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  1. Member
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    Hello,

    I am unable to find an answer for this problem anywhere else and hope someone here will be able to help out.

    I have an HP Pavilion dv7-6157nr Windows 7, 64 bit machine. I installed a Honestech VidBox 3 video capture device and VHS to DVD software on the laptop. This VidBox was working on my Windows 7, 64 bit system but suddenly stopped working. I installed it on an older computer with Windows Vista 64 bit and it worked just fine. Since the VidBox worked on the Vista system I uninstalled the VHS to DVD software and VidBox driver from the Windows 7 system and ran cCleaner on my registry. I then reinstalled version 5.0.29 VHS to DVD software first, rebooted and then reinstalled the version 3.0.6 VidBox driver and rebooted. I then plugged the VidBox hardware in to be sure it was recognized. I then started the VHS to DVD software and made sure it was set to use the VidBox on composite NTSC_M and started the VHS tape playing. The VHS to DVD video screen was unresponsive and completely blank. While I got no error messages the traditional black window didn't even show up in the VHS to DVD software. I did, however, get audio.

    The VidBox stopped working on the Win 7 system shortly after trying to configure VidBox 3 to work with NCH Debut video capture software. Initially Debut worked with the VidBox video option and was showing the VCR video on the capture screen but it didn't seem to like the VidBox audio option. When I tried to save the VidBox audio setting in Debut it would hang up and crash the software. After a reboot the VidBox would no longer work with NCH Debut, NCH Golden Videos, NCH Video Pad, or even Honestech’s VHS to DVD. VidBox used to work with all of these programs. I also tried another video capture device I have and it too works on the Vista system but will no longer work on the Win 7 system. I have no errors in Win 7 device manager and it shows the VidBox is “working properly”. It is as if some setting got switched and is only recognizing the audio and not the video portion of the VidBox.

    I uninstalled/reinstalled all universal serial bus controllers and it, unfortunately, didn't work. I am really stumped on this one. This is the first time I have ever had a challenge with a hardware device that I couldn't eventually overcome and your input will be very much appreciated.

    Thanks for this forum and all you do. Honestech’s support has been very responsive but has no idea how to fix this.

    Thanks,

    John
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  2. I had exactly the same problem! What solved it for me wasn't just uninstalling the USB devices, but under device manager, deleting the drivers before uninstalling and restarting. Then reinstalled the drivers, and it worked again.

    Honestech were friendly but couldn't help me. Best of luck!
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    Originally Posted by girlofthepuits View Post
    I had exactly the same problem! What solved it for me wasn't just uninstalling the USB devices, but under device manager, deleting the drivers before uninstalling and restarting. Then reinstalled the drivers, and it worked again.

    Honestech were friendly but couldn't help me. Best of luck!
    Hi girlofthepuits,

    Thanks so much for the prompt reply. Unfortunately your suggestion didn't work for me. I think you are on the right track, however. I think the solution will be something simple like that. Since the VidBox seems to be recognized by Win 7 and the drivers show that they are "working properly" in device the manager I think it is a Windows problem somewhere. There is probably a driver that Windows 7 needs to recognize the video feed or a registry setting that needs to have the properties setting changed from a zero to a one, or some such simple solution. It is very strange that VHS to DVD 5.0 is recognizing the VidBox (it shows up in the "record settings" module with no errors) and yet the software is unable to "see" the VHS video feed from the VHS player.

    I have the same situation with an EasyCap video capture device. My older Vista 64 bit system can "see" the video feed from the Honestech VidBox and the EasyCap video capture devices but the Windows 7, 64 bit system can't "see" the video feed from either device in spite of the fact that both video capture devices show up in Win 7 device manager and the VHS to DVD 5.0 software with no errors. Because of this I believe that the NCH Debut software corrupted some Windows registry setting or Win 7 driver when it crashed. The Win 7 system can "see" a video feed because the video feed shows up flawlessly in VHS to DVD 5.0 when I switch to the laptop's built in video camera option in the VHS to DVD 5.0 record settings. I would do a system restore but I waited too long and the restore point I need is now gone.

    This is very strange and I hope someone will have an answer to this mystery.

    Thanks,

    John
    Last edited by jglefler; 11th Jan 2013 at 14:12.
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  4. Why not just capture to DV-AVI using VLC?
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  5. Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    Why not just capture to DV-AVI using VLC?
    The Honestech box won't work in VLC... believe me, I've tried!

    Originally Posted by jglefler View Post

    Hi girlofthepuits,

    Thanks so much for the prompt reply. Unfortunately your suggestion didn't work for me. I think you are on the right track, however. I think the solution will be something simple like that. Since the VidBox seems to be recognized by Win 7 and the drivers show that they are "working properly" in device the manager I think it is a Windows problem somewhere. There is probably a driver that Windows 7 needs to recognize the video feed or a registry setting that needs to have the properties setting changed from a zero to a one, or some such simple solution. It is very strange that VHS to DVD 5.0 is recognizing the VidBox (it shows up in the "record settings" module with no errors) and yet the software is unable to "see" the VHS video feed from the VHS player.

    I have the same situation with an EasyCap video capture device. My older Vista 64 bit system can "see" the video feed from the Honestech VidBox and the EasyCap video capture devices but the Windows 7, 64 bit system can't "see" the video feed from either device in spite of the fact that both video capture devices show up in Win 7 device manager and the VHS to DVD 5.0 software with no errors. Because of this I believe that the NCH Debut software corrupted some Windows registry setting or Win 7 driver when it crashed. The Win 7 system can "see" a video feed because the video feed shows up flawlessly in VHS to DVD 5.0 when I switch to the laptop's built in video camera option in the VHS to DVD 5.0 record settings. I would do a system restore but I waited too long and the restore point I need is now gone.

    This is very strange and I hope someone will have an answer to this mystery.

    Thanks,

    John
    Another solution could be as follows:

    Create a system restore point
    Do the installation and deletion of all video capture devices from Device Manager, then restart
    Uninstall your VHS to DVD software and all other related software from EasyCap, then restart
    Run 'regedit' as administrator, and export your registry file. Obviously messing with the registry can be a bit dangerous, so be careful not to delete just anything! Find all instances of 'Honestech' and 'EasyCap' and delete the folders in the registry relating to those two manufacturers, (for instance HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Installer\User Data\Products and then the relevant folder whose name is just a jumble of characters, then restart. Drivers are stored in the registry at HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class so if you want, look through the list and if you find the VidBox in that list, delete it. Same with the EasyCap device.

    Then, create a new user account with administrative privileges and try following the Honestech installation guide again. Do not use the EasyCap device, as a similar device tried to use the same driver for me, which made both of them not work.

    Keep me posted!
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    Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    Why not just capture to DV-AVI using VLC?
    I have used VLC to play back video but didn't realize it could be used to capture VHS video. Thanks for the suggestion.
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    Originally Posted by girlofthepuits View Post

    Another solution could be as follows:

    Create a system restore point
    Do the installation and deletion of all video capture devices from Device Manager, then restart
    Uninstall your VHS to DVD software and all other related software from EasyCap, then restart
    Run 'regedit' as administrator, and export your registry file. Obviously messing with the registry can be a bit dangerous, so be careful not to delete just anything! Find all instances of 'Honestech' and 'EasyCap' and delete the folders in the registry relating to those two manufacturers, (for instance HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Installer\User Data\Products and then the relevant folder whose name is just a jumble of characters, then restart. Drivers are stored in the registry at HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class so if you want, look through the list and if you find the VidBox in that list, delete it. Same with the EasyCap device.

    Then, create a new user account with administrative privileges and try following the Honestech installation guide again. Do not use the EasyCap device, as a similar device tried to use the same driver for me, which made both of them not work.

    Keep me posted!
    I was planning on deleting the registry entries but didn't have as detailed of a process as you have outlined in mind. What you have suggested is very helpful and I appreciate it very much. Thanks.
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  8. Originally Posted by jglefler View Post
    Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    Why not just capture to DV-AVI using VLC?
    I have used VLC to play back video but didn't realize it could be used to capture VHS video. Thanks for the suggestion.
    I didn't realize that either, until two weeks ago. Here's part of a letter which I wrote to a (European, hence the reference to euros) friend on the subject; it isn't specific to your box, but it might help give a general overview of what you need to do to begin capturing.

    Re capturing video, conventional wisdom tells one to purchase an expensive video-capture box like the Canopus ADVC-110. While this is a good idea if you have about 151 euros spare to spend recreationally, most of us don't. Since I need to transfer VHS tapes _and_ be able to eat in the same week (imagine that!), I do things a bit differently.

    While I am mainly a Linux user, I haven't found a way to make the following solution work with Linux as of yet. I've only been trying a short while, though, so I'm sure I will find a Linux-compatible workaround sooner or later. These following instructions assume you are running, or have access to a machine with, Windows 7.

    All of my tape-transfers are done with the Geniatech iGrabber USB Video Capture Device. One can purchase it for approx. 22 euros on Amazon and similar online vendors. The capture software which comes with it, Honestech VHS To DVD 3.0 SE, is abysmal at best; what I recommend you do is purchase the iGrabber but only install the drivers and not the capture software. Once the drivers are installed correctly, simply go into VLC Media Player (which you should install if you haven't already - it is the single best media player on planet Earth), right-click on the screen and then choose "Open Capture Device". From that menu, select "iGrabber Device" for the video source and "Line" or "USB Audio" (can't remember the exact wording) for the audio source. Apply/save those settings and then click on... again, I don't remember the exact wording, but I believe it is "show extended settings" or "show advanced settings". That button is at the bottom, near Play/Pause and the others (it's an icon; you must hover your cursor over it to see its description). Once you have clicked this extended settings button, simply press the red Record button which comes up. From that point onward, VLC will be recording the output of whatever is connected to the iGrabber. You can then press the Record button once again when you are finished capturing and VLC will create a DV-AVI file in C:/Users/username/. The exact parameters and whatnot are all editable in VLC's preferences menu... make sure to click "advanced settings" once you are in that menu.
    Good luck!
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    Originally Posted by jglefler View Post
    I have used VLC to play back video but didn't realize it could be used to capture VHS video. Thanks for the suggestion.
    Consider carefully that there's a huge difference between "Can I do this?" and "Should I do this?". None of our experienced members use VLC for video capturing. It would certainly not be my recommendation that you go this route.
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    I do appreciate all the input from everyone. This is the most helpful forum I have found and I appreciate it very much.
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  11. Originally Posted by jman98 View Post
    Originally Posted by jglefler View Post
    I have used VLC to play back video but didn't realize it could be used to capture VHS video. Thanks for the suggestion.
    Consider carefully that there's a huge difference between "Can I do this?" and "Should I do this?". None of our experienced members use VLC for video capturing. It would certainly not be my recommendation that you go this route.
    What's wrong with using it as a capture tool? It captures in DV-AVI (although it can capture/encode to many different codecs/formats if need be) and many people already have it.
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    Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    What's wrong with using it as a capture tool? It captures in DV-AVI (although it can capture/encode to many different codecs/formats if need be) and many people already have it.
    VLC uses its own internal encoders and decoders. I don't think all the encoders are good. I can't say anything about its ability to encode to DV as I have not tried that. I did try VLC for capturing MPEG-2 video and was not happy with it for that. VLC's encoder didn't give much control compared with the MPEG-2 encoder provided with my present capture device (and others I have owned), and it did not produce B-frames, which is unusual.
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  13. Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    What's wrong with using it as a capture tool? It captures in DV-AVI (although it can capture/encode to many different codecs/formats if need be) and many people already have it.
    VLC uses its own internal encoders and decoders. I don't think all the encoders are good. I can't say anything about its ability to encode to DV as I have not tried that. I did try VLC for capturing MPEG-2 video and was not happy with it for that. VLC's encoder didn't give much control compared with the MPEG-2 encoder provided with my present capture device (and others I have owned), and it did not produce B-frames, which is unusual.
    Interesting. What might you recommend for encoding from analog>DV-AVI?

    Thanks,

    /TE
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  14. Member
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    Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    Originally Posted by usually_quiet View Post
    Originally Posted by TrackingError View Post
    What's wrong with using it as a capture tool? It captures in DV-AVI (although it can capture/encode to many different codecs/formats if need be) and many people already have it.
    VLC uses its own internal encoders and decoders. I don't think all the encoders are good. I can't say anything about its ability to encode to DV as I have not tried that. I did try VLC for capturing MPEG-2 video and was not happy with it for that. VLC's encoder didn't give much control compared with the MPEG-2 encoder provided with my present capture device (and others I have owned), and it did not produce B-frames, which is unusual.
    Interesting. What might you recommend for encoding from analog>DV-AVI?

    Thanks,

    /TE
    DV-AVI is not really my thing, so I don't have a good recommendation for you. The only free DV encoder I have heard of is Cedocida DV Codec. It can be used with some free third-party capture software but I can't tell you if it is better than VLC's DV encoder.
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