I created a "video" on windows movie maker which came preinstalled on my dell laptop. It was slow going but finally finished the thing... only to realize that it won't budge. Won't burn, won't forward in an email etc.. all the options available for it. I have no clue what to do or if I can do anything since I'm computer illiterate... one thought I had was this, Can I put the "video" on a flash drive ( if that's what it's called.. the little thingy you plug in to store info is what I call it), upload it to my brothers computer (which burns dvd's and has some kind of movie maker software as well) and put it on dvd from his? Any and ALL advice welcome since this was supposed to be a special christmas present for mom.. hah, maybe mothers day...

I haven't done a vid for ages, but I think you might need to "export" the video - it changes the video to a standard format.

When you clicked on "save as" did you see a pop-up screen asking you how you wanted to save the video?

I did save the video to the desktop as a friend suggested and emailed it to him. The problem was that when he received it it had no pictures! Only the text was visible. So here it sits, in my movie maker and on the desktop. Aauugghh.. hopeless.

Hello,
You told that you have created a movie using Windows Movie Maker. How did you do that movie? Did you drag and drop the movie clips to the story line of your Windows Movie Maker? How did you import the pictures to the Movie Maker? Did you go with the three steps, Capture Video, Edit Video and Finish Video?

You told that the movie has been saved to your desktop. Did you try playing it from your desktop? If it is not playing from your desktop then the file is incomplete or corrupted.

If you have done according to the Movie Maker then it should work. I hope you still have those video clips or picture in your system. I think you did not capture the video and did not drag and drop the clips to the story board which is at the bottom of the Windows Movie Maker window. Try to do it this way and check if it is working.

Open WMV> Click File> Import into Collections > Open the folder with video clips / Pictures > Select the Clips or pictures you would like to make the movie> Click import.
The files will be in your Collections now. Drag the clips one by one according to your priority to the storyboard down.

In view menu if you click Task Pane you will get the capture, edit and finish options pane on the left side of the window. You can edit the movie as you wish. You have different options in the finish movie tab to save in your desktop, to cd or even to send as e-mail. Save it your desktop and play it from there after saving it. I am sure it will take some time according to the size of the movie. Be patient, save it to your desktop, play it from there. I am sure it will work now.

This is the person who posted this question... I had to change my screen name as I couldn't remember the darn info I put in when I created this account... so, yes indeed I did all of the steps required to "create" the video as you listed when I made the video.. ie:drag and drop.. music.. video effects etc.. It is on my desktop but that is a useless place for it to be for me. I wanted to burn it for a gift to my mom. Is this going to be possible? Thanks again

Okay, so I take it that you can play the video on your desktop?
What error message do you get when you try to burn it to CD/DVD?

Right click on the video and select "properties". What format is the video?
It should say "WMV"

It might be that you are using the wrong format of CD or DVD - there is DVD+ and DVD-
And your CD or DVD drive will probably only recognize one or the other.
Does your laptop have a DVD burner? It may play DVD's but it might only burn to CD.

Properties says: type of file, windows movie maker project size: 6.40mb, I believe the error message was that the file size was to large for the email that I wanted to send (to myself to view) and as far as burning it myself... I clicked on the cd option and the first time (with a dvd) it said the computer did not detect a cd. So I switched to a cd-rw which it did recognize but it just sat there and sat there.. nothing.. so .yes, I realized that I have no dvd burner. Only cd burner with dvd viewing. So.. that's why I wonder... can I put the vid. On a flash drive and take it to my brothers house... put it in his computer... and then burn it from his?? ALSO.. keep in mind that when I did manage to send the email of the vid. From the desktop to a friend who was going to try to burn it.. all he got was the text that I wrote in the vid. Not the pics at all... and to be honest I don't recall if he said he got the music. I wonder if it will even transfer if it won't through friends email. This thing means so much to me that I hate to throw in the towel... but don't have a lot of money so worry about wasting it on a flash drive that I don't need/won't work?

It's strange that it won't burn to CD; any file should burn to CD or DVD.
I did have the same problem myself a while ago, but it mysteriously fixed itself.

Looking at a video I made, it says "File type: Video Clip" "opens with Windows Media Player"
So I think your video hasn't been exported yet; open Windows Movie Maker and then drag & drop the file. Then click "Save Movie File".

I still want to check something. Are you able to run the movie clip from your desktop? Can you watch it playing in the Windows Media Player or any other players?