JohnAllan

I would strongly recommend you start from a new build with a blank slate, you'll end up with better performance and a cleaner build. I would recommend backing up the whole PC using Norton Ghost which is a snip at £35 or so - There is a trial version available which works for backups and you should be able to use the Trial version to read a backup using the Recovery point browser, which opens up the disks image so you can browse and recover anything you should need once you are in Win7. Just copying everything to a USB Drive often results in errors, because certain files are in use - the built in XP backup file format isn't the same in Win7, so you can't relay on that to work. Generally each VM you run will use up a PC's worth of resources. e.g. If need a VM with 2GB of RAM, then that takes it from the main PC's available memory, so realistically you need 2GB for the Host OS and 2GB for the VM = 4GB in total minimum for Vista or Win7, you have 8GB so that side of it should be fine. It doesn't matter how many you set up, but each one that's currently running will slow down the PC as a whole. Hope that helps. www.mazingtree.com

This thread is a little old, but please see the following Video Delay system for Sport which is exactly what you describe. It's certainly not free, but it saves a lot of time and effort trying to build your own system. Camera -> variable delay Line -> Monitor. All mounted on a portable and easily assembled tripod. Simply switch on the power (Battery, with charger or Mains), adjust the camera with the delay switch = Off, then switch the delay on - that's it. Once set up you just switch on and adjust the camera and Zoom in/out to get the best image. See - EchoMotion - Video Delay The heart of it is a hardware PAL/NTSC Video Delay line with a 16 way switch that allows the delay to be adjusted to the maximum. The maximum depends on which system you buy, 15,30,60 or 120secs. This will be available seperately if technicians need to use existing equipment in school sports department. John Allan