Does this crashing problem persist if you try to capture using vitrualdub?

(If you don't know about virtualdub, you should know that it is free software. You don't have to pay anything.)

Just use File > Capture AVI and see see if it captures properly. It's possible that crappy software is holding you back.

As to changing your TV card, the ATI capture cards have a good reputation, though mine is a higher end Canopus ADVC-100 that I love dearly. There are also some capture devices from Plextor and ADS that have reasonbly good reputations.