Windows 7: Windows Media Encoder: No Specified Device Driver Is Present

I had downloaded Microsoft Windows Media Encoder (WME) 9.0.  I was aware that it was unsupported and otherwise limited in comparison against Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 Pro ($199).  I was trying to use it to do video screen capture in 64-bit Windows 7.  I went into New Session > Capture Screen > Specific Window and Capture Audio from the Default Audio Device > designate the window > name the output file > high quality > diplay information (blank) > Finish.  At that point, I got this error:

Windows Media Encoder

No specified device driver is present.(0xC00D0072)

A search led to a Microsoft webpage that said this occurred because DirectX Media 6.0 was not installed.  Unfortunately, the page to which they directed me for the appropriate download was defunct.  Wikipedia said that DirectX 6.0 was released in August 1998, that the current version was DirectX 11, and that DirectX had been included in Windows ever since Windows 95 SR2.  (I also saw an indication that this problem might arise only when trying to record audio along with the video.  I didn't investigate that; I was only interested in video plus sound at this point.)

My theory was that DirectX had grown and that WME had not been maintained to keep up with it, and therefore I needed to install an older version of DirectX for that purpose.  I was not sure that this would work without screwing up the more recent DirectX.  I made a System Restore point and then downloaded DirectX 8.1 Runtime for Windows 2000, released in November 2001.  I wasn't sure whether that was the right thing; I also downloaded the DirectX Media Platform SDK Redistributable (June 2001).  Both were around 6-8MB.

Before installing them, I looked at a few more posts.  One post said that what was missing was actually a WDM (Windows Driver Model?) driver for the microphone.  The plausible theory in this case was that I would gain nothing by installing a retrograde version of DirectX; instead, I just needed a current driver.  But I was using onboard audio; I had only installed the motherboard recently; and I had made sure to get the latest drivers at that point.  I guessed that the motherboard drivers were no longer attempting compatibility with WME.

There was always the option of using a handheld audio recorder to record sound from the speakers.  Or if I didn't mind risking blowing up my handheld recorder, I could try running a cable directly from the computer's headphone output to the recorder's microphone input.  I would still have the hassle of synchronizing audio with video in a video editor.  That would be more difficult if the video showed lip motion or other things that would become bothersome if they weren't closely aligned.

There was also the possibility of doing further research into who was using WME on Win7 successfully at this point, and what hardware they were using, and buying the appropriate sound card.  I was out of time for this project, but it could also develop that further research would turn up a solution I had overlooked.  But good video capture had been elusive.  I had bought Debut and had been using it with good results; the question only arose because there was a hopefully temporary licensing snafu where Debut didn't work for me in the middle of the night.  Debut was now working again, so I shelved this question for the time being.

Windows 7: Recording Streaming Audio

I had previously tried, but failed, to get my system to record streaming audio.  The concept, in this mission, was that I wanted to be able to capture, in a file, the sound that I was hearing in my headphones.  Seemed like a simple expectation, and as I recalled it had been almost automatic on my previous system.  But it wasn't happening on my current motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H, so I searched for solutions.

The first requirement seemed to be to use the right software.  Not every audio program is capable of recording streaming video.  The free Audacity program could, so I was using that.  I found a video and a webpage that were supposedly going to help me, and probably I did incorporate some of their suggestions into the approach that eventually worked for me.  The only suggestion that I recall making a difference was that, as recommended, I was using the version 1.3.13 beta of Audacity, not an older one, though at this point I'm not absolutely certain that was necessary either.

Ultimately, I found two ways to record streaming audio.  One was to use a video capture program and convert the resulting file to audio.  I'd had tried a number of video capture programs, with very mixed results.  The only one that seemed to work reliably was Debut, and it cost money after its free trial period.  Ultimately, I did buy a copy of that.  For the conversion, I used Oxelon.

The other approach was to use an audio cable to connect the computer's headphone jack directly to its microphone jack.  Basically, I would be recording what the headphones were supposed to be hearing.  Sadly, this didn't work as advertised, when I used the actual jacks on the computer itself.  But I was able to make it work in a different way.  I bought a Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB-to-audio adapter.  No software required.  I just plugged it into a USB port, plugged both ends of the patch cable into it, and it worked.  Actually, to make that work, I had to set Audacity as follows: the audio host was Windows DirectSound; the output device was Primary Sound Driver; the input device was Microphone.

The Syba device gave me really loud volume.  Later, I had to fiddle with Control Panel > Sound to get all my devices back the way they were before.  But so far, it seemed worth it.

Converting Real Media Video to Other Formats

I had a RealMedia (.rm) file.  I wanted to convert it to .avi or some other format that I could edit in Adobe Premiere Elements.  I heard that Super © was useful for this purpose.

The first recommended step was to download and install the Real Alternative Lite codec.  Next, using Internet Explorer (not Firefox), I downloaded and installed Super C.  In Super C, I dragged the .rm file over from Windows Explorer to the open area at the bottom of the window.  Then, under "Select the Output Process," I chose the radio button that did not say "Join Format-Identical Files"; that is, the one I chose said "Select the Output Container," and gave me a choice among many formats.  I chose FLV/SWF (Flash).  Then, at the bottom of the screen, I clicked on Encode (Active Files). This gave me "An ERROR has occurred.  Click to read more."  I briefly tried to troubleshoot that, and tried various recommended settings, but had no luck.

I considered alternatives.  Video Cleaner Pro by River Past provided a free trial with too many restrictions.  Someone recommended Helix DNA Producer, and that led to Easy RealMedia Tools.  I downloaded both, opened the former, and installed the latter.  Both seemed to be designed to create RealMedia files, without the ability to export to other formats.  I downloaded the free trial of AVOne Video Converter.  It required an installation of RealMedia Player, which I had already done.  Due to restrictions on the free trial version, it wouldn't convert my 10-minute, 835kb .rm file.

I tried another approach.  I set up CamStudio to record the playback of the .rm file.  CamStudio was having trouble with audio recording, though, so I installed NCH's Debut Video Capture Software.  [Some weeks go by at this point.]

Some time has passed at this point, so pardon me if my recollection is mistaken, but at any rate Debut has proved useful for screen capture.  I have not found Super (C) to be very useful.  For Real Media specifically, I belatedly discovered that Real Player itself now comes with a converter, so that solves the original problem.  I have also used Oxelon to convert video easily from the Windows Explorer context (right-click) menu.