I was trying to put together some mp4 video clips using Windows Live Movie Maker in Windows 7. It let me view and edit them inside the Movie Maker app, but when I went to save the movie in .wmv format, I got an error message saying the movie couldn’t be saved unless I discarded the mp4 clips.

So I decided to try renaming the .mp4 video files to .mov files before importing them into Movie Maker. Movie Maker accepted that and allowed me to play and edit the clips. This time when I went to save the movie as a .wmv file, it created the movie with no problem. Here’s the step-by-step:

  1. First, open Control Panel and click on Folder Options. In the Advanced settings list, scroll down until you find “Hide extensions for known file types“. The checkbox should be unchecked. If it’s checked, uncheck it, click Apply, and then click OK.
  2. Next, navigate to the folder containing the .mp4 video file you want to import into Windows Live Movie Maker. Click on the file name to edit the file extension.
  3. Change the video file extension from .mp4 to .mov. A Rename warning box will popup warning that changing the file name extension might cause the file to become unusable and asks if you’re sure you want to change it. Click Yes, the popup will go away, and your movie file will now have the .mov extension.
  4. Next, open Windows Live Movie Maker and import the .mov video file.
  5. When you’re finished editing the video file, just save the movie like you normally would any other movie in Windows Live Movie Make.
  6. Once you’re finished using the video file in Windows Live Movie Maker, be sure to go back the folder containing the video file and change the extension back to .mp4.

Simple enough! Now enjoy editing and converting your .mp4 videos in Windows Live Movie Maker.

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