This sounds like the beginning of "Charlie Wilson's War", sorry, I couldn't help myself, I'm sure you are sick of it, so my apologies.
The "live TV" function in the Vista version of the software and driver set has you jumping through numerous hoops just to get the receiver to output to the screen. I have DirecTV, and of course, it is not a supported TV signal, so I have not yet been able to do anything but preview a 4"x4" box during the remote control setup, which, for some reason, is mandatory for win media center to allow you to watch TV on your monitor. You probably do have a good card, it's just not accessible with the current software you may or may not have installed to enable it to output to the screen. Just because you have drivers is not enough to run the control software needed to tell the tuner what to do. Maybe you can find an aftermarket software program on the 'net through a specialized forum that deals specifically in video and TV tuner solutions.
Sorry I couldn't give any particulars, the rest of us would probably love to switch back to XP if there were a way to do it without losing any of the features we paid for. I for one would, as I have had 2 blue screens and one failure to come out of standby with a plug pull as the only way out. I even put an Apple decal on the back of the case to no avail; Vista is truly a bad platform for reliability, and this is after only 45 days or so of running it.
Dave

Well, pleased to meet you, Charlie Wilson, and welcome to the forum. I used to work for the US govt. just like the other Charlie, but as an aviation electrician and avionics tech for the DoD, 4 years as a Mo-Rine, and 24 as a civvie, now I just float around like an overstuffed Christmas Turkey putting my nose in other people's business under the cloak of the internet. All kidding aside, I'm a little piffed that my TV tuner doesn't work as advertised even with the software and drivers that came with the PC. DirecTV is one of the most popular providers of TV service in the country, and HP and AverMedia not supporting them is almost unconscionable, until you think about why it can't be supported. All of the encryption goes on inside the DirecTV receiver, and since it is proprietary and a trade secret as well, nobody can get the base code for it, just like MS Windows has been for years. I won't be using my TV Tuner because of it, but I may be starting a new thread to see if anyone has been able to get the tuner to work with DirecTV. I get to the point where you teach the remote to learn the codes for the DirecTV remote, and I get stuck because none of the codes work with the DirecTV receiver. I don't need to switch channels and set volume with the Win Media Remote Control, but evidently MS won't let me use their software unless the windows remote controls my set top box. HowsZat for reasons to start a war? You game? LOL!
Dave