I've got a digital camera JVC GR-DF420E. I used to have a firewire connection in my PC, but now I own a laptop and want to capture my videos on this laptop. That's why I bought a USB to Firewire cable, but it does not work!

If I connect the USB cable into the laptop the following message appears: "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it".

When I look (Windows XP) into the particular USB Root Hub (2 ports) it says 'Unknown Device' and the following device status: "No drivers are installed for this device. If you are having problems with this device, click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter". Via Troubleshoot I cannot install a driver.

Who can help me?

Right click on my computer and go to the hardware tab. Once there click "Device Manager"

You will probably see an icon or two that say "Unknown Device"

You can right click on it and select "Update Now"

The wizard will walk you through the update, try the online one. If it says that it can't find the drivers, you can probably find the drivers for it online somewhere.

Post the type and model of the camera you have and I'll take a look to see if I can find the drivers and walk you through the manual install.

Thanks, but I've already tried that and it could not find the drivers.

I could not find the driver via the internet. The type and model of the camera is: JVC GR-DF420E.

Thanks in advance!

I can't find anything online, however if you still have the CD that came with the camera, you may be able to pull the drivers off there.

Second, I heard using a FireWire Hub wasn't a horrible idea.

A Firewire Hub is no option. I've got a Compaq Presario CQ71-210ED (= laptop) but there are no firewire or PC Cards/Expresscards available. Is there another solution for my problem?

They have ones that plug into usb ports and offer both usb and firewire ports that come with a driver cd. Then you can use either firewire or usb (all plugged in through a usb)

COMPAQ USBFW 7-Port USB 2.0 / FireWire Combo Hub - eBay (item 140440657702 end time Aug-24-10 17:22:55 PDT) (http://cgi.ebay.com/COMPAQ-USBFW-7-Port-USB-2-0-FireWire-Combo-Hub-/140440657702?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0)

Something like that will do what you need. There are cheaper ones out there and it also comes with its own driver cd, so the firewire ports act like firewire ports that would be installed on your computer.

What is a Firewire to USB Adapter? (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-firewire-to-usb-adapter.htm)

I found this, it will explain better.