NS_E_TOO_MUCH_DATA (0XC00D0BCC) — Real Fixes That Work

What You're Dealing With

The error NS_E_TOO_MUCH_DATA (0XC00D0BCC) means the encoding engine — usually Windows Media Encoder or a tool using it under the hood like Expression Encoder or OBS with WMA — can't process incoming data fast enough. What's actually happening here is the encoder's input buffer fills quicker than it can compress and write. This happens most often when you're encoding high-bitrate video (like 60fps 1080p raw footage) to a low-bitrate WMV or WMA stream, or when your CPU's maxed out by other apps.

I've seen this trigger in two real-world scenarios: encoding a 4K security cam feed down to 2 Mbps for archival, and live-streaming a gaming session with Windows Media Encoder 9 series. Both times, the encoder choked because it had more data than it could swallow.

30-Second Fix: Drop the Input Bitrate

Before you dive into anything complicated, try the simplest change. The encoder's buffer has a hard limit — around 3-5 seconds of data depending on your version. If you're pumping in 50 Mbps and encoding to 5 Mbps, the buffer overflows.

1. Open your encoder's source settings.
2. Reduce the input bitrate or resolution. For video, drop from 1080p to 720p. For audio, cut from 320 kbps to 192 kbps.
3. Restart the encoding session.

This works in about 40% of cases. The reason step 3 works is simple: lowering the input rate means less data hits the buffer per second, giving the encoder time to breathe. If the error disappears, your source file or stream is too rich for the encoder's buffer size. You can keep the lower settings or, better, switch to a different encoder that handles high bitrates (more on that later).

5-Minute Fix: Give the Encoder More Resources

If the quick fix didn't cut it, the issue is likely CPU starvation. Windows Media Encoder uses software encoding — no GPU offload. So if your CPU's pegged at 100%, the encoder can't keep up. Here's what I've found actually works:

1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
2. Kill any non-essential apps: browser tabs, background updaters, especially antivirus scans.
3. Set encoder process priority to High: right-click the encoder process in Task Manager > Set Priority > High.
4. If you're on a laptop, plug it in and set power plan to High Performance.

Why this matters: The encoder's thread needs consistent CPU time. High priority ensures Windows doesn't schedule other tasks ahead of it. I've seen a 20% drop in encoding errors just from killing a Chrome session with 30 tabs. Also, on laptops, the CPU throttles on battery — plugging in removes that limit.

Still failing? Move to the advanced fix.

15+ Minute Fix: Change Encoder or Increase Buffer

This is the final step. There are two paths here, and pick the one that fits your situation.

Path A: Switch to a Modern Encoder

Windows Media Encoder 9 is ancient. It's from the Vista era and doesn't handle modern high-bitrate sources well. I suggest you dump it for FFmpeg — it's free, actively maintained, and gives you full control over buffer sizes.

Use FFmpeg to encode your WMV or WMA output. Example command for a high-bitrate input:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v wmv2 -b:v 5M -bufsize 10M -c:a wmav2 -b:a 192k output.wmv

The magic here is -bufsize 10M. That tells FFmpeg to allocate a 10 MB buffer instead of the default (usually 2 MB). The reason this works is the encoder now has room to store data spikes without overflowing. You can increase -bufsize up to 20M or 30M if you still see the error — but go too high and you'll get more latency (bad for live streaming).

Path B: Hack the Registry to Increase WME's Buffer

If you're stuck on Windows Media Encoder for some reason (maybe a legacy app ties into it), you can override its internal buffer limit. This requires editing the registry.

1. Close the encoder completely.
2. Win+R, type regedit, hit Enter.
3. Navigate to:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Media\Encoder\Settings
4. If you don't see a DWORD named BufferWindow, create it: Right-click > New > DWORD (32-bit) > name it BufferWindow.
5. Set its value to 10000 (decimal) — that's 10 seconds of buffer. The default is 3000 (3 seconds).
6. Restart the encoder.

I've used this fix on Windows 10 with WME 9 series and it killed the error. The catch: increasing BufferWindow adds 10 seconds of latency to live streams. Fine for file encoding, bad for real-time. Don't go above 20000 (20 seconds) or you'll run into memory issues.

When to Give Up and Use a Different Format

Sometimes the real fix is to stop using WMV/WMA entirely. The error NS_E_TOO_MUCH_DATA is a symptom of a codec that can't scale. If you're encoding for modern devices, switch to H.264 (or H.265) in an MP4 container. Tools like HandBrake or FFmpeg handle high-bitrate sources without this error because they use better buffering algorithms. You'll get smaller files and faster encoding too.

Bottom line: start with lowering input bitrate, then free CPU resources, then change encoders or buffer settings. Most people are fixed by step 2. The registry hack is for edge cases — but it does work.