So I'm using a firewire cable but my computer still doesn't recognize it. When I use a USB cable it sees it as a memory stick. Can't find a DV OUT command on the menu and the DVD option is still locked. Programs like ulead, pinnacle and premiere don't see my camera. Help please, I'm desperate

Does your computer definitely have a Firewire socket to plug the cable into? Are you using Windows XP or a Mac? Does the camera record and playback normally and finally do you not get a little beep sound when you plug the camera and firewire cable into the computer? Go into the Device Manager and see if it is listed there under IEEE Device.

Thank you very much for this. I'm using XP professional and there is definetely a firewire socket which I never needed to use so far. After this problem with my camera I tried to connect a small notebookthrough the firewire connection just to check if it was working. What happened is that I never saw the other computer but every time I plugged it of, my pc saw that I was stopping the network. The camera does record and playcack normally so this shouldn't be the problem. I don't get any beeps when I conect my camera or any other device and coming to the control panel the only thing I see is a IEEE 1394 host controller, which I assume is a good thing. I would really appreciate a second answer

Whenever you connect any type of device to the computer, whether it's a camera, portable hard disk, memory card reader etc you should get a single beep. And depending on what the device is, a window might open on the desktop showing you the contents of the device. Also check in My Computer to see if the camera appears as an external device. Whenever I connect my Panasonic up to the computer, it appears as a 'drive' in My Computer. Strangley, I can only access the contents of the SD memory card and open photos or MPEG movies, pity I can't do the same with the tape. Have you checked that the IEEE in the Device Manager is working properly? Double click on it, and when the little window opens click on the tabs to ensure the device is working properly. You might also need to update drivers for it aswell or for Windows.

Don't know if you've read this post and hopefully Makotosun won't mind me posting it here but...

I had a problem like this, sony miniDV, firewire, windows XP pro. I hooked everything up, but no camera sensed. Then, i went to the hardware manager in the system folder (right click on 'my computer', properties, system, hardware manager), then delete the firewire port, then scan for new hardware, voila!, cam is now recognized and all transfers worked perfectly.

Can't explain it, but it appears to be a windows problem.

Well it seems like a logical solution - afterall we're talking about windows. And it should be easy to re-install it right? Thanks again for helping me on this