In today's guide we will show you how to connect a video camera to your Windows Vista PC and save your movies in a digital format. As you will see for yourself it is a simple procedure. Just follow these steps:

1. Connect your video camera to the power supply and then connect it to your PC using a Firewire or USB cable. If you have a choice, we recommend using a Firewire cable because the transfer rate is better.

2. Turn on the camera and wait for Windows Vista to detect and install the appropriate drivers.

3. Don't forget to rewind the videotape to the beginning of the movie you want to save on your computer. From the "Autoplay" menu select "Import Video".

4. Now you have to enter the name, the import folder and the format of your movie. We recommend using AVI (single file) since it offers very good quality output for movies. Once you have finished entering all these details, click "Next".

5. Windows Vista will ask if you want to import the whole videotape or just parts of it. Choose the option that you prefer: "Import the entire videotape...", "Import the entire videotape and then burn it to a DVD" or "Import parts of the videotape...".

6. If you select the first or the second option, click "Next" and the transfer will start.

If you select the third option, after you click "Next" you will have to click the "Play" button. Windows Vista will start to import the movie until you hit the "Stop" button. If you want to record another part of the movie, rewind the tape to the starting point of that part and click the "Play" button again.

7. After the importing process is completed, you can see your movie by opening Windows Photo Gallery and selecting "Videos" from the left menu.

That's it. You should have all your movies listed on the right, just like in the above image. If in the previous menu you selected the second option ("Import the entire videotape and then burn it to a DVD") the burning process will start automatically.

Note: for this guide we used a HP Compaq nx7400 desktop and Sony Video Camera, model DCR-HC24.

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