NVIDIA DualTV MCE drivers & activation code
 

I got this one off ebay. It was advertized in original packaging. However, it was shipped from China with a broken CDR (not even an original CD). I know that I can file the claim on ebay and return it. I have 7 more days to do it. However, I'd like to make this card work first. If I can't, I will file the complaint on ebay.

I put the card in, downloaded the drivers from the website. Doesn't work with VirtualDub and VirtualVCR. So I will have to try to get it to work with XP Media Center as it is advertised. This card was discontinued by NVIDIA in 2007. This card came with NVIDIA PureVideo Technology software. However, the activation code is needed for that.

The questions I have are. Does anyone owe this card? Where can I download XP Media Center? I went to Microsoft and it said that XP come with it, however, my XP don't seem to have it. If anyone has this card, can they give me an activation code for PureVideo Technology?

Thanks.

--Leonid

XP Media Center Edition was an OEM only product. Machines from 2005 to the release of Vista commonly came with MCE2005 preinstalled. The PureVideo software is nothing more then a MPEG2 codec for MCE to record/decode TV, I think there are some free solutions for that these days. Chances are that card only works with MCE and is fairly useless for VHS transfers.

Update. I was able to get Windows Media Capture tool 9 that supposedly works with this card.


Actually this card is advertized to capture uncompressed. However, it looks like the card is faulty. VirtualDub can't be used. VirtualVCR can't be used. So I connected Composite and S-Video outputs of my DVD player to the inputs of this card. Used Windows Media Capture tool 9 to test. If the Preview option was on, as soon as the card receives any valid video signal, it crashes Windows XP. I.e. if the DVD player is powered off and Windows Capture Tool 9's Preview is on, everything is fine. As soon as I power the DVD player on and it sends the video signal (Composite or S-Video doesn't matter), XP crashes. If preview is off, then nothing happens. But the moment I start capturing, the system crashes. I am going to somehow return it.

It sounds like the drivers are bad, if the OS crashes. Faulty hardware usually just works like crap, as opposed to crashing the OS entirely.

Returning it sounds like a good idea. You were send broken crap. This is why I totally dislike shopping on eBay unless absolutely necessary. I prefer to buy from other places. Speaking of which, I just placed a number of items for sale in the Marketplace subforum, including some capture card setups. That may be of interest to you. I'm asking fair rates for known-working hardware, as opposed to bargain-basement pricing on something that would arrived broken.