G'day again cameron.
Boy, you've had some issues going on that need resolving ....
Your iMovie Project
I understand your movie is complex, with a lot of time and effort gone into its creation.
Try this:
Go to iMovie -> File -> Export ->
(Choose Quicktime from the top row) Compress movie for: Full Quality -> Click on Share.
In the Save window name your project in
Save As: and in
Where: choose Desktop then click Save.
iMovie will now compress your movie and tell you how long until the task is completed.
When finished, go to
iMove -> File -> New and choose an appropriate name and location and save your new movie template
(in other words it will be ready for the importation of your previously saved movie).
In the new movie window go to File -> Import -> and navigate to the Desktop and select your movie, then click on Open.
NOW ...... hopefully what you have done is to import your movie complete with complex audio ... all rolled into an editable little move project.
Drag the movie to the timeline, drag the playhead to the desired location and click on Command + T and hey presto! you suddenly have two movies sitting on the timeline!
Next step is to just finetune it so that each movie edit is exactly the size YouTube allows you to upload.
I hope this works for you cameron ..... ;o)
NOW ....
Your MSN Issues
There are three options here to try ....
Try adding a new user account and see if the problem still persists.
Uninstall and reinstall MSN.
Use iChat in conjunction with a Jabber Account to chat to your MSN buddies. It will only be video plus text though.
Here's the link to the tutorial, it's very straightforward, I know this as I was able to set it up and that's saying something. Just ensure you read and follow every little bit of instruction given.
Linky Guide for setting up iChat
There is a link in that page which takes you to the walkthrough to setting up your Jabber account.
General Maintenace Tips
On the whole, I would really go and create a new user account and temporarily use it with the intent of comparing your MBP's general performance while in the new account. Also I would download and install and run OnyX to flush out any cobwebs with the hope that your MBP can bounce back with the minimum of fuss.
It is adviseable to have on your MBP 3 accounts for now .... an Admin account for installing apps and running OnyX ... your current account which should be a Standard Account ... and the third Standard Account which I am urging you to create so you can further troubleshoot your issues.
Here is a link further explaining my point.
With OnyX, just run the Cleaning & Maintenace tasks and don't tinker around with anything. If you're asked to restart, remember which section you have just completed and restart .... every time you're asked to restart just click on the restart button no matter how annoying it might seem!
And don't fret if OnyX asks you for a password ... it has to ask for an Admin Password so that your MBP is protected from someone running it and messing things up for you.
I'm off camping now until late Sunday (my time of course) so I'll check back then ...
Good Luck Cameron!