Or, you can use http://www.virtualdub.org/ (http://www.virtualdub.org/) (free).
I have just started to make some movies, im not as competent as many of the guys in this forum, but it really fun.
... I use Fraps and Adobe Premiere 1.5 Pro. A really great program, but it costs $... I dont understand why you get the error message. I can read the AVI file with Winamp.. Are you sure the F9 button is not dubble assigned. In SS08 its the settings button. I have reassigned the "start / finish" (F9 in Fraps) to the Ins button...