Camcorder Files Do Not Play Correctly

When you attempt to play one of the Microsoft Camcorder files from the Microsoft Press Web site, you may experience one or more of the following problems:

• The movie appears in its own window with a dark gray or black screen.
• Your entire screen appears to be black except for the pointer, the Stop window displayed by the Camcorder, and a thin strip at the bottom of the screen.

These problems occur when you play the movie on a computer with an incompatible video driver, such as the Cirrus Logic (CL-GD7548) or the NeoMagic video driver.

Movie Appears In Its Own Window with Black Screen

If the movie appears in its own window with a dark gray or black screen, following these steps:

1. Click the Start button and click Run. In the Open box, type
   System.ini
   then click OK.
2. On the Search menu, click Find. Type the following
   dvideo.dll
   and then click Find Next. Click Cancel. You should see
   VIDS.DRAW=DVIDEO.DLL
   In the [Drivers32] section.
3. Insert a semicolon (;) at the beginning of this line to change this statement to a remark.
4. On the File menu, click Save, and then click Exit.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Entire Screen Is Black While Movie Plays

If while the movie is playing the entire screen appears to be black except for the pointer and a thin strip at the bottom of the screen, switch to a different video driver.

To switch to a different video driver, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Display and on the Settings tab click Advanced Properties.
3. click to select Adapter, and then click Change.
4. Click to select Show All Devices. In the Manufacturers list, click Standard Display Types. In the Models list, click Standard Display Adapter and then click OK.
5. Click OK to close the windows that you have opened.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.