ElGato Game Capture HD video spazzes out

I have an elgato game capture hd that I bought to record video from my PS3, PS2, Dreamcast and others and it worked decently for a while, but lately it's been acting unusually.

When I plug in my PS2, for example, via the component-in cables it used to just grab video and audio fine, with a delay of course since I also have it plugged into a TV with the HDMI out. Recently, it's started this habit of switching between being able to connect to the software (I'm on a Win8.1 tower, btw) and disconnecting, usually with about 10 seconds in between.

When it does connect, the only video I can see in the software is this weird vertically-compressed image with a greenish tint. I thought it might be something wrong with the PS2, so when I just leave it plugged into the elgato but with the software off it displays just fine on my TV. I also tried the Dreamcast, which I have hooked a VGA cable to a VGA to HDMI converter, and when the software is on it usually says it can't support 640x480 video (which I thought it could? anyway) and it displays on my TV fine, but when the software is off it works just fine.

I also tried hooking the PS3 into it via the component cables and while the picture looked fine aside from some ghosting which I think is just needing settings tweaked, it has the rapid connect/disconnect issue as well.

All the reviews I read for this device led me to think it would work fine for my needs, and it did work for a while, so I guess my question is did I screw something up, or is this really not a good capture box?

edit for question in clarity; what is going on, is it the software that just needs a re-install or is there something wrong with my set-up, either the cables or my computer that is making it not work like it should.