Vista/Win7 Tips
In November 2007, we migrated our development systems to Vista then more recently migrated to Window 7. Our experience so far has been good overall. We have used both Vista Ultimate, Vista Home Premium and Windows 7 with good results. And more recently moved to windows 8.
HandyAvi has been working well in Vista, Win 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and we have been using it here in Windows 10 and windows 8.1 for astronomy, time-lapse and other purposes.
Help Files changed from .HLP to .CHM
We completed the changeover to HTML help files which work on Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 10 and also on previous operating systems such as XP and WIN2K. Vista and Windows 7 no longer support the older .HLP files. The new .chm help file is included as part of the HandyAvi download.
ToUcam 740K Driver Installation on Vista, (or newer operating systems)
We really like the ToUcam 740K and it has been a favorite of amateur astronomers worldwide. (We also really like its successor, the Philips SPC 900 NC/00 PC Camera. It is also a worldwide favorite among amateur astronomers.)
We got a surprise though when we tried to install the software for the ToUcam 740K. We went to the Philips ToUcam support site and found this message:
"Where are the Vista drivers for this webcam?
Answer
There are no Vista drivers for this product and there never will be Vista drivers for this product due to it's age.
There is a work around to get your webcam to work under Vista and other newer systems.
Gotohttp://www.home.zonnet.nl/m.m.j.meijer/D_I_Y/spc900nc.htm
and read section 6 titled Convert a ToUcam Pro to a SPC900NC.
This will void warranty though, so if you do this it is at you own risk."Actually there ARE drivers that work on Vista. The Windows XP drivers work just fine on Vista. We are using them here right now on Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 10. It is just that the Philips installation system does not work on the newer operating system so the install fails.
So the problem is how to install the ToUcam 740K drivers on Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 10. We solved that problem. We sent Email to Philips and said that if we didn't hear from them in two days that we would assume we had their permission to post the solution.
The solution is rather more involved than we would like it to be but it works and doesn't involve doing a risky firmware camera update. (A better solution would be for us to package up an installation system and make it available to you but that would require software redistribution rights that we currently don't have...)
"USB 2.0 Video Adapter with Audio" Driver Installation on Vista
We also tried to install our "USB 2.0 Video Adapter with Audio" drivers on Vista. Again, the installation failed. Could not find any software updates on the internet.
However, the Windows XP drivers work just fine on Vista. We are using them here right now on Vista and Win7 and Win10. It is just that the vendor's installation system does not work on Vista so the install fails.
We solved the problem of how to get the XP drivers installed on Vista, Win7, Win10 etc.
The solution is rather more involved than we would like it to be but it works and there doesn't seem to be any alternative. (A better solution would be for us to package up an installation system and make it available to you but that would require software redistribution rights that we currently don't have...)