Windows Movie Maker
If you've never edited your own movies, or if you have a better-equipped video editor, you might want to get rid of Windows Movie Maker. Sadly, with Microsoft's System-File-Protection mechanism, you cannot simply delete the relevant files from the Program Files folder. Windows will restore the files within a few minutes and Windows Movie Maker will keep working. If you are really stubborn about removing Windows Movie Maker from Windows XP, there is a workaround which will allow you to delete all the concerned files and free-up some space which would otherwise be taken up by Windows Movie Maker.
Uninstallation
Removing Windows Movie Maker requires a workaround since Windows considers it an essential part of Windows. Here is the procedure to delete Windows Movie Maker completely from Windows.
Restart Windows XP in Safe Mode. To do this, start tapping on the F8 key as soon as your computer boots, before the Windows XP loading screen. In the menu that is then shown, select Safe Mode.
Once Safe Mode starts, Click on Start Menu, then go to Run and type "cmd". This will open up a command prompt where you will be entering a few commands:
Type these commands one-by-one and you will completely remove Windows Movie Maker.
Once Safe Mode starts, Click on Start Menu, then go to Run and type "cmd". This will open up a command prompt where you will be entering a few commands:
Type these commands one-by-one and you will completely remove Windows Movie Maker.
- del "c:\system32\dllcache\*wmm*.dll"
- del "c:\system32\dllcache\moviemk.exe"
- del "c:\Program Files\Movie Maker\*.*"
- rmdir /s "c:\Program Files\Movie Maker"
Final Words
Removing Windows Movie Maker, while possible, can be dangerous if you do not take care while typing the above commands and delete anything important by mistake. Remember that the system32 directory contains the core of Windows system files and any important files being deleted will cause big problems. If in doubt, make sure to backup everything before you start with this procedure.
