Winfast TV2000XP Expert Won't Capture

[Vance]

I just installed a replacement Winfast TV2000XP Expert card and everything seems to work this time except that it won't capture anything except .wmv format and sure could use some help finding out why not.

Before I sent the original card back as defective, it started out capturing fine in .avi but just before I pulled it from my computer, it was doing the same thing as what the replacement card is doing. So, the problem is with my computer.

What happens is that then I try to capture from any source (composite or live input) the video is extremely choppy - almost like a slide show - and the audio is completely distorted. Also during playback, my computer slows way down to the point that it takes forever to shut anything down so I can restart the computer. I have tried capturing on several programs such as Ulead DVD Factory, Ulead Video Studio 8, Video Impressions and PowerDirector Express and they all do the same thing. The only program that will record is Windows Movie Maker.

I am running an AMD Athlon +2200 with 256MB of RAM on a 250GB IDE HDD.

Anybody have any ideas? Suggestions? Could the problem have something to do with the video codec's?

Thanks,
Vance

[thecoalman]

A 2200 and 256mb of ram just isn't enough. At the very least get another stick of ram. XP will suck up well over 200MB on startup....

My question is this, are you saying the option to capture different formats isn't available or you just can't? If you have the options available and your judging the files by how they are playing back you may want to try burning them to disc to see if they work. They may be fine, you just don't have enough juice to play them from HD, that's a long shot though.

I'd also look into optimizing your PC, getting rid of uneeded start-up programs, etc. Turn off any Anti-virus, anything you don't need running while capturing. There's plenty of sites around for that, do a search and you'll find them.


Lastly makle sure you have the latest updates and software from Leadtek, both the drivers for the card and the PVR. Use that for capture.

[Vance]

I realize that this is not the fastest machine to do video on, it WAS working fine when I first installed the cap card. Then somewhere along the line it decided to take a trip way out to left field and hasn't allowed me to capture since.

I have downloaded and installed the latest drivers. I could not find a software update so I am using the software that came with it.

I did notice though when looking for updated drivers that Leadtek showed in their update instructions that it looks like I should have a WDM Audio Capture device. There isn't one showing in my Device Manager.

As for the ability to capture, yes. I have the option to capture in all kinds of format, but for some reason my computer really chews it up BAD

Maybe I should just reformat the HDD and start all over again.

Thanks,
Vance

[thecoalman]

Maybe I should just reformat the HDD and start all over again.

Another thing is how full is you HD and have you defragmented it lately? If the drive is all fragmented that could possibly be another problem. Reinstalling will probably heklp because it will get rid of lot of stuff uneeded. Unfortunately a lot of things such as printers install crap you don't need... do you really need to know what the ink levels are 24/7.

Was there anything you installed right before the problems started? Could even be a virus, there's lot's of possibilities.