Windows 7 movie maker, has black screen but has audio

Anonymous
2013-04-16T05:33:22+00:00

I have windows 7 movie maker and the preview screen is black, I can here audio but can't see anything. How do I fix this?

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.

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Anonymous
2013-04-16T16:20:01+00:00

The most common causes of black video (only audio) are:

  1. Not having the correct video codec to decode the video file.  This can happen with certain file types. While it might be possible to remedy this by figuring out what exact codec the file needs and then getting that installed on your system, this can be fraught with peril.  My recommendation in these cases is to convert the source video file to a supported file type (preferably .wmv).  I've used Freemake Video Converter for this task, but feel free to research your options.
  2. Having an outdated video graphics driver.  The solution for this is to run dxdiag and go to the Display tab.  Find out the make/model of your graphics card along with the installed driver version.  Then go to the manufacturer's website and find and install an update.  Alternatively, you may have to go to your PC manufacturer's website to get a graphics driver update, if they prevent you from installing driver updates directly.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-07-12T15:42:53+00:00

    Dear Microsoft Support,

    I contacted Samsung regarding the graphics driver but have not heard back from them yet.  So, I went ahead and downloaded the latest graphics driver from AMD for my Samsung NP700Z4B-S01UB notebook computer with an AMD Radeon HD 6400M Series graphics card (driver date 6/4/2013 & driver version 13.101.0.0).  The driver installed correctly.  I restarted the computer and opened Movie Maker 2012 to test and the preview window is still black.

    I seem to recall someone mentioning that there was a 3D MS patch that caused some problems and once removed, they were able to use Movie Maker but cannot find that thread again...  Could that be the problem?

    ~ Eric

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-07-11T06:34:57+00:00

    Hi EricRedeker,

    Thank you for waiting. Our support specialist has checked the log files and found out that the video card driver is outdated. Since you already tried downloading the drivers on the Samsung website, we request you to contact the Samsung support and check if there are newer video drivers available for your computer.

    Please get back to us once you have contacted them.

    Regards.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-09T16:36:29+00:00

    Hello Eric,

    Thanks for providing the log files. I forwarded them to our support specialist for investigation. We'll update this thread as soon as we get information from them.

    Regards,

    Richard

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-09T07:10:50+00:00

    Hello,

    I'm sorry to know that the issue persists on your Movie Maker. Because of this, we would like to request for your log files. I have provided a private message where you can find the instructions on how to gather the logs and where you can upload the files.

    Note: You need to be signed in to the Microsoft Community forum to view the link. Just click on "You have a private reply to this message" link just above your post to view the message. These files contain personally identifiable information, such as your name and email address. Microsoft uses them to diagnose your issue. We do not use this information to contact you (outside of this issue) or market to you.

    We also need you to reply back to this post if you have already provided the information on the private data area. This will help facilitate our actions regarding your issue.

    We're looking forward to your response.

    Thank you.

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