This article will discuss the nuts and bolts of how to convert MOV (Apple QuickTime Movie) file to WMV (Windows Media Video). It will assist you in cross-platform conversion especially if your source file is derived from an iOS (Apple) device from which you wish to use over a Windows based platform.

It’s important to convert MOV to WMV if you have no other third party media player installed in your Windows system and wish to play it with the built-in Windows Media Player.

Before we proceed with the explanation of how to convert MOV to WMV, let's first take a closer look at the MOV and the WMV video formats.

MOV Format

An MOV file is versatile in that it could support the storage of audio, video and text within a single file via separate  tracks, or the tracks could be created to link to multimedia data contained in a separate file.

Since the MOV format is developed by Apple to be used with its Quicktime Player, it's the native video format of iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.

The main advantages of the MOV format is its ability to be rendered as high quality video which makes for easy editing.

The main disadvantage of the MOV format is that it's proprietary in nature. It may not be supported in non-Apple devices.

It complicate matters for Apple devices owners who wish to play their video clips in other devices. Although conversion is the easiest solution one could do without the hassle.

WMV Format

The WMV format is one of the earliest digital video formats commonly used before other formats became popular in later years.

Though it's proprietary to Windows it has some standout advantages. It’s compatible with most devices and after compression it produces a much small file size while registering minimum loss in video quality compared to other codecs.

That said, the WMV format is popular as a streaming format in that it offers the progressive download feature. This means you don't have to wait for the whole movie file to be downloaded before watching it.

Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, you could start watching as soon as you click the PLAY button on your online video player.

If you do much of video-related tasks in a Windows-based platform, you'll have no problem with playback as it's supported by Windows Media Player that comes with your system.

Playback on the web is also supported. You could play a WMV file via Google Drive.

Also, it's relatively small file size make it ideal to send a video file as an email attachment.

To recap, WMV files are widely compatible, create relatively small video files and preserve the quality better than many other highly compressed video formats.

MOV to WMV Conversion

If your camera or device records in the MOV format and you need to edit it with  Windows Movie Maker or a WMV-supported video editor, you would need to convert MOV  to the WMV format first.

While there are many free video converters out there, you would want to choose the best video converter in the market to avoid your conversion process from hitting a snitch.

If you choose the wrong video converter you may end up with corrupted video files or with ones whose quality is not to your satisfaction.

Also, most of these free video converters limit their conversion to  a certain number of minutes. If you want to full conversion you would have to buy the premium version.

Recommended Free to Convert MOV to WMV

That said, if you would like to use a free video converter for a quick project, your best option would be the Freemake Video Converter for Windows to convert MOV to WMV. It's a versatile converter with no conversion limitations and doesn't require you to fork out cash to enjoy premium benefits.

If you don't fancy installing a video converter program to convert MOV to WMV, you could opt for a free online video converter especially if you have a fast Internet connection.

Your best bet would be Video Online Convert which could handle MOV to WMV conversion online by simply uploading your MOV file and choosing your desired output format.

If you're in need of a reliable video converter and want to save the time and hassle looking for one, it's advisable to choose the DVDFab Video converter among the fastest and the most versatile in the market.

MOV to WMV Conversion Steps with DVDFab Converter

Conversion is easy and quick with DVDFab Video Converter. Here are the steps to follow:

1) After installing DVDFab, launch it and Click on the Converter module   The next step would be to load your file Do this by clicking on the + sign  in the middle of the converter interface. Alternatively, you could drag your video file to the same spot.

Your MOV file will be loaded to the converter as shown below:

 The default output format will be MP4. To change it to WMV, click on the arrow and choose WMV as shown below:

Now that you’ve selected WMV as the desired output format, you may proceed to select the output folder where your converted video file will be stored. Click on the folder icon on the bottom half of the interface and select your desired directory.

Done with the selection of the output folder, you’re ready to begin conversion if you would like standard conversion.

If you’re looking additional customization of your output file you could use the advanced settings by clicking on the spanner icon.

Additionally, if you would like to edit your clip before conversion, you could call up the video editor by clicking the icon next to the spanner icon.

Once you’re satisfied with your settings, you can go ahead and hit the green Start button at the bottom right hand corner.

Conversion begins.

Done with the conversion look for the converted file in the output directory you’ve selected.

To test whether your MOV to WMV conversion has been successful, play the output file with your Windows Media Player by double-clicking on it.

Try DVDFab Video Converter for Free

You don't have to commit yourself to a purchase to convert your MOV to WMV. You're invited to test drive it for free by downloading it here.

It's a manageable file size of 121MB only and is compatible with Windows 10/8/7/Vista.

Give it a try today and you’ll not have to worry about how to convert MOV to WMV quickly, easily and error-free.