I used to be able to capture fine! What's happening?

[Zippy72]

Hi All,
I've had a strange problem occur with my system. I believe it was caused by installing the new software for the Pinnacle PCTV, which is supposed to allow you to capture real-time in MPEG 2 (Using WDM drivers).
When I installed this software and tried to capture the video froze for a few seconds, and dropped many frames and then began again for a few seconds and then repeated.
Well I didn't have high hopes anyway, so I uninstalled, cleaned the registry and reinstalled the generic btwincap WDM drivers which worked perfectly with VDub before.
I tried to capture, and...the same thing happens! I can capture for max 5 seconds, at which point the Preview image freezes, about a hundred frames are dropped, and then it begins again for 5 seconds, freezes etc etc.
I also tried defragging again, and I tried with the previous VFW drivers and the same thing happens. I even uninstalled my Virus Scanner (also recently purchased) thinking that may be the problem, but no go.

Has anybody got any ideas or will I have to format the disc or something equally drastic?
FYI when the video freezes, the CPU usage shoots up from around 20% to 90-100%, but no programs are running in the background (although a few processes are but I don't know which to kill in XP).
Also FYI this happens with VHS and live TV, and the tape I was testing is OK because I had previously captured it without a single frame drop!

Many thanks to anybody who can help.
Cheers

[Zippy72]

No ideas anyone?
I have even re-installed my operating system, and tried capturing with only XP and Vdub installed, and still the same result!

Is my card knackered?

[henshaw]

You say you're using XP, just a thought but try turning off "system Restore" Good Luck

[Nelson37]

The new drivers have probably overwritten a file somewhere, many install programs will leave the existing file in place, particularly if it is newer.

You need to locate EVERY file created by new software version, delete it, then install old software. Sometimes, physically removing the card, reboot, run scanreg /fix, re-install card may work.

Reformat and re-install is a bit drastic but is almost guaranteed to work, unless the card is indeed hosed.

[Zippy72]

Thanks guys,
I tried turning off system restore but no go.
I'll try removing the card and reinstalling, but this is actually still happening after reformatting the hard disk and I didn't reinstall the new software, so is it possible that the file's still there?
Thanks again and I'll keep you up to date

[Nelson37]

Did you re-format your HD or just re-install your OS? Big difference. Format means no old files, re-install they could still be there.

If you did reformat and perform software installation EXACTLY (updated software not from the CD? ANY updated drivers or capture utilities?) as what originally worked, double check cables, sound also, (try capping video only), maybe try new video cable. R and R board also. Try a different slot.

If everything is the same, all cables are OK, then I would have to guess your card popped.

[Zippy72]

Well I did actually reformat the whole C drive, so I wouldn't be taking any chances. The only thing I haven't tried yet is to R & R the card or a different slot. I'll try that tonight.
Here's hoping......

[Zippy72 at home]

Well I've checked various stuff, and here's where it gets weird.
I reinstalled Pinnacle's software and now I can cpature fine with it to VCD, SVCD or DVD format. But the quality's not that great, it would be better to capture as avi and then encode. But when I use iuVCR (which is best with the WDM drivers) it still freezes.
So I did some checking..

In XP you can check what processes are currently running, and how much CPU space they're taking. There is taskmanager active which takes a very small amount, but there is a process called ''non-active system processes'' which takes a hell of a lot, and when it peaks, that's when I lose frames (as before up to 30 in 1 time). I tried to close this, but XP says it cannot close them.

The reason it works with the Pinnacle software is because it seems to take priority over the non-active processes and reduce their activity to a pint wher it doesn't interfere.

Can anybody shed any light on what these processes are and how to get rid of them?
Thanks a lot guys.

[Nelson37]

Did you change to XP at the same time as the new Pinnacle software? If you captured OK in XP before, then something else has changed. Check BIOS options or default settings in XP, try to recall what was set in original working setup. Sometimes its the strangest damn thing which causes interference - like Outlook polling for messages every five minutes or some such shit.

It sounds like your missing one diddly setting change or driver update, did you update XP after install? Or, did you this time and you did NOT do irt before? You need to duplicate the original settings and/or the process you used to get there.