RobC

Creative make a USB external soundcard for things like this - Audigy NX http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Creative-Audigy-2-NX-USB-External-Soundcard_W0QQitemZ250104506794QQihZ015QQcategoryZ75518QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Personally I`d get one off ebay they look to be selling for between 52 and 70 quid , but if you look around , they`ll probably be discounted somewhere off the shelf . This one is "Buy it Now" for £50 in total incl p&p http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Creative-Labs-Audigy-2-NX-External-Sound-System_W0QQitemZ190101476362QQihZ009QQcategoryZ75518QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I`d prefer a law making bloggers to put up warnings saying real world warnings like - 1. Beware - Boring Blog 2. Look Out - Obvious Made Up Content 3. Be Cautious - Obnoxious Keyboard Warrior (Billy No Mates) Blog 4. Careful - Big Bloody Show-Off Blog as a content reference.

The above question - load the flv video into Super and theres an option for "Audio Only" in it , select mp3 etc and hit Go . If converting the flv to MPG , you want to do the least amount of stretching to make it a dvd compliant resolution . If burning it to DVD , expand it to 352x288 for PAL with 48000Khz for sound and for NTSC 352x240 with 48000Khz sound - those will both burn to DVD . If you`re only going to watch it on a pc - ideally keep it in flv format , if this isn`t practical as mentioned above , keep the original resolution if you can , this will help keep the video sharper . DVD resolutions http://divxstation.com/article.asp?aId=71

Quakes 1-4.....its the only game Im good at

Read this thread about Scandiscing and the urls for help on it - http://www.goldfrapp.com/msgboard/showthread.php?t=11269&highlight=hard+disc there are 3 pages to read , have a flick through them all for info .

Assuming its a Windows PC , you`ll need to startup Scandisc , as its convoluted how to use it for checking/sorting errors , you`ll need to access Microsofts online help , as different OS`s have different ways of use , XP , 98 etc . Good luck , if its just a disk error , scandisc will just mark it as unusable for the operating system , thereby getting you up and running ..... if its a big problem , ie hard disc failure , it should tell you that as well .

The other program is "VirtualDub MpG2" available here - http://fcchandler.home.comcast.net/stable/index.html , unzip the program to a folder and - 1.use it to load the MpG of your choice , you`ll see it load 2.scroll through the video with the scroll bar until you get to where you want to save a picture/frame - use the cursor left and right keys to inch through the frames one by one for an exact frame 3.go to the Video menu and select the option to "Copy Source Frame To Clipboard" , this will save the left hand picture to the clipboard . 4.start up your paint program and select Paste to insert your picture VirtualDub is a very powerful video editing program but for your purpose it will save your pics , allowing you to accurately select which frame/picture you want .

sorry I pressed a button and it came up thrice somehow

deleted triple post , how the hell did I do it ? I dont know , I didnt even press post , doh and doh again

deleted double post -> doh doh and triple doh :D

When you play back a video file on a PC it uses overlay , which is like a video screen over the top of your windows screen , "Print Screen" doesnt capture overlayed video , it captures a black screen , image capture needs programs screen capture programs that support overlay .

Windows Media Player Classic , does depend on you hitting the pause button at the right time though .

Cutting a boring long story short , you need a screen capture program that supports overlay , if you go to www.videohelp.com and search for Windows Media Player Classic , this installs a media player that if you go to the menus , can capture a picture from an mpg or any other video .

If the m4a files are protected I know of no convertor , if they are not then dbpoweramp will do it all (you will need to download the appropriate codecs on their site to allow it to convert though). As for DVD burning software , do you mean just the burning bit or converting files to a dvd format and then burning ?

In that case try this page - http://handbrake.m0k.org/ the program makes video files for Ipods but there is a selector for `movies` which with a bit of luck will allow you to select audio instead . Incidentally if you wish to rip dvds to your Mac you can use a program called Mac The Ripper from http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Utilities/MacTheRipper.shtml

The VOBs are the video files , if you use a program called PGCdemux , that can strip the audio from it in one file - no idea what format that will be in . Google for PGCdemux guides if you need them - http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=PgcDemux Doing something like this is quite a hard thing to explain within a short answer - impossible really . You`ll need to find other tools to split and convert the audio that PGCdemux gives you . Googling for "audio conversion" is a start .

I`ll put this in simple terms to explain it , the initial click either links to another address which will stream the file or it downloads the address to you and your pc interprets the new address and goes there . To download from those addresses you need - the new address prefixed usually by RTSP: MMS: etc (ie NOT prefixed by HTTP: ) - to find this you will need to use packet sniffing software (URLSnooper) to look at what addresses your pc is looking at . a download manager or ripper that can handle RTSP: MMS: As I recall Firefox can download some videos with free add-ons . Due to time available you will have to Google some bits I have mentioned here to find them and how to use them . Ive kept the technical jargon to as little as possible to make it clearer to understand . There is no One-Click answer sorry .

Technically at 41 , you should be asking my kids what I listen to , er.. some band called Coldplay , Faithless , Linkin Park , Strokes , Oasis , Goldfrapp , U2 , Hard Fi , Razorlight but mostly dance tunes really and slipping into old git records -> ELO , Smiths . For my mother , time stopped when Abba released their Greatest Hits , at any given time of year , their cd will be playing in her car , bit of a shame as she went to loads of gigs when she was younger , Beatles , Doors , Stevie Wonder ah well , at least we arent having cringing conversations about music anyway and my Dad - nowt .

The only suggestions I can make is to ask in the shop you bought it from , take the scratched one with you and ask to make a copy . The other idea is to get one of the machines that removes scratches from cds .

Try Super from here http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=SUPER_1 , its a video swiss army knife and free . I convert any RealVideo files I have by connecting my pc to my dvd recorder input - useless suggestion of course if you have no tv output or dvd recorder of course but others reading this thread might (this method keeps the video and audio in 100% synchronization - because of the way RealVideo works , some software convertors have a bit of trouble with it). and hello to the board :D