I have quite a few DV tapes that I want to transfer to DVD. I have a Vista PC and a Sony DCR-HC39E. I read Sonys tech support page and realised that I need Firewire. I bought a PCI Firewire card and installed it but it would not pick up the camera, I emailed the manufacturer and they advised me that the card was not Vista compliant. Also is the Sony software or the Vista moviemaker suitable for a noob who is going to try basic editting?Can anyone reccomend a firewire card that is compliant as I can not find one.
Thank you

I installed a PCI Firewire card in a Vista computer and it picked it up right away after restarting. It is a non descript card called a SOHO1394 and I didn't need to do anything to make it work. Check in System -> Hardware -> Device Manager to see if there is a IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller, if it isn't listed, it may be a dud card or it may not be seated properly in the PCI slot.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

Hi, That is exactly what I did, and checking the system showed the card was present, however upon plugging the cable into the camera and card the computer could not see it. The card was a firewire / USB combo, and the USB slots seemed to work fine!

Hate to be completely silly, but did you remember to switch the camera to 'PLAY'?

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IBM A51p with 160Gb Boot Disk, 160Gb external Firewire Disk, 2Gb Memory and a super duper sound card, 17\" TFT Monitor etc etc etc
Sony TRV33e : Sony TRV310e : Canon XM2
ULead products mostly including Mediastudio Pro (V8.0), Video Studio 8, Movie Factory 2.0, Premiere Elements

Remember, there is always more to learn than there is to teach.

I'm 99% certain that Sony telling you that your firewire card isn't 'Vista compliant' is rubbish (so much for the so called experts). It runs on a bog standard Microsoft driver and if you have inserted it correctly and it is showing in the Device Manager the problem must lie somewhere else. Try a different firewire cable as this has been a problem with other forum members and they solved the problem by just purchasing a new cable, apparently even if the connection is slightly loose it can mean the difference between your camcorder being picked up or not.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

Hi Guys, yes I did have it on play (that would be typical from me though)
Last night I bought a new firewire card (manf-Trust) that was Vista certified, my pc displays it in device manager, so all good there. I also bought a new firewire cable but still the same. I un-installed all the sony software and re-installed but it still will not see the camera. Is there some kind of setting on the camcorder that I am missing?
So any further advice would be most appreciated.

Download a few 30 day trials of some of the other video editors used on this forum and put the Sony software to oneside for the moment. Have you tried it with Windows Movie Maker? I recently downloaded a small capture app called STOIK Capturer 1.0 but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. It is freeware and fully functional, do a search for it on Google and see if it helps. They also do a video convertor called STOIK Video Convertor Pro 2.1.1 and although it is freeware the Pro features are not available unless you purchase it.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

Hi Nikosony,

Yes I have tried the windows moviemaker and that too says no camera connected. I will try and download the software you suggested. It is apity I have no other firewire device to check the cable with as that might be the problem!

Check the firewire connection on your camcorder aswell, does the plug fit it tightly when pushed in or can you move it around, it should be a tight fit with no movement.

I'm just after spotting something in your post, a few months ago someone else on the forum had a similar problem to what you describe and they had to uninstall some driver (sorry, I can't remember what it was called) and apparantly that solved their problem. I can only vaguely remember bits of the post and it mentioned something about the Device Manager and removing something in there, it might be a Sony driver or even the IEEE1394 Bus Host Controller that's listed.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...

Still no luck I am afraid. I am getting completely dejected now. I have tried another cable that I know works (brother has used it), and still no luck. Is there any setting on the camcorder itself that i may be missing. Any help would be really appreciated.