Help Greatly Appriciated. Thanks

[Hutchison5899]

OK, first question. I have a Sony DV handycam, and I have taken a few videos. I would like to put the video on my hard drive, but cannot figure out how to do it. I upload the pictures off the memory stick just fine, but how do I take the video off the tape and put it on my PC.


Second Question. I recently had to reformat my hard drive and load everything from scratch. I used to be able to watch DVD's on Window's media player, but now it says I can't. is there something I need to do to make that work? Or, do I need to download something else to watch DVD's on my PC again. IF so, is there a free program. Thank you very much for any input.

Hutch

[setarip]

"do I need to download something else to watch DVD's on my PC"

WinDVD or PowerDVD - or an MPEG-2 codec...

[Hutchison5899]

but why did I used to be able to watch dvds on WMP but now I can't?

[setarip]

You must have corrupted/deleted/or otherwise altered a file somewhere along the way...

[gary172]

1a) You 'may' need a capture device or capture card that will allow you to connect the sony to your PC (the more modern DV cameras use a mini Firewire port, otherwise it would be some kind of composite video).
Read the instructions that came with your camera. You may just have to connect it to a firewire port on your PC. If you don't have a firewire port, you will need firewire PCI card or some kind of adaptor. I believe Pinnacle Studio sells such DV to PC adaptors too. There are others. It depends on what ports are available on your camera.
Do a google search to learn about capture cards or visit this link:

http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards

1b) You need capture software like Nero or Ulead video studio 7. there are others. After you have captured you can play it from your HDD or use the software to author your own DVD.

2) You didn't indicate the O/S or SP, if any. You may have to go to support.microsoft.com and download updates to Windows Media Player and/or directX etc. (BTW: don't update with WinXP SP2 unless you know in advance what you need to do.)

What kind of message do you get from media player?

[Grinch]

If your computer is an "off the shelf machine" you should be able to go to the web site of the manufacturer and down load all the drivers for your disc drives and etc. That should fix your DVD drive problem.