>>>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Do you know of a hardware (and software) device that will allow connecting a VHS player (or a 8" tape player) to a computer and convert the videos into a "commonly" used formats (like AVI or other) that can be easily played on any PC or Mac Computer?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>TIA
>>>>>>
>>>>>>There are gizmos like this you can get :)
>>>>>>https://www.elgato.com/en/video-capture
>>>>>>http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/dazzle/dvd-recorder-hd/
>>>>
>>>>for generic products I'd google "video grabber USB"
>>>
>>>Thank you. I am watching a bunch of youtube videos on Elgato Video Capture and reading reviews on Amazon. It appears to be simple to use.
>>
>>I have a USB TV Tuner and you can do this with most of those too. If you're going to spend $100 or so might want to check into that as well because you'd also end up with a TV tuner out of the deal too - which is pretty sweet you can turn it into a PVR system.
>>
>>This is what I did:
>>1. Install Windows 10
>>2. Jump though series of hoops and hurdles to get Windows Media Center installed. Now Microsoft doesn't include this with windows 10 - but you CAN shoehorn into windows 10 - works great I've done it bunch of times - if you decide to give this a shot let me know and I'll give you the steps to do it.
>>3. Install TV tuner and set it up in Windows Media Center. Cool! - now you've turned your PC into a TV / PVR system.
>>4. Install l this nice piece of freeware - https://emby.media/windows-server.html ... and then install this plugin for it https://emby.media/emby-for-windows-media-center.html and configure them.
>>5. Install the Emby client on cell phone or other devices - I put it on my Android phone - https://emby.media/download.html - lots of platforms, or just use the browser based client from any PC.
>>
>>..so now what you have is a PC you can watch live TV on... AND on top of that you can watch the live TV from anywhere via internet! (and of course you can record shows, watch them later etc etc etc like a PVR and have a library of your own movies and videos and music, etc too of course) Pretty cool as its like having Sling TV but not paying anything for it. My whole intent here (being the 'king of cheap') is to have an inexpensive Windows 10 PC with a TV Tuner and Emby on it residing at my friends house on the mainland so I can watch TV in Hawaii without having to pay a Hawaii cable bill hehehehe, once again establishing myself as the true "king of cheap". Anyway these TV tuners have inputs and such that should allow you to convert from a VHS to a digital file output - and one of the ones I have even has a built in FM radio receiver too - so you can even save a few more $ by not having to purchase a home stereo system if you have acceptable speaker system for the PC.
>
>Thank you for your detailed steps. But you got me at "Jump though series of hoops" :). I want it very simple and without frills. I already ordered the Elgato Video Capture, that link you found. It has pretty good review on Amazon. They say the quality could be slightly better with another product (can't remember the name) but it is more complicated. I just need to put old videos on the computer; so that the kids would have it when I am gone. If Elgato does not work, Amazon has a good return policy. It cost $80 on Amazon and even if I waste it, it won't be a big loss. I am just concerned that my VHS tapes could be already in a bad state. I will have the Elgato tomorrow and test it.
>Again, thank you.

Well - the 'jump though hoops' is a lot easier than when I first did it as now someone has put together an installer package for it - which DOES actually work (I've tried it on both a 32bit and 64bit machines to test it out)
https://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/61061-DISCUSSION-Patch-WMC-to-run-on-Windows-10-final-amp-possible-alternatives/page336?p=1200602&viewfull=1#post1200602

I was quite disappointed to see Microsoft kill the Windows Media Center - but I guess there simply wasn't a lot of people using it. Shame too cause I sure think it's pretty neat.

Anyway hopefully you will be able to accomplish your mission of converting VHS tapes with the Elgato. One thing to keep in mind here is that DVD's actually have a shelf-life too, so you might want to keep the videos on some external hard-drives or something because DVD's decay over time just sitting on a shelf.