PRPVinyl Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 i have a couple of Panasonic camcorders that use Digital Video tapes. Yes they are 8 or 9 years old but still work great. The problem is the software that came with them is not directly compatible with Windows 7 or Windows 8. When I try to download the software it will not recognize the camera so it will not even try to finish installing the software. When I try to install the patch for Windows 7/8 it just locks up the computer.The computer is recognizing the camera is attached because it makes the dinging sound when you hook it up to the USB port.So the question is does anyone know of a good software I can use to down load the video from the video camera to the computer?My options right now are find a new software that will download the video from the camera.Buy a used computer that still has XP for an operating system.Buy a new camcorder and use the old ones for paperweights.I am trying not to buy a new camera, don't want to spend the money, would rather spend money on operation cheap bitch/ or the Nova.I would also prefer not to have another computer, but if that is the only option I will have to go with it.The original software is made by Pinnacle, and they offer a new software for about $60. The other software is by Roxio but I do not know if it will work to down load the videoIf anyone can offer any advice or help I would appreciate itThanksmatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SniveTroll Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 i usually "acquire" software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttocs Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 The chance of you finding a video program to work tapes on a modern windows program is going to be pretty hard I would guess. They normally do not update the old equipment when new gear comes out and its been a while since dvd recording/flash recording camera's took over. I thought you could go to the photo section at some drugstores and get tapes converted to dvd which I would guess is your best bet. Let me know if you go that way as I will dig out the 3 mins of tape I took at the VERY end of the 2001 world series game 7 when the diamond backs beat the yankess in the bottom of the 9th. Waited in line for 13 hrs to get those tickets, called in sick the day after the game too and worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRPVinyl Posted October 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 I bought the updated Pinnacle studio software, and now the computer realizes there is something there, it just does not recognize the device. I will have to hit up a few pawn shops and see if I can find a used computer running Windows 98 on the cheap.It just sucks hardcore that these cameras are now essentially doorstops and paper weightsMatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttocs Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 IS that one of the old fire-wire sytstems? I had one and used it for a while and now still have the tapes but the computer interface was always sooooo slow to capture and renderr something. How good is the quality played on a modern tv(just curious seems like a good HD tv would make that picture look worse) Not sure how it will know to power the tape forward/backward if it doesn't recognize the camera and have the specifics of it and the software matched up. It sucks but you can record better quality stuff from most modern point/shoot cameras for less then $200 today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRPVinyl Posted October 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Well right now I still can't download the video because the computers are not recognizing the device. They see that something is there but not the specific device. I am not going to spend much on trying to find a computer to use. The software I bought seems pretty good from playing with it and will work once I get the video downloaded. The quality always seemed good but I have not used them in a couple of years. They still record, and i would rather not spend money on a new camera if I don't have to. If I can find a cheap computer running windows 98 I can download the original software and drivers from panasonic and get them to download the video. Once they are downloaded as digital files then i can transfer them on a thumbdrive to the newer computer and edit.matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttocs Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 I thought that would be a problem as at that time each of the manf were more into making you use their software then you using some other brand of software. With out the specific drivers for that camera working on that specific software I would imagine there would be a lot of small issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joekd Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Few years back I had this same issue where I wanted to just get some vids saved from an old camcorder, I went with the route of a separate PC. Just took an old lab machine I had her and installed Win2K then pulled off all the files, saved them to a networked drive and reformatted the PC when done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
