Getting DVR footage onto my computer

Hi everyone.

New here so do not know if this is in the right place sorry if it is not.

I have a H.264 DVR 4 camera system and i am part of a paranormal team and what i am trying to do is get the footage off the DVR onto my computer but i do not know how to do this.

I have read the instructions but it is not very clear on this.

I have tried to connect them both directly with a usb cable but the DVR does not even see my computer on any of the download system on the DVR to back the footage up.

I hope i have explained this ok if not i will try and explain this a little better.

Thank you everyone in advance for looking and any hyelp is much appreciated.

Thank you

What brand and model is it? I think the usb port is for a storage device (usb flash/hard drive, sd card w/adapter) to which u can transfer your files to.

Hello D.V.S

Thank you for your reply.

Regarding who the cctv system is made by, all the box says is:

H.264 Network Digital Video Recorder, i hope this helps?

So the only way to get the footage off this is by using an external hard drive or usb flash drive?

Gutted as my external hard drive has just given up the ghost and will not turn on.

Just a technical question why will this not work by just usb to usb into my computer?

Thank you

Unfortunately that doesn't help, as it doesn't tell us what the overall capabilities of the system are.

How are you connecting "USB to USB"? Most DVRs have only USB-A ports, the same as the computer, designed for plugging in external storage. When computers are connected by USB-A-to-A "crossover" cables, both computers also need the software and drivers to support direct transfers... your DVR likely won't have that support.

The name "Network Digital Video Recorder" suggests you should be able to access it from your PC over a network connection... with standalone DVRs, that's usually the most efficient way to do it.

what network software do you use?

do you have a photo of the dvr?

need to know the model first

Thanks everyone for ther help it is much appreciated.

Sorry about the lack of information as well i am putting a link up to an ebay page that shows which system i have, i hope this helps?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4CH-H-264-NETWORK-DIGITAL-VIDEO-RECORDER-CCTV-DVR-CAM-/180641941287?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item2a0f194727.

The only software i am using is what came with this, i hope thats what you mean rory? as i say i was asked to do this as we are a new team and im trying to get the footage off.

Thanks everyone for the help.

I can see there is a ethernet connection on the back of the unit so should i be using this and going into the ethernet connection in the back of my computer?

Thanks everyone for ther help it is much appreciated.

Sorry about the lack of information as well i am putting a link up to an ebay page that shows which system i have, i hope this helps?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4CH-H-264-NETWORK-DIGITAL-VIDEO-RECORDER-CCTV-DVR-CAM-/180641941287?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item2a0f194727.

The only software i am using is what came with this, i hope thats what you mean rory? as i say i was asked to do this as we are a new team and im trying to get the footage off.

Thanks everyone for the help.

I can see there is a ethernet connection on the back of the unit so should i be using this and going into the ethernet connection in the back of my computer?

hi ethasca. looking at your link you have bought a dvr from hong kong. and your in the uk. you have sold your dvr to a customer ........ an £80 dvr is not a good way to go starting out in cctv it will end up being a big cost to you in the long run. swap the dvr for something like the apollo (dahua) which does what it says on the box and support. ..... for the problem you are having at the moment i would just connect a video recorder to the tv out on the dvr and record the footage that way for the police. no point in wasting your time in money on that dvr.

hi ethasca. looking at your link you have bought a dvr from hong kong. and your in the uk. you have sold your dvr to a customer ........ an £80 dvr is not a good way to go starting out in cctv it will end up being a big cost to you in the long run. swap the dvr for something like the apollo (dahua) which does what it says on the box and support. ..... for the problem you are having at the moment i would just connect a video recorder to the tv out on the dvr and record the footage that way for the police. no point in wasting your time in money on that dvr.

Ummm, tom... I don't think you read the original post very clearly: he didn't sell this DVR, he's one of the users... and replacing it at this point won't help him with his quest to extract already-recorded video. Nowhere does he mention wanting video for the police, either.

ethasca, yes, you need to connect the DVR to your computer - doing it through a switch (or the LAN ports on a router) is probably easiest; otherwise you might need a crossover ethernet cable to connect them directly. The included remote software should allow you to pull recorded video from the DVR.

Yeah if it was a dahua you could plug the hard drive into a PC to read it using their software, but in this case its a much more basic DVR so doubt it has that software available. Use the USB on the DVR for backup, or use the network software if it allows it.

Hello Soundy.

Thank you for replying to Tom was just about to do this myself.

For now could i just take the ethernet cable out of the router and use this just to get by? (get the footage i have on it now off and then redress the situation later ie a crossover ethernet cable (are these easy to get hold of?)

Thanks everyone for all the help.

If you already have the computer connected to a router, then you need a second ethernet cable to connect the DVR to the router as well - the DVR and computer can then communicate that way. A crossover cable is needed only to connect the two directly if there's no other network connection available.

Thank you ever so much soundy for your clear and easy to understand explanations of what i need to do, think i would have been scratching my head for a long time with this without all of the help i have received from everyone.

I will stick around if nobody minds? although i will not be able to give any technical advice i hope i can pick up useful information and if nobody minds proberly ask some basic questions as well.

Thank you everyone and i will of course let everyone know if this works especially soundy GREAT HELP.

Thank you ever so much soundy for your clear and easy to understand explanations of what i need to do, think i would have been scratching my head for a long time with this without all of the help i have received from everyone.

I will stick around if nobody minds? although i will not be able to give any technical advice i hope i can pick up useful information and if nobody minds proberly ask some basic questions as well.

 

Thank you everyone and i will of course let everyone know if this works especially soundy GREAT HELP.

Hi ethascar. you will have to let us know what you do with your system as regards paranormal i have see some footage from thermel cameras. were are you based.

Hi tom

I am based in Spalding UK.

We have just started really as a group, we have done a couple of investigations in an old hall in spalding and to tell you the truth sitting through the footage is mind numbing, but obviously i have to keep watching it just in case.

We have picked up orbs! still going through hours and hours of footage, but the problem is is that this could also be dust picked up on camera so can get a bit tiresome.

I innitially set the system up in my bungalow to get used to setting it up as the person who bought this left the group and just dumped it on us without showing how it worked or anything.

I picked up some amazing footage from my kitchen to tell you the truth of at least 2 spirit people quite clear but need to enhance this better, that is one of the reasons wanting it of the dvr so we can keep and log the good stuff.(any programs anyone know of to help/clean up the footage we get?)

Any recommendations of cameras to use would be great regarding capturing in night vision also.

Thanks everyone for the interest and not ridiculing.

Hello again everyone.

I have put an ethernet cable from my router to the DVR.

I have gone into the DVR menu network setup.

Where it says the following:

Net card wire netcard then a box with DHCP (unchecked)

IP Address (which i put mine in)

Subnet mask 225 225 225 0

Gateway (which i put my IP address in, only way it would let me save)

Primary DNS 0 0 0 0

Secondary DNS 0 0 0 0

TCP Port 34567

HHHP Port 80

HS Download (unchecked box)

Transfer Policy Quality prefer

Am i correct in plasing my IP Address in these 2 locations?

Tried going to download files but still never recognised my computer.

Thought it was going to well.

Thank you everyone for any more help.

Regards

Nic

The DVR needs to have its own unique IP. DHCP is the easiest way to do that (so it will get all the relevant info from the router). Enable DHCP, and the settings menu should then show you what IP the DVR has (depending on the exact router, it will probably be an address in the 192.168.0.* or 192.168.1.* range, with a Gateway of 192.168.*.1).

Whatever IP the DVR gets, you would then plug that into the remote software installed on the PC. The DVR won't recognize the computer; once the DVR is configured, you'll be doing the rest of the work on the computer.

Hello everyone again

Hi soundy i tried what you said about enabling DHCP to no affect still could not recognise it on my computer.

Also the DVR switchs itself on and keeps rebooting after about a minute, has anyone got any ideas why this would be?

I am not getting much chance now to try and recognisee it on my computer at all.

Thanks everyone.

Also the DVR switchs itself on and keeps rebooting after about a minute, has anyone got any ideas why this would be?

Sounds like the DVR is failing, which kind of negates everything else you're trying to do.

Thanks soundy for the quick reply.

Any ideas what i could do please, as i have some very good stuff on this which i obviously do not want to lose.

Thanks.

Sorry everyone should have been switchs itself off not switchs itself on.