USB Drivers for Windows 7

[Wiganken]

Sony DCR-TRV33E Camcorder (Purchased new in 2004)

This camer worked fine with my previous Windows XP and Windows Vista computers but I now have a new Windows 7 PC and when I connect my video camera to it via USB cable Widows 7 cannot find the USB driver for it and displays a message saying "Device driver software was not successfully installed", "No driver found" and "Unidentified Device". The Sony website offers a USB driver USBDRVEN.EXE dated 1/1/2007 but this is for Windows 98 (SE), ME, 2000 and XP systems only. Will it work on the Windows 7 OS? If not then where do I get the Windows 7 driver for my camera?

Thanks

[Mick2011]

Hi Wiganken, welcome to the Sony Forums

The camera will need to be connected via its DV-out (i.LINK) port, as USB support for older cameras pretty much ended with Windows XP; if your PC has a firewire port, or you're able to fit a firewire card, it provides a fast and reliable connection.

Other options for connecting direct to PC are outlined in this thread:https://www.sony.co.uk/discussions/message/1265675#1265675

Cheers

Mick

[Wiganken]

Thanks Mick,

Although the camera has a DV-out port my new PC doesn't have a Firewire port and there is no room to fit a Firewire card so I can't use the Firewire option. I followed the thread and it looks promising if I understand it correctly: -

My camera has a 3.5mm Audio/Video out port and I have a cable (supplied with the camera) with a 3.5mm jack at one end and the three Red/Yellow/White jacks at the other end. If I plug these into the EZCAP.TV 116 Device shown on the thread and then connect the USB to my PC will my video editing program on my PC be able to "see" my camera and capture images from it or is the EZCAP simply for streaming the Audio/Video to the PC and creating an MPEG video file that cannot be edited on the PC?

I was hoping to capture the video from my camera in a format that allows editing by my video editing program.

Thanks,

Ken

[blaireau_photo]

Hello Wiganken

I have a version of the EZCAP USB product, and I had a few issues trying to get it to work on my Windows 7 computer. In the end, I found an old XP machine, installed it on there and then I used the simple bundled capture software to record the raw video onto the computer. I then transferred the file to my main machine and imported that into my regular editing software. Once your EZCAP is correctly installed, you can test it with your editing software to see if it is picked up directly and if not, you will have to create the video file separately first of all.

Having said all of this, the drivers that are on this site may be useful to get your EZCAP working in Windows 7 (unless of course you have been supplied with the correct drivers on a disc):

http://www.ezcap.tv/ezcap116-drivers?zenid=ivnp6afh3ods2aiaqa3vf9hhq0

Thanks,

Simon

[Mick2011]

Just a couple of notes: the minijack route is a pretty reliable way of exporting video from the camera to pretty much any device with phono inputs, because it's analogue. There are no real compatibility issues until you try to import the analogue signal into a computer by converting back to digital, which is what the EZCAP-type devices do.

However as these devices are developed for modern operating systems, you should have no problem getting a driver that works. Once installed it should let you view and edit exactly as you would with a direct digital connection, though the connection won't be as fast.

The only downside is likely to be a small quality loss. The camera's digital output converts to analogue quite nicely, for example to view on a TV, but when you convert it back to digital again it becomes a second-generation file and will be noticeably less 'crisp' than the original.

Hope that clears up any confusion

Mick

[Wiganken · Accepted solution]

Thanks Mick. I have ordered one of those EZCAP.TV 116 devices and expect it in a couple of days and from what I have read I expect to connect my camera to the EZCAP using the camera's S-Video port as well as the two RCA (Red & White) jacks for stereo audio. I will not use the yellow RCA jack because apparently S-Video is a "Component video" signal and superior to using the yellow "Composite video" jack.

I am sure that this will be a solution albeit not the perfect solution because as you say there will a loss in fidelity on converting back to digital. I expect to be able to tick this thread as "Correct answer" after I have tried it out in the next few days.

Thanks again.

Ken

[Mick2011]

Hi Ken

Did you get any further with this? Hopefully no news is good news!

Mick

[Wiganken]

Hi Mick,

Yes, the EZCAP worked and I was able to capture video and audio from my camera to my PC. As you stated the video quality is not as good but acceptable. My video capture/editing software (Pinnacle Studio) can't work with the EZCAP but the ArcSoft ShowBiz does so I have to use that instead.

As you can  see I ticked of the solution as "Correct Answer" so many thanks for the help.

Ken