Movie Shop 6 (the day the music died)

[MiracleCafe]

I have been using MS6 from Broderbund for around 3 years now and have completed 10 projects. The final product is a music video containing footage from popular movies and music from popular bands. (ie....Queen of the Damned/Down With The Sickness) Everything was going Great until one day I loaded a project in progress and the audio file (mp3) was missing. When I attempted to re-add the file MS6 ignored me. I converted the file to .wav and it took it no prob. Then a couple of projects later (converting my audio files all over to .wav) it told me the .wav file had an unknown codec/or was not recognized. Keep in mind this is the same .wav I had been using to make this video for over a week. I ended up using the last saved file (mpeg) containing audio and completed video footage up to that point. The program is also crashing at any given time regularly.
Keep in mind, I build my own computers, work for a major ISP, and have been working with these programs for 3 years. All of my drivers are up to date. I'm using all of the same programs (ie...goldwave, TMPEnc) and nothing seems to work. I even purchased Pinnacle Studio (which is not much different from windows movie maker, ie...it sucks) and tried creating an mpeg including the audio track that I wanted to use and MS6 loads it but the audio sounds like it's underwater.
I recently got Adobe Premier 6.5 and I'm learning how to use it, but I would love to have my MS6 back and working properly. Everything is so much easier and user friendly. I've been in contact with Broderbund tech support but they are just now realizing that it isn't operator error and that I'm not computer illiterate.
If anyone has any suggestions as to why this has happened and how to fix it, I'd be more than happy to come to their house and cook them dinner. Or just say Thanks. Whatever works.

[MiracleCafe]

BTW, I have the Hercules Fortissimo II sound card. It has a weird issue with it's driver, but my sound works beautifully otherwise. The thought has occurred to me that it may have something to do with it, but it's the same sound card that worked for at least a year before it started having problems. There has got to be some kind of build up or degredation of some file somewhere or something I am not familiar with. I admit there are plenty of things I do not know or understand, but I'm far from lost in the sauce.

[setarip]

"Then a couple of projects later (converting my audio files all over to .wav) it told me the .wav file had an unknown codec/or was not recognized."

1) Are you able to successfully PLAY this .WAV file under Windows Media Player - or does WMP also generate an error message?

2) Can you play it on another system?

[MiracleCafe]

Any wav or mp3. It doesn't matter, and yes they will play in all of my other players. It is definitely not the audio files that are the issue.

[setarip]

"The program is also crashing at any given time regularly."

I'd speculate that since you state that, with absolute certainty, the audio files are not the problem, you've probably corrupted a support .DLL for your MovieShop program...

[MiracleCafe]

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and it hasn't helped. If I tried deleting all the .dll files and letting the program reinstall them would thaqt help? Or if I completely uninstall and attempt to locate and remove all associated .dll files? Then reinstall. What I'm trying to avoid of course is reformatting and re-installing. Someone also mentioned that there might be conflicts between multiple editing softwares being present. Well, I didn't start having these issues until I upgraded to windows xp (which contains windows movie maker) I'm wondering if uninstalling any and all editors (I also have recently installed Pinnacle Studio 8 & Adobe Premier 6.5) (these programs were purchased in an effort to replace the malfunctioning MS6, but they aren't the same - MS6 ROCKS!)
Either way, I'm thinking that you are right about a .dll file becoming corrupt. And this could be an issue that got worse over time as the file got more and more corrupted? Because this wasn't an All At Once issue, it just keeps getting worse, and I've run out of work-arounds. LOL
Thanks for any and all help. I thought maybe putting out more money for higher-class programs would be the answer, but after Adobe Premier (which is better than studio 8, but not by much) let me down on versatility AND ease of use (it keeps argueing with me about moving clips when where and how I want them.) I'm just to the point that I want my MS6 back, and that's all there is too it. And if I have to re-format to get it working, I will!

[ormonde]

"Everything was going Great until one day I loaded a project in progress and the audio file (mp3) was missing. When I attempted to re-add the file MS6 ignored me."

Is it possible that you have a recent backup of your system you could restore to before all the problems started happening? I find a program such as Norton Ghost to be pretty indispensable when things like this happen.

[MiracleCafe]

"Is it possible that you have a recent backup of your system you could restore to before all the problems started happening?"

Unfortunately it has been months since these issues started. The latest piece of advice that I have gotten is that I have a .dll file that may have gotten corrupted. I'm investigating in that direction tonight after work, but I'm not sure exactly how to fix it. Any suggestions will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[MiracleCafe]

My final fallback is a complete wipe and restart of my HD. I hate when that happens.

[ormonde]

"My final fallback is a complete wipe and restart of my HD. I hate when that happens."

Another reason to invest in something like Norton Ghost.