Will Windows 7 work with this old video capture board? I'm hoping to put it into a PCI slot and capture from my old Sony camcorder through the firewire socket. I'm using Studio 12 Plus. 

It's depends on its version #. Win 7 driver is only available for version #2. Read here.

It must be version 2 because it currently works with Vista and version 1 doesn't. The capture board was designed for analogue but I'm not using that any more. It's just the firewire socket I need, so do I have to install anything on the new computer? I was hoping Windows 7 would just pick up the firewire port and accept it.

Muggins:

It's just the firewire socket I need, so do I have to install anything on the new computer?

Yes, this file : http://cdn.pinnaclesys.com/SupportFiles/Studio10_8/Bender_64bit_Setup.exe

Thank you very much for that. When I get the new computer shall I just put the Studio capture card inside first, then switch the computer on, then install this file? 

It's always better to install the driver before connecting the device.

Muggins:

Thank you very much for that. When I get the new computer shall I just put the Studio capture card inside first, then switch the computer on, then install this file? 

Be aware that there is a severe incompatibility of those capture cards with 64 bit operating systems if there is 2GB or more RAM in the computer.

So if you are contemplating upgrading to Windows 7 (or 8) 64 bit it is highly likely that Studio will simply crash if you attempt analogue capture. But, you could use the board just as a Firewire card by choosing not to install any device drivers for the analogue capture part.

Regards,
Richard

The firewire connector do not require any driver to work ?

Muggins:

Thank you very much for that. When I get the new computer shall I just put the Studio capture card inside first, then switch the computer on, then install this file? 

Since your need is a FW port and you're going to buy a new PC, I suggest you buy a PC with an on board FW port to avoid any issue.

saby:

The firewire connector do not require any driver to work ?

There is a driver for the Firewire ports - Windows will install the standard one provided by Microsoft (the Pinnacle file contains drivers for the analogue section only).

manganio1:

Since your need is a FW port and you're going to buy a new PC, I suggest you buy a PC with an on board FW port to avoid any issue.

Good idea if it doesn't push up the price of the PC too much... But if intending to keep that Pinnacle card and use its Firewire ports, and are not self-building the PC, check it does have an accessible PCI slot (for example check that the PC manufacturer hasn't already put some other expansion card in there, and that it's not obstructed by a double-width graphics card). Also, note that some of the newer budget motherboards (particularly the smaller mATX ones) don't have any PCI slotds at all (only PCI Express).

Regards,
Richard

Thanks for all this helpful info. I am not capturing analogue and only want the firewire, but the new computer is reconditioned and does not have this port. However, am calling a computer guy out to do this and a couple of other things, so hopefully he will be able to get my firewire working. I will definitely mention all these posts relating to compatibility.