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[gmatov]

Nilf,

Now, isn't that why you are here, to learn how, read the guides to the left, have an answer when he gets stuck?

That's why most others are here, to learn, initially. Wow, I've got this DVD Burner, wouldn't it be great if I could backup my DVS, and even capture my VHS tapes to convert to DVD format.

It's both easier and harder said than done, but all the help you need is here. Or, all the help he needs, since from the tone of your post, you don't seem willing to help him, or confident that you can, or he can do it.

Have some fun, get started, if you get stuck, ask, you'll get help. Nearly nothing that can go wrong hasn't been experienced and overcome by someone here, and the help will be forthcomung, damn quickly.

Cheers,

George

[Nilfennasion]

I've explained to him already that he's going to need to plug the VCR into his computer and record the output into some kind of file, but beyond that, I really have no idea.

The guy really is in la-la land, anyway. He once asked if he would be able to install a DVD-R drive and make backups on his machine. I told him very flatly that his Pentium III (rated at 550Mhz), which takes two or three minutes to open an Internet Explorer window under Windows XP, probably wouldn't be able to run the drive, and even if it did, it would probably have buffer under-runs at 1X, leave alone the 4X that my Duron 850Mhz barely copes with. He can be such a nincompoop at the best of times.

I'm really just making it up as I go, myself.

As a point of curiosity, however, how much hard drive space would it take to hold an uncompressed file made from a three-hour VHS tape? And what would I use to make it into an MPEG-2 compliant stream?

[gmatov]

Nillf,

Go do some reading, then when you have got some of the basics down pat, try some captures and conversions. When you have problems, and you probably will, even with the best of guides, open a new thread and ask, in no oblique terms, for help.

Guys get a bit miffed at the "Help!!! URGENT!!!" posts, please briefly spell out the help you need. The response will be almost immediate, and most often, helpful. Not to say you won't get help from some who have finally figured something out and are eager to help.

If your dad's machine is really running that slowly, you should be going to the Computer Forum to try to get help with that, first. A 500 is not that awful slow, and can do video work, and burn a DVD, but the best of machines running badly will screw up the easiest of tasks. I started video capture with a 350 AMD, so 500, or 800, will get it done, but conversion time is directly related to processor speed.

Get a Video Capture card, 50 buck ATI AIW VE at the low end to much more expensive ones, some of which are way better, some of which no better. Capture in MPEG, to see if the quality satisfies you, some other codec, again, the guides to the left, if not good enough. Remember you will not make a better DVD than the VHS source is now.

Uncompressed is supposed to be some 13 gigs per hour, so a lot of drive space is required, you also need space to convert to, as if it is no good, you don't want to cap again, so can delete the bad attempt, change your settings, have at it again.

Good luck,

George