VHS transfer, XP machine requirements?
 

Hi all,

I have been researching about how to set up my computers for VHS digitizing and I found that the best is XP and for editing/restoration to have a separate, more powerful, modern machine for that.

I haven't, however, been able to find if there are specific requirements for the XP machine beside it running well.
I have an HP Pavilion m7500y media center with Windows XP 2002
It has a Pentium 4 - 3.2GHz and 1 GB of RAM
I also believe it has an integrated NVIDIA graphics chip

Would there be any issues using this machine with an ATI AIW USB to Virtualdub?

These days, minimums =
- SATA (2/3 preferably)
- 2gb RAM
- 2nd hard drive as capture drive, not OS drive
- dual core

Capturing on IDE was possible, we did it, but it sucked. Not enough space, I/O issues that caused dropped frames.

P4 same, we did it, it sucked. Dual core at least runs OS in a core, capture in a core, so not fighting for CPU %.

Will it work? Sure.
Will it work well. Maybe. Good luck.

You can build an XP system that uses bleeding edge from 2017, 7th gen Intel i3/5/7 CPU. SATA3, more than 4gb RAM, etc. It has costs, takes some setup time. So that's the other end of the spectrum.

Most anything from the 2010s work decent.
2000s not really suggested.
2020s doers not work, XP will not install anymore.

Okay, Thank you!

I will do some digging on my end and see what kind of options I can find.

Would this be the worst to use if we don't currently have a windows xp machine to use

In terms of the hardware, that should be fine. Again, 2nd internal SATA HDD for the captures, not the OS drive.

AIW is XP only, so either replace the OS drive (ie, easy revert to Vista later), or reformat to XP. But use the XP Integral community edition found online, not the now-ancient official version that probably won't even install. (Note: the dev of Integral is a political kook, so don't stray from the XP download page. You'll just get dumber by reading his BS.)

Would this be what you are talking about? < link removed >

Correct., XP Integral.

Okay great! Thank you.

Also, I was curious as to why the preference was for XP 32x and not 64x?
I have seen everyone recommending 32 bit and found it interesting considering VirtualDub works on both and the faster processing speed you would think would be better.

Would a second SATA drive (external) work the same? We have a mini-desktop that can only hold 1 internal SATA drive.

USB drives will almost never work. The throughput is not constant, and USB hits the CPU. If that SATA is SATA3, then you can attempt to partition it, and capture to that 2nd partition.

Understood. Thank you for the information.

By "If that SATA is SATA3, you can attempt to partition it..." do you mean using one SATA3 drive and partition it twice? So once for OS, and again for capture?

Yes, correct.

I came across an XP computer I can pick up that hits all the marks here but it is running a Quad Core i5. Are there any downsides to having a quad-core?

Quad is fine. It'll get hotter, that's all. I watch for system heat. I forget where you are offhand, if a cooler climate.

Oh yeah, cold winters, but humid summers. If needed I can always add a CPU cooler upgrade.
Ive built my fair share of pc's but as I am 30 I didn't get into building until post XP so its been a challenge to backtrack and figure out what can and cannot work in that era. The room where the process will take place is well air conditioned during summer to no more than 76 degrees and can always be adjusted.

AKIK, an external eSATA drive should work fine as the capture drive, but not an external USB drive, as LS has stated. Maybe there is already an eSATA port on the PC or maybe the motherboard has a spare SATA port (or a SATA/eSATA card can be added). Whether this could be done would depend on the design/features of the mini-PC.

BW

"Coolers' don't actually cool. The heat is just displaced. The room will stay hot. The only exception is water cooled, but even that isn't a fix-all to heat. Heat is hot, the end. The only way to avoid heat is to avoid the heat maker.

This won't affect your capturing directly, though it can affect the VCR heat, which can cause it to eat tapes. And make your capture life miserable and sweaty.

These days, my personal capturing is a winter/spring task, never summer, often not fall.

It fully depends on the chipset. Most motherboards SATA>eSATA are fine (mobo port, or bracket that converts motherboard SATA), most PCI/PCIe addon cards are not.