Solved Windows 8 USB compatibility with Sony DVD camera

[starpusher]

I have a Sony DVD camera (mdl DVR-HC85) that has USB and firewire cables for connection to a computer for the purpose of transferring video to computer programs. Both cables work fine with Windows XP. However, Windows 8 will not recognize the camera when connected by a USB cable. I was told by Sony that neither Windows Vista, Windows 7 nor Windows 8 will recognize the camera when using a USB cable.

I have a Dell computer with Windows 8 that does not have firewire nor can a firewire card be installed. Is anyone aware of any new drivers that will solve this problem?

Thanks.

 

[efk]

I am not familiar with the camera, but have the same problem with my Sony camera. I have to remove the memory card and put the card into a card reader to offload the photos. It works OK. No drivers available for the camera.

 

[starpusher]

I did not try removing the card as I was more interested in capturing the video from the camera. I know that it would work if I had firewire but there is no slot for a firewire card.

 

[bobkn]

I did not try removing the card as I was more interested in capturing the video from the camera. I know that it would work if I had firewire but there is no slot for a firewire card.

Mainly out of curiosity, when you write "no slot for a Firewire card", what do you mean? Most desktop PCs have some sort of peripheral card slots. Are all of your PC's slots filled? I checked at www.newegg.com; they have PCI and PCI-E (X1) Firewire cards. Some of them are low profile, which would fit a SFF (small form factor) PC.

If the camcorder uses a removable flash memory card, getting the data off using a reader would also be a work-around. I've been doing that with a digital still camera for years.

 

[starpusher]

Yes, there are plenty of open bays in the rear of the computer to add hardware. However, I have a firewire card and when I opened the computer to install it there was no slot that contained a slot long enough to accommodate the card. I had taken the card from an old Dell that I had (The new computer is a Dell XPS 8500.

The camera uses tape to record the video and then the video is transferred to the computer via a firewire cable or USB cable. It does have a memory card in it that is used to store still pictures or small amounts of video and I can remove it and retrieve the material from it.

As I said, Sony told me that Windows 7 and 8 as well as Vista does not recognize the camera when connected via a USB cable.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[bobkn]

Yes, there are plenty of open bays in the rear of the computer to add hardware. However, I have a firewire card and when I opened the computer to install it there was no slot that contained a slot long enough to accommodate the card. I had taken the card from an old Dell that I had (The new computer is a Dell XPS 8500.

The camera uses tape to record the video and then the video is transferred to the computer via a firewire cable or USB cable. It does have a memory card in it that is used to store still pictures or small amounts of video and I can remove it and retrieve the material from it.

As I said, Sony told me that Windows 7 and 8 as well as Vista does not recognize the camera when connected via a USB cable.

Thanks for your reply.

If the video isn't normally saved to a removable flash card, I guess the reader isn't an option for you.

The XPS 8500 has only PCI-E (PCI Express) slots. It sounds like your old Firewire card is PCI. (Sounds similar, but the slots are very different physically.)

There are several PCI-E X1 Firewire cards available for $20US and up:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Computer Accessories, Add-On Cards, PCI Express to 1394 Card

I haven't used any of them, so I have no particular recommendation. If you buy one, get one that has the right sort of Firewire connector to match your camcorder.

 

[starpusher]

Thanks a lot for the information about the other firewire cards. I will check that out later today. You may have found a solution for me. Obviously, I do not know a lot about firewire cards

 

[babyboomer1001]

I have a Sony DVD camera (mdl DVR-HC85) that has USB and firewire cables for connection to a computer for the purpose of transferring video to computer programs. Both cables work fine with Windows XP. However, Windows 8 will not recognize the camera when connected by a USB cable. I was told by Sony that neither Windows Vista, Windows 7 nor Windows 8 will recognize the camera when using a USB cable.

I have a Dell computer with Windows 8 that does not have firewire nor can a firewire card be installed. Is anyone aware of any new drivers that will solve this problem?

Thanks.

Put your memory stick into your printer. Your computer will recognize it immediately and prompt you to import or view your photographs. This worked for me after my new $1,000 computer failed to accept my size memory stick from my Sony digital camera and after I tried the cable to import pictures and Windows 8 did not recognize the drive. Thank God for my good ole HP All in One printer. I was beginning to think that I would need to spend another grand on a new camera. Did I mention, Windows 8 does not recognize Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 either? I've got to buy another one of those too. I love how Windows 8 works but I'm rather pissed that MS decided to make it incompatible with so much stuff that is not very old at all and ASUS's new computer doesn't even take a basic common memory stick duo. I'm wondering what more will I encounter. I purchased this new computer not for Windows 8 (because I was perfectly happy with Windows 7) but to resolve the frustrating and slow issue with my prior computer, which was only just over a year old.