Last week I my Plextor PX-M402U converter arrived. I installed the VisualStudio 8 that came with it (my system is a Pentium Celeron-D 2.6MHz, 512 MB PC-3200 RAM, HDs: 1x250 GB Hard Drive partitioned into 5 logical drives, 1x160 GB partitioned into 4 logical drives; WinXP-no service packs; the PX-M402U is running the latest firmware, version 2.0.2.2). I'd begin to capture using the VisualStudio Capture Wizard front-end and for the first 3 or 4 minutes or so, everything was great. Then the video would freeze. (I did have audio, though). VisualStudio would hang, and I could not close it, even from the Windows Task Manager. To get rid of it, I'd have to shut down Windows. Sometimes Windows XP would freeze, and I'd have to power down the system to get it to close. Then I tried the VisualStudio 8 from the Editor front-end (i.e. I didn't load the Wizard), which also has capture functionality. Voila, everything worked. I was thrilled. This was the greatest thing since shoelaces! I used it at least 10 times, twice with 90 minute movies on video tape. Life was good. Last night, I'm using it (again with the Editor front end), and it starts freezing again, both the video feed and the VisualStudio program. First time this has happened from the Editor front-end. Again, I can't shut VisualStudio down unless I shut down Windows So it wasn't working, then it was, now it's not again. Also, I installed and tried to run the other software provided, WinDVD, and it was freezing and hanging too. Never got WinDVD to work, unlike VisualStudio, so I un-installed it. I looked through this forum for an answer and didn't see anything. Does one of the kind souls who help the helpless in matters such as these know anything about this problem? I hate to send the unit back because when it's working it's great. Anybody? Thanks.
In case anyone cares, here's how I fixed it: I called Plextor support. Originally thinking I would be wasting my time, I was very pleasantly surprised. The technician gave me several things to try, everything from checking my USB ports to updating drivers in the mobo's Via chipset. Turns out that of the two USB ports I have on the front panel of my machine, only one of them is up to par. I disconnected the converter from the PC the other day and must have re-connected to the bad port. Anyway, I switched port connections, and everything's going boffo. Go figure.
