This issue has been outlined by others, but I haven't been able to find a satisfactory answer/solution.

MPG files do not open on MovieMaker. Only the audio track opens. From what I can gather, the codec required to run mpgs is not included with Windows 8-10 (I am using Windows 8). This is ridiculous. And it is even more ridiculous that the issue has been posted on various message boards as well as here on the Microsoft forum for over a year without anyone from Microsoft providing a clear, definitive answer to the problem. Surely this is a major software "design fault" that ought to have been sorted out as a matter of urgency? What use is MovieMaker if standard mpgs don't open in it? Does Microsoft really expect videomakers to convert their videos to another format - with the loss in quality that this involves, in addition to the time it takes - every time they want to open something in MovieMaker?

Is there a solution to this problem or not?