Windows Movie Maker Closing

Hey all,

I'm using Windows Movie Maker version 5.1 on Windows XP. The problem I'm having is that it keeps closing off whenever I add certain video effects (this seems to be anything except slow down/speed up) and when I try to add titles or credits (I can't get any further than the box for entering text). I thought that the problem could be the video clips I'm using, but it still closes off even when I start a blank project and try to create a title.

What confuses me is that there are no error messages whatsoever - the window just disappears as if I've clicked "close". I've checked the microsoft website and there appears to be no information about this error - is there any way to fix this? Or is there some alternative movie-making software I could use just as easily?

Thankyou for your time.