My computer no longer recognizes my Panasonic mini-DV recorder

[mjv]

My computer no longer recognizes my Panasonic mini-DV recorder. I am using USB 2.0, but the device manager does not even recognize the camera. I have even tried multiple USB ports, all to no success. I believe this started when I switched my OS from XP to Vista. My son's computer, which runs XP, recognizes the camera, and I am able to use Windows MovieMaker on it without any problems. On my computer I can capture the video through Arcsoft Video Impression, but I prefer using MovieMaker. Moviemaker, however, doesn't recognize that my camera is attached. I can use MovieMaker with my regular digital camera when I capture short videos with it. Is there an update somewhere that I am missing? Any suggestions?

[edDV]

My computer no longer recognizes my Panasonic mini-DV recorder. I am using USB 2.0, but the device manager does not even recognize the camera. I have even tried multiple USB ports, all to no success. I believe this started when I switched my OS from XP to Vista. My son's computer, which runs XP, recognizes the camera, and I am able to use Windows MovieMaker on it without any problems. On my computer I can capture the video through Arcsoft Video Impression, but I prefer using MovieMaker. Moviemaker, however, doesn't recognize that my camera is attached. I can use MovieMaker with my regular digital camera when I capture short videos with it. Is there an update somewhere that I am missing? Any suggestions?

MiniDV camcorders and players normally connect over IEEE-1394 and that connection has been natively supported by Windows since XP. Panasonic did some DV over USB2 drivers but these are not natively supported by Windows. You need to consult Panasonic and find the correct USB driver for your OS version. The XP drivers may not work under Vista or Windows 7.