I am having the exact same problem. Please let me know if you find out
anything. I have a program from Windows Movie Maker documenting my Mom's
life and want to save it to DVD for Christmas presents and it won't save.
Isn't there live support for movie maker?

"MissEmtoo" wrote:

> This is very long; I apologize for that, but I want to explain the whole
> situation so that I don't waste anyone's time with suggestions that I've
> already tried.
>
> Long story short, I am unable to save my movie onto my computer.
>
> Here are the details:
> I created a movie in WMM. It is 14 minutes long, 216 MB, and contains
> literally hundreds of still photos (all of which have some kind of effect or
> transition added to them), approximately 20 short video clips, at least 10
> different songs, and many titles.
>
> It runs just fine in WMM - I am able to view the entire movie in the small
> preview box, with no stalling or problems.
>
> I have "saved" it twice, and I THINK it worked properly (I say that I THINK
> it saved properly because I didn't actually watch it save. it remained on the
> "Estimating Saving Time" screen for so long, I left the room. and when I came
> back a few hours later, the movie had been "saved.")
>
> BUT, when I go to open the saved movie, it only plays the SOUND. NO video at
> all. The sound is flawless, beginning to end, but the video is TOTALLY blank.
>
> I attempted to save it many more times. Each time, it again remained on the
> "Estimating Saving Time" screen for a VERY long time - like 30 minutes - but
> this time, it NEVER began saving. Instead, after 30-plus minutes of just
> staying on that screen, I received the following message:
> "Windows Movie Maker cannot save the movie to the specified location. Verify
> that the original source files used in your movie are still available, that
> the saving location is still available, and that there is enough free disk
> space available, and then try again."
>
> First, I looked into the memory on my computer to see if there was enough
> free space. As I said, my movie is 216 MB. There is more than 10 GB of
> memory available on my computer.
>
> I also looked into increasing the Virtual Memory on my computer (in case the
> movie is too complex). However, I have more than 11,100 MB listed as Space
> Available in virtual memory. The maximum file size is set at 1200 MB.
>
> This leaves me with a problem with one of my original source files.
> According to Movie Maker Help, this means that one of my files was moved from
> its original location or is no longer available. To my knowledge, I have not
> moved ANY of my files since importing them to WMM. And NONE of my files has
> the red X on it, indicating that it's no longer available.
>
> If there IS a problem with one of my source files, how do I know which
> one(s) are the culprits? I have literally HUNDREDS of files in my movie, and
> I have no idea how determine which single one of those hundreds might be the
> corrupt.
> If there is NOT a problem with one of my source files and my memory capacity
> is just fine, what's next? How do I save my movie???
>
> I have not yet tried dividing the movie 3 parts and then piecing the parts
> back together as a new movie, then trying to save again.
> Do you think this would help?
>
> I also have not tried saving the movie to the Internet. Would this work,
> instead?
>
> This is a VERY important project to me - a video documenting my daughter's
> first year. We were going to show it on her birthday. which was yesterday.
> We'd also planned to give the movie to family for Christmas. I have spent at
> LEAST 25 hours on it, which not only means time put into the program itself,
> but time away from my family! To have it not save now and be un-playable is
> INCREDIBLY frustrating and angering. Adding to my frustration is that any
> single attempt at fixing the problem takes FOREVER because the program is SO
> slow.
>
> (Yes, I looked at the codecs on my computer - there do not seem to be any
> troubles there. I have also adjusted the Hardware Acceleration. that hasn't
> done anything, either.)
>
> Can ANYONE help??? I have read many websites to try to save my movie
> (including all of PapaJohn's "Can't Save a Movie" information), and I have
> done everything that is listed to the best of my ability. I do admit that my
> ability is limited, however, so I might be doing things incorrectly or
> incompletely. I'm not the most computer-literate person!!
>
> I am absolutely at my wits' end, and heartbroken to boot. I'll even PAY
> someone to help me fix things - Geek Squad? Anyone. I just want this movie
> to save so all of my hard work hasn't gone to waste, and we can share this
> gift with our families.
>
> Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to offer.
>
> Emily