"The movie could not be opened. The file is not a movie."

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Level 2

240 points

"The movie could not be opened. The file is not a movie."

I sure could use some help with this. Hopefully QuickTime Kirk is online tonight. I work with Macs for a living, and have an issue that has me stumped. On a friends iMac flat panel running Tiger, I get the error mentioned above. I have the latest version of QT, Flip4Mac, Divx, Windows Media Player etc. (I know...that's overkill. I was experimenting with all of them.)

The movie files in question are .wmv files and they work just fine on my Mac. These movie files produce the same error while logged into a different user account on this iMac. The movie files will produce the same error when opening them as an attachment within Mail and also as a stand-alone file out on the desktop. I've done a Get Info and forced these files to open within all apps mentioned above to no avail.

I've even gone so far as to remove/uninstall ALL QT files and app., and then reinstall a brand new version of QT via Apple's web site.

It's somewhat obvious that it's some corrupted file within either the System folder or the root level Library folder. Repairing disk permissions lends no help whatsoever as well.

Any thoughts folks?

Thanks much, Grampa Doodie.

MB Pro 2.5Ghz, and way too many more to mention., Mac OS X (10.5.6), From the Macintosh 512k and beyond...

Posted on Mar 11, 2009 5:25 PM

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Answer 1

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Mar 11, 2009 6:11 PM in response to Grampa Doodie

I have the latest version of QT, Flip4Mac, Divx, Windows Media Player etc. (I know...that's overkill. I was experimenting with all of them.)

Does your friend's computer have all of the above too?

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Answer 2

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Mar 11, 2009 7:01 PM in response to CMCSK

CMCSK,

Yes, that is what I meant. I read my message three times before posting and thought it was perfect. Far from it. 🙂

So yes...I was talking about the iMac in question.

Gramps.

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Answer 3

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Mar 11, 2009 7:21 PM in response to Grampa Doodie

Maybe a little more clarification is in order.

This friend's iMac had just QT on it and it did work fine with showing video clips when he'd receive them within his Mail program. I'm only assuming that they worked back then with just QT...so they were most likely QT compatible videos.

Now his friends email him .wmv attachments, and he cannot open them. (He said that he used to be able to open ALL video attachments, but I find that hard to believe seeing that he had only QT installed before today.) My first line of defense was to install Flip4Mac for him this afternoon. This wonderful little app has worked great on the 1200 plus Macs that I work with in our school district.

Flip4Mac didn't solve the issue so I installed the other apps mentioned just to see if they would help solve the issue. They did not. Same error pops up no matter what I do.

It was at that time that I tried to open these files on my MB Pro just to make sure they weren't corrupted in any way. They opened just fine on my MBP.

It almost sounds as if something is corrupted within his System folder or Library folder, or even possibly something is corrupted with his copy of QT. I'm nearly 100% sure I trashed all QT files before reloading a fresh version of QT. Still no go.

Grampa Doodie.

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Answer 4

Limnos

Level 10

411,217 points

Mar 11, 2009 8:41 PM in response to Grampa Doodie

Have you tried playing these with VLC player?

Are you sure these aren't copyright protected Windows Media files? I don't think any Mac player will play those.

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Answer 5

Mar 12, 2009 7:27 AM in response to Grampa Doodie

I work a 12 hour night shift but I'm flattered that people respect my opinions and "hope" I'll respond. Here I am.
Clear the air regarding QuickTime and Windows Media Player formats:
Microsoft (inventors of WMP formats) hasn't updated any Mac OS software since 2003 and has abandoned support for Mac users. They've turned to "third party" vendors and now endorse the http://flip4mac.com for Mac playback of WMP formats. They did the same for their AVI container over 10 years ago.
Your friends files are in WMP formats and QuickTime Player can't even open the file without this third party vendor and its software. This means QuickTime really isn't even involved. It all depends on the third party vendor.
Not all WMP formats are supported via the flip4mac component and that could have been the issue. Except that the same files work just fine on your machine. So, again, QuickTime shouldn't be involved and the issue is most likely the flip4mac component.
Since it involves third party software (that most of us recommend be used) I suggest this link:
http://forum.telestream.net/forum/

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Answer 6

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Mar 12, 2009 8:23 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I knew you'd come through QTKirk. I will check out the forum that you suggest. My friend is hinting towards a total makeover. I would love to wipe his HD clean and then reinstall everything fresh. Especially since he has old OS 9 System Folders, and several "Previous System" folders. Arrrgh!! He's an elderly guy who loves to mess around with his HD contents.

Thanks again Kirk...get your rest,

Grampa Doodie.

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Answer 7

Mar 13, 2009 6:33 AM in response to Grampa Doodie

The "elderly guy" should follow your advice and spend a few dollars at the same time.
Leopard (10.5) is a better OS and many third party apps are only tested using it. An "Archive and Install" of Tiger OS is where the "previous" System folders are created. They can safely be deleted if the system is working properly.
Purchasing an external drive is another good idea. 500 GB's are pretty cheap these days and it's easy to move some of the larger "Library" folders (iPhoto and iTunes) to it to free up internal HD space. This takes some of the load off the internal. Since I own an AppleTV device I store lots of movie downloads in my iTunes Library (40 GB's). External drives can be partitioned (great for back ups), used with Time Machine (Leopard's best new feature) and used as a boot drive (great for testing issues).
None of this will help with WMP formats that fail to play.

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Answer 8

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Mar 13, 2009 11:19 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks again for your insight Kirk.

I'm an AASP (ACMT) for our school district so I've imaged many, many Macs. Leo is very stable. I have suggested that he buy an external FW drive so that we can back up his stuff and then move on to Leo and Time Machine. He'll be so much happier having a new, clean install.

Gramps..."the young guy". 🙂 53 this coming Sunday.

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Answer 9

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Apr 13, 2009 7:37 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I have to re-visit this issue/question one more time. As mentioned in my original post, I could open all movie files on my MBP but my elderly friend could no longer open video files on his iMac since I ran Software Update on his Mac.

Last Friday I was forced to re-image my MBP and reinstall everything fresh. Now I can no longer open video files sent to me via email. So I'm guessing that whatever it is that's not allowing my friend's iMac to open video files, is now happening on my MBP because of something I "don't" have installed.

Info: My MBP has Leopard and "all" software is up to date. Including Flip4Mac and QT Pro.

Very strange. What in the world am I'm missing?

Gramps.

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Answer 10

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Apr 13, 2009 8:00 AM in response to Grampa Doodie

Sorry, one more update to add to this post.

I just opened up my email via Mail on yet another MacBook and all of the same video files open just fine. So there is definitely something missing from not only my elderly friend's iMac but also my freshly re-imaged MBP.

One side note: When I opened an email while using the other MacBook, all attached video files show up as a small video window or screen within the main area of the email itself.

Those same video files attached to my emails on my MacBook Pro show up as just an attachment. I even tried saving these video files to my desktop...but get the same error.

Gramps.

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Answer 11

Grampa Doodie Author

Level 2

240 points

Apr 13, 2009 9:26 AM in response to Grampa Doodie

Just for the record, I uninstalled Flip4Mac and re-installed another copy from Version Tracker...and problem is solved.

Happy Gramps. 🙂

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