Nikon D3100 videos editing?

When I want to upload videos I've recorded on my Nikon D3100 to my laptop, they play very slowly and not smoothly and won't import into windows movie maker.

How do I convert them into wmv's so they will import onto Windows Movie maker, or are there any free video editing softwares that you would recommend?

You have trouble playing them because your current graphics card is too slow to handle the huge data stream developed by these files. Besides a lap top isn't the best choice anyway - a desk top is much better because you can change out the graphics card to handle such data.

That I know of no, there's no free software that's worth having that will convert to wmv. Besides if your current graphics card is to slow to handle simple play back that lap top won't convert these files anyway. You'll need a larger graphics card, especially on a desk top. And you'll need a commercially available software program, perhaps $120 at retail to convert them.

Use any of the video converters on this page to convert your videos to WMV files. Total Video Converter costs but is still a good one.
http://www.cnet.com/...r&tag=srch

Also, check the camera's menu in Movie Mode. Besides the full HD videos, this camera can also produce MOV files. Change the Movie setting from the default HD to "Movie With Sound". The quality of the video won't be as high but it's easier to learn how things work with the simpler file type. When you begin to feel confident about taking, converting and using your own videos, you can move back to HD settings.

Not having enough RAM or enough "clean" (i.e.defragged) hard disk space, will interfere with video playback. Videos demand a lot of computer resources and take up a lot of space. You should have a minimum of 2 Gbs of RAM (more if you can fit it into your machine) and a good chunk of uninterrupted space on the HD. I have a 5 year old laptop (Toshiba) with 2 Gbs Ram and 90 Gbs (out of a total of 200 Gbs) free HD space and I can stream videos or watch my own with no problems.

You can use one of the following software expect windows movie maker:
AVS Video Editor (for windows) http://www.avs-video-editor.org/
Adobe Premiere (for windows) http://www.adobe.com/.../premiere/
Sony Vegas Pro (for windows) http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro