Realizing that VHS is near the end of its life, I am trying to convert some old VHS home movies to a digital format.  I am using an ADS firewire analogue to digital converter.  I have used this in the past with no problem.  However recently i have noticed problem with iMovie 08. I can trim a movie just fine, but when i try to empty the trash of deleted clips, it starts to delete, the progress bar gets halfway through and then freezes. I then have to force quit iMovie and then the video is corrupted.  Anyone have any ideas on this?

Do you have any Quicktime addons installed? Are they up-to-date? I know I’ve had problems in the past with my iMac when my laptop was OK - and the only difference was the addons. You may like to open up your Console window next time you try it and see what error messages crop up.

I’m not at my computer right now so I can’t tell you exactly where to look in the /Library directory; however it’s quite simple to delete the addons.

Also, for me, when I empty the trash, iMovie can take forever.  I would do this.. install, for free, iStat menus and enable the Hard Drive monitor. 

Then start iMovie and empty the trash, I bet the hard drive is busy… as opposed to being idle..

Lastly, how much free hard drive space do you have…?

I know this won’t solve the immediate issue, but you should take a look at iMovie 09 when you get the chance..