Sony Handycam w/o Firewire

I have the same laptop, NV5378u and 2 Sony Handycams, DCR-HC26, and the older DCR-TRV460. I am in the same situation. Are there any plans to support USB streaming on Windows 7?

aj - sorry about your predicament but then again misery loves company. To answer your question, I havent heard of any plans for W7 to support USB streaming, but I'm not a geek and dont keep up with things like that. If you hear of something please let me know. Until then I'm dead in the water as I'm not spending any more money to get back something I once had.

Unfortunately, Sony has no intention of ever allowing USB streaming from their cameras to any version of Windows after XP (32-bit only). Microsoft has opted to support this decision, by not allowing the 32-bit driver ONLY FOR STREAMING to be installed (it installs all the others in W7P-64).

I was able, however, to install the streaming drivers in XP Mode, once the allowed W7P-64 drivers installed, and the device could finally be seen in XP Mode. The drivers for all versions of Windows are in a file called USBDRVEN.EXE. A simple Google search will get you to that file. It is self-extracting to a folder called Sony_usb, within which is the setup files.

Run the setup program, and then open XP Mode (W7 Pro or higher only). Copy and past the folder Sony_usb into your XP Mode desktop, and then run Setup again.

Oh, forgot to mention, make sure your Sony camera is attached to the USB port, and that when you get into XP Mode, you "Attach" to the Unrecognized Device after you install the XP Mode drivers (will require virtual reboot).

Unfortunately, in initial testing, the video is on-par with a Skype video call over a rural dial-up connection, unlike the excellent quality under WinXP32. I suspect this is because W7P64 is actually handling the signal, and then sending it to XP, reducing the result badly.

I'm going to keep trying new settings though.

An option that might be available to you is to download Oracle's VirtualBox (free), and then install a fresh XP (32 bit only), and then run the Sony_usb setup. Good luck finding a legit copy of WinXP though, and Microsoft absolutely won't support you (big surprise), nor sell you a legit product key.

I am not an electronic expert but glad to say that I too had similar problems. I tried to download videos from my sony handycam through USB hub but it didn't work. Then I bought a capture card and fire wire and fixed the card on the slot provided on the PC's motherboard. (I use a desk top.) Then the capture card didn't recognize the camacorder. The PC mechanic asked me to uninstall Real Player and VLC media player and check again. It works perfectly now :bounce.
I think some models of laptops don't have provision for connecting the firewire.

Link to manual for TRV280: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/DCRTRV280.pdf
You may want to look at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... - not sure if this will help with streaming but will help with capture.