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 Having an outdated video graphics driver.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
    2013-12-27T18:49:52+00:00

    I am in the SAME BOAT!  I spent 3 days with Microsoft on remote with my system.  They can't help anymore.  Still will not work!   They told me that this is my ONLY help...  Now What!!!  So frustrating... :(

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-18T14:26:51+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for your post. I understand how frustrating this must be. If you still want to resolve your issue, we request that you provide the log files. These files help us diagnose critical errors that you've encountered.

    Regards.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-18T14:11:52+00:00

    I have tried everything listed on this web site.  In addition, I watched a few "YouTube" videos on the subject.  Nothing worked.  Windows Movie Maker still has a black screen and is un-usable.  I just ordered video editing software from another company.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-10T22:00:02+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for visiting this thread. Sorry to hear that the you are getting a blackscreen in Movie Maker and tried all the steps provided in this thread. We would like to verify if you are only viewing videos and not photos in Movie Maker.

    For the log files, you may refer to the link below for the steps. Logs contain technical information that can help us identify and diagnose issues in Movie Maker.

    **How to gather Log files for Windows Live Movie Maker and Windows Live Photo Gallery**

    Upload the log files on the private message area that I've enabled for you. Make sure that you sign in to Microsoft Community forum and click the You have a private reply to this message. Click here to read it on our secure private messages section link to access it. If you have further questions, please let us know.

    Regards.

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