Extract text from Windows DVD Maker projects (MSDVD)
To convert MSDVD projects to another format, you need Windows DVD Maker or other Video software.
To convert other file formats to the "DVD Authoring Project" file type, you need software like Windows DVD Maker or a similar tool.
A .MSDVD file is a project file created by Windows DVD Maker, a legacy utility included with Windows Vista and Windows 7 for burning movies to physical discs. Unlike standard video files, an MSDVD file is actually an XML container that stores the recipe for your DVD - including menu layouts, chapter points, text styles, and file paths pointing to the source video and audio assets on your hard drive.
The primary frustration users face is that .MSDVD files do not contain actual video data. They are lightweight text files (often merely kilobytes in size) that reference heavy media files located elsewhere. Because Windows DVD Maker was removed from Windows 8, 10, and 11, opening these projects on modern systems is nearly impossible without virtualization. Furthermore, if the original source videos (e.g., AVI, WMV) have been moved, renamed, or deleted since the project was saved, the MSDVD file becomes a broken link with no way to reconstruct the movie.
To "convert" this file, your goal is usually to retrieve the watchable content. If you still have access to a Windows 7 machine, you can open the project and publish it to a ISO disc image or burn a physical DVD. For most modern users, the pragmatic solution is to open the .MSDVD file in a text editor (like Notepad++) to view the XML structure. By searching for <File> or <Media> tags within the text, you can identify the directory paths of the original video files. Once located, those source files can be converted directly to MP4 for web use or MKV for archiving.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your MSDVD file.
Users also converted MSWMM, MLT, DRX and PLP files.
If you want to convert MSDVD file to MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV, FLV, WEBM, MKV, M4V, 3GP, OGV, ASF or RM, you can use Windows DVD Maker or similar software from the "DVD Authoring Project" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MTS, MOV, RMVB, DIVX, RM, H264, TS, WMV, VOB, MP4, XVID or AVI files to MSDVD, try Windows DVD Maker or another comparable tool in the "DVD Authoring Project" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our MSDVD converter.