ok so i get all my answers from this forum and i didnt know where to post this at on this froums or anywhere else,so i assume alot of you are tech savvy and could possibly help? i just got a free video camera from my aunt ,its a digital video sony handycam digital 8 from like 2001 and it came with everything she got with it and a couple tapes,i can get it to record easy and all that stuff,came with normal av cables to hook from the camera to the tv,and it came with another cable that goes from the camera to my pc,thats what i need the most,both ends fit in fine,the part that goes to the pc looks like a monitor cable end but smaller,but has those little screw things on each side,everything fits(yes thats what she said;) but it doesent respond to my computer,as in it didnt say new device detected etc(im running xp) so i open up windows movie maker and says nothing is detected etc etc,so i read the manual and it says i need a dvi cable or somthing and says nothing about the actual cable that works and hooks up into my pc already?so do i acctualy need a dvi cable to get the recorded stuff from my camera to my pc? do i need to download some sort of drivers since i already have a cable that will go into both ends?(pc and camcorder) or what? advice?

I have moved this to a forum where you should get better feedback. I have also modified the title of the thread for the same reason.

Did it come with any software? Check the website for your camera and check if there is software to download. If not try to google the part number and model for software if it's available.

I agree with IronGhost. There are probably some drivers and maybe even some handy tools you can download on the website. I need to get one of those.

If the end you hook to the computer looks like a monitor cable and has 2 screws it will not be recognized by win xp.
The cam should an install disk......ask her if she has it.

is that a serial port he's describing?

see if the software you need is at http://esupport.sony.com/perl/select-syste...y.com/index.php

Sounds like it, and SwampGator is correct that XP will not automatically detect serial. My old camera takes a serial connection, kinda slow but it does the job.