JSI Tip 6431. Movie Maker 2 hangs when you attempt to save a large movie file?

When you attempt to savea movie in Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2, Movie Maker 2 hangs.

The most likely cause is that the file size of the movie exceeds the available RAM.

You could remove pictures and transition effects to reduce the size of the movie. You could reduce the size by saving the movie with the Other settings / High Quality Video (small) setting. You should increase the Maximum Size (MB) setting of the paging file at Control Panel / System / Advanced / Performance / Change. If this issue occurs frequently, you should purchase additional RAM.

You can save the movie in one half or one third sections to reduce the complexity of the storyboard / timeline by reducing the number of clips. Here is how Microsoft recommends doing it:

Part 1: Remove and Save One Section of the Movie

1. Select a portion of the items in the storyboard or timeline.
2. On the Edit menu, click Cut.
3. On the File menu, click Save Movie File.
   Note This saves the portion of the movie that is still on the timeline or storyboard, not the section that you cut in step 2.
4. In the Save Movie Wizard, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the save process.
5. In the Movie Setting dialog box of the Save Movie Wizard, click Show more choices.
6. Click Other settings, click High video quality (large), and then click Next.

Part 2: Import the Portion and Save the Whole Movie

1. When the Save Movie Wizard is complete, on the File menu, click Import into Collections.
2. Click the file that you saved in steps 3 through 5 of Part 1, and then click Import.
3. In the Select File to Import dialog box, click the file that you saved, and then click Import.
4. Click the area of the storyboard where you want to insert the file.
5. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
6. On the File menu, click Save Movie File.
7. Follow the instructions in the Save Movie Wizard.
8. Click to clear the Show movie when I click Finish dialog box, and then click Finish.
   
   If the problem continues to occur, repeat this method to divide the movie into smaller portions.