I have a new HP laptop running Windows 7 x 64. It has several USB ports, a 1394 port, and a microphone jack. There are no video input or output jacks. What's the best way to copy my old home movies from a VCR onto the laptop and make DVDs? Some of the hardware and software solutions I've read about aren't clear whether or not they support Windows 7. Thanks!
I borrowed an EasyCap device, but the Video Studio software included only works up to Windows 2000. The latest version, according to Ulead's website was released in 2007, so I don't think it would work with Windows 7. I was, however, able to download updated device drivers from Microsoft. I'll try the unit without the software. If it writes an avi file, I may have some other software that would convert it to DVD. I'll post my findings. Thanks again.
There are plenty of FREE progr4ams that can create the DVD. For example, AVStoDVD and DVD Flick. Both recommended on this forum. Concentrate on getting the capture part done, the rest should be simple.
Hey my friend, the info about the Easycap not working after win2k is hogwash. Not sure if it's just easycap's (now called ezcap) way of selling more units or trying to recoup their losses for all the "knock-offs" they claim are out there. I have the early version, the 60 standard (not plus) and have used it quite successfully on my win/vista lappie. There are, as with all cheaper alternatives, some possible challenges: The directions are crap and terribly vague (but the company in China has made recent additions to the docs on the site), if you don't follow the install exactly, you'll have issues and there are 100 users out there with 2 that can help you troubleshoot it, but when it works well, it's dollar for dollar the best item to transfer tape to DVD ever made, bar none! Anyone who's learned to use one with success will tell you the same, the naysayers of course, will disagree, but 99% of the time it's settings or some virus/other video software conflict, so it's the end-user with the problems, not the device. I'm having trouble with mine right now, but my homepage got hijacked. Find another piece of hardware that can rip VHS to your PC for $15, let me know first. Furthermore, I've never, ever run into Macrovision after ripping, and I'm talking about 8 year old commercial tapes, not 20. I don't know that it was designed to cut through Macro, but after a few dozen clean rips and burning with Convertxtodvd (no decryption capabilities), I've begun to toss a whole lot of tapes in the trash, and the quality difference is almost lossless (as vhs goes). I hope this helps Cheers Wyattspoppa
I haven't had any success with the EasyCap on either my laptop or my desktop. The desktop has Win 7 Ultimate. Windows located and installed the newest drivers, but an icon never shows up for the EasyCap. On the laptop, with Win 7 Home Edition, I get a notice at the bottom that a new device has been installed (same as on desktop), but again there's no way to activate it.
Ok my friend, let's roll up our sleeves and get dirty. First, here are a number of vids, forum chats, drivers and items worth looking at which I'll list here: This is an intelligent discussion with some folks and their successes, most of the forums about this enigmatic product feature 20 people all telling each other what's not working, a glorified b*tch session and totally useless (it's spelled "Google" folks!) http://www.videohelp.com/forum/arch...ure-card-usb-2-0-rca-and-s-video-t331168.html Here is a driver set, it's the actual drivers file so it will prompt you to load it, save it for later. I scanned with Norton and Spysweeper, clean: http://escalalibre.com/descargas/AllEasyCAPDriversIFound.rar Here are a couple of Youtube tutorials not made by 9 year olds or 20 somethings that insist on blaring thrash/grunge "music" to insult your eardrums (those markings on the guitar are called "frets" and they were put there for a reason Johnny Rotten wannabees!), also none were made with an epileptic jacked up on Red Bulls (you can actually read the monitor during the vid) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeLwTqV0NLg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53SqfjuOa0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnWOU3fAOUw There are several more, good thing as everyone has tricks of their own and probs they solved that you might have. Now, some real life tips from firsthand blood and sweat, pretty close to order of pertinence: DO NOT USE THE EXTENSION WIRE THAT IT CAME WITH! For reference, it's black and about 2 feet long, it contains magical powers that effectively kill easycaps ability to transfer. Chuck it! Plug the USB end directly to your 2.0 port and use good old-fashioned composite cables, and I've seen no discernable quality improvement using the S vid option, we're transferring VHS tapes after all (and when I do DVD's, the quality is one to one in my eyes) Under no circumstances should you plug in the easycap till the drivers are fully loaded and confirmed in your device manager. The vid driver will be called by it's actual name, the audio will likely be a generic USB name, you'll see it in your control panel under your sound file too. Make sure it registers under "recording" and is tagged. The "old school" easycap 60 works fine under Vista, forget what you read about needing the 60+, I just finished a movie 15 seconds ago, this entire mystery is always about settings and not getting a "real one". I got one that wasn't packaged and have no way to confirm it's OEM, I only know it works. If you have any problems, I have other things I can help with, feel free to ask. To be fair, I've only done it on XP and Vista32, not 7, but there you have it. Hope this is some help
Thanks, Wyattspop, for the quick reply. There's a lot of info here, so I'll be going through it this weekend. I did make the mistake of installing the EasyCap unit before installing the software disk, mainly because I didn't have the disk to start with. Windows did go out and find updated software, though, for Windows 7 Home Edition. I'll post my results soon. Thanks again.
Good my friend, a footnote, the original instructions say if you fail on an install that you should reinstall ON TOP of the old install, pretty sure this is to keep the filters in place in your registry. Upperfilters n lowerfilters (not a typo, it's one word in your reg)are the bane of many ripping and burning conflicts when running multiple multimedia proggies, some just don't play nice and can really mess up your video playback (ie. how Roxio can slam the door on Itunes) I've been working on all the little issues related to Easycap so feel free to ask, I've run into just about every challenge it can throw at you and found answers for most of them. Yes, please post all your successes and failures so we can all figure this thing out together. When it works right (and it can despite all the posts you see complaining about how awful it is) it's such a great tool for backing up VHS and other less known functionalities, and for about $15.
OK, I've waded through all the videos, and the one which made the most sense was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnWOU3fAOUw. It gave pretty good instructions, even though it didn't say where to download the drivers from. I eventually hooked up with a bay full of pirates which had the drivers I needed. I followed the instructions explicitly, but to no avail. The computer appears to recognize the device, but I never get any indication of how to start it. There's no icon on My Computer, even though the Device Manager recognizes it and says that it is working properly. There is a green LED on the device which never lights nor even blinks. I'm beginning to think the device itself is FUBAR. The person I borrowed it from wasn't sure if it was working or not. Pretty much the same results from both computers, one running Win 7 Home Edition, the other Win 7 Ultimate.
Good news; I've finally solved it! I obtained a program called Honestech VHS to DVD v4.0.25. The software works flawlessly with the EasyCap. Honestech sells it for about $70, and it comes with a device probably similar to the EasyCap, an A-D converter. It stores VHS copy to a temp file in .mpg form and you can either save it or burn it to a DVD. I haven't tried burning DVDs yet, because I'm happy right now just to have it on the hard drive, but there's no reason for me to believe it won't work. So far everything works exactly according to the manufacturer's website. Thanks again, everyone, for your kind help and support!
EasyCap made some A/D converters that fail real quick like....I bought one that the green light pooped out real quick. Little did I know that the green light tells you that the unit is really working. I sent the bummer back after a lot of email and they sent a new one that has the green light AND works. PS the post office lost it for a while too.
