FIX: You may receive the "0x80004005 Unspecified Error" error message when you use the Microsoft MPEG-4 version 3 video codec on a server that is running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1

When you use Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9 Series on a server that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), you may receive the following error message:This problem occurs when you use the Microsoft MPEG-4 version 3 (MPEG4v3) video codec in the compression profile.

Windows Server 2003 SP1 contains the Microsoft Windows Media Format 9.5 Software Development Kit (SDK). The Windows Media Format 9.5 SDK requires an update to maintain compatibility with the earlier codecs.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Download information

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the WindowsServer2003-KB900343-x86-ENU.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/d/6/9d6be3b5-7efc-4f9d-9dab-3f1b73d9b8eb/windowsserver2003-kb900343-x86-enu.exe)

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

The MPEG4v3 codec is an earlier codec. We recommend that content providers consider migrating to the newer codecs that are provided as part of Windows Media Encoder 9 Series. The newer codecs will allow for improved quality and smaller file sizes.