I created two new System environmental variables with %USERPROFILE%\AppData and %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local respectively. Then rebooted. I had to open Movie Maker as administrator the first time, then everything worked normally after that.

    This worked for me as well. A possible reason for the messed up variables could be a broken AD account upgrade from Windows XP to 7. Been having many issues with my account after the upgrade.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-28T02:46:26+00:00

    On Windows 7, I traced the problem with Process Monitor, and discovered I was missing %AppData% and %LocalAppData% environmental variables. I created two new System environmental variables with %USERPROFILE%\AppData and %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local respectively. Then rebooted. I had to open Movie Maker as administrator the first time, then everything worked normally after that.

    Hi, 

    I am not an IT expert. But how do you do this? What is two new System environmental variables?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-02-09T04:57:26+00:00

    On Windows 7, I traced the problem with Process Monitor, and discovered I was missing %AppData% and %LocalAppData% environmental variables. I created two new System environmental variables with %USERPROFILE%\AppData and %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local respectively. Then rebooted. I had to open Movie Maker as administrator the first time, then everything worked normally after that.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments