OK, I am going to look like an idiot, but here it goes anyway.

I had recently purchased the XH A1 last summer for hunting footage. Before, I had the XL2. I always download my footage to my computer at the end of the year for a keep sake, before I send it in to be proffessionally done....in other words, I dable in it just to have my own footage.

So, I have windows XP and I always used windows movie maker (I know....but it is easy to use and makes good enough quality video for me to watch on my own). Downloading from camera to computer before was no issue with the XL2, but now, it seems with the XH A1, it wont recognize my camera.

My question is two fold. Does movie maker with windows XP work...can it read high def footage? 2nd question, if I need to download drivers, where is the best place to get these?

My question is two fold. Does movie maker with windows XP work...can it read high def footage? 2nd question, if I need to download drivers, where is the best place to get these?

Dunno and no.

If all you want to do is view and or store the footage on your computer you can download HDVSplit (it's free and works very well) for capturing. There are any number of viewers out there for free that will let you watch your footage.

If you want to do some editing, you might want to invest in Premier Elements or a similar consumer product that can edit HDV. Windows Movie Maker isn't something I think many of us have spent any quality time with.

You can capture HDV with Windows movie if you have Vista premium or ultimate. I recommend Sony vegas movie studio premium, it's inexpensive and has excellent help / how to features ( great for newbies). It's been solid as a rock for me.

When you want to work with different kind of footage its help full.
vegas recognizes more different codecs and its easier, makes life easier for the beginner :) and for the intermediate .