Article ID: 308464 - Last Review: November 17, 2010 - Revision: 4.0

File formats supported by Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP

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This article was previously published under Q308464

To continue receiving security updates for Windows, make sure you're running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). For more information, refer to this Microsoft web page: Support is ending for some versions of Windows (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/end-support-windows-xp-sp2-windows-vista-without-service-packs)

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INTRODUCTION

This article lists the file types that are supported by Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP.
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MORE INFORMATION

Supported formats for importing content

  • Video files: .asf, .avi, .wmv
  • Movie files: MPEG1, .mpeg, .mpg, .m1v, .mp2
  • Audio files: .wav, .snd, .au, .aif, .aifc, .aiff
  • Windows Media files: .asf, .wm, .wma, .wmv
  • Still images: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif, .gif
  • MP3 format audio: .mp3
Although you can play a file in Microsoft Windows Media Player, you may not be able to import the file into Windows Movie Maker even though this article lists that kind of file. You may not be able to import the file if the codec that was used to encode the audio or video is not a codec that is included with Windows XP. In that case, you may be able to re-encode the video or audio by using Windows Media Encoder, and then import the video or audio.

Note The MPEG2 format has several codecs that are not supported by Windows Movie Maker. Even if you have downloaded and installed these codecs on your computer, files in the MPEG2 format may not work in Windows Movie Maker or may cause other problems. Converting the MPEG2 format to another compatible format may work for most MPEG2 files. However, some MPEG2 codecs include copy protection schemes that will prevent you from converting the file.

To download the Windows Media Encoder for free, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia)
For additional information about codec support in Windows Media Player for Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
291948  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291948/ ) Windows Media Player for Windows XP supported codecs
For additional information about how to show file name extensions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
865219  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/865219/ ) How to show or hide file name extensions in Windows Explorer
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Supported formats for saving movies

  • Windows Media video files: .wmv
  • Windows Media audio files: .wma
  • DV/AVI format for video: .avi
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
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Keywords: 
kbenv kbinfo KB308464
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