Uploading digital photos from camera stopped working

  • Thread starter Thread starter LurfysMa
  • Start date Start date
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LurfysMa

We just upgraded our computers from Win2K to WinXP. I have a Nikon
CoolPix S3. On Win2K, I used to put the camera in the cradle and plug
in the USB cable. The camera appeared as another drive (E, F,
etc.). From there, I could copy the photos wherever I needed.

When we first got the new computers, I plugged the camera in and I got
some "new hardware" wizard. I think I selected "show a windows
explorer folder", or some such, afterwhich it worked more or less the
same.

Today, I plugged the camera USB cable in as always and nothing showed
up in My Computer. When I plug or unplug the USB cable, I get a bell,
so the system knows something is happening.

Last week, our tech support guys did something with the drive letters
to fix the fact that the DVD drive was not showing up. It is not the
G-drive. I don't know if that is related and they are out until
Monday.

I just tried inserting the SD card in the computer. Same result. I get
a 2-tone "bell" (do-sol on insert, sol-do on eject) just like when I
plug in the USB cable, but nothing appears in My Computer under
Devices with Removeable Storage or anywhere else.

I ran the same test on my wife's computer and I got the "new hardware"
wizard, selected show Windows Explorer, which it did, and was able to
upload the photos.

I checked the device manager. There are no "disabled" devices that I
could find. In fact, I couldn't find anything that looked like a
driver for the camera at all.

Can anyone suggest what I need to do to get the camera to show up as a
drive?
 
LurfysMa said:
We just upgraded our computers from Win2K to WinXP. I have a Nikon
CoolPix S3. On Win2K, I used to put the camera in the cradle and plug
in the USB cable. The camera appeared as another drive (E, F,
etc.). From there, I could copy the photos wherever I needed.

When we first got the new computers, I plugged the camera in and I got
some "new hardware" wizard. I think I selected "show a windows
explorer folder", or some such, afterwhich it worked more or less the
same.

Today, I plugged the camera USB cable in as always and nothing showed
up in My Computer. When I plug or unplug the USB cable, I get a bell,
so the system knows something is happening.

Last week, our tech support guys did something with the drive letters
to fix the fact that the DVD drive was not showing up. It is not the
G-drive. I don't know if that is related and they are out until
Monday.

I just tried inserting the SD card in the computer. Same result. I get
a 2-tone "bell" (do-sol on insert, sol-do on eject) just like when I
plug in the USB cable, but nothing appears in My Computer under
Devices with Removeable Storage or anywhere else.

I ran the same test on my wife's computer and I got the "new hardware"
wizard, selected show Windows Explorer, which it did, and was able to
upload the photos.

I checked the device manager. There are no "disabled" devices that I
could find. In fact, I couldn't find anything that looked like a
driver for the camera at all.

Can anyone suggest what I need to do to get the camera to show up as a
drive?
Click to expand...

Probably best to talk to the tech guys who modified your PC.
 
Most likely the system is trying to reuse a drive letter.

Right click My Computer and choose Manage. Open up the Drive Manager, then
plug in the camera. You should see a new drive added, but it might not have
a drive letter on it. Right click and put an unused drive letter on it.
 
Most likely the system is trying to reuse a drive letter.

Right click My Computer and choose Manage. Open up the Drive Manager,
Click to expand...

I don't see a "Drive Manager". I have Device Manager (under System
Tools) and Disk Management (under Storage). Neither one of them does
anything when I plug the camera SD card in.

Something did happen under Libraries (under Storage). An entry showed
up briefly (2-3 seconds) and I think it said something about a Ricoh
camera but then it disappeared.
then
plug in the camera. You should see a new drive added, but it might not have
a drive letter on it. Right click and put an unused drive letter on it.
Click to expand...

Is there some way for it to pick an available letter? I'd prefer this
not to fail the next time someone hard codes a drive letter.
 
Most likely the system is trying to reuse a drive letter.
I don't see a "Drive Manager". I have Device Manager (under System
Tools) and Disk Management (under Storage). Neither one of them does
anything when I plug the camera SD card in.
Click to expand...

My mistake... It was Disk Management that I was referring to.
Something did happen under Libraries (under Storage). An entry showed
up briefly (2-3 seconds) and I think it said something about a Ricoh
camera but then it disappeared.
Click to expand...
Is there some way for it to pick an available letter? I'd prefer this
not to fail the next time someone hard codes a drive letter.
Click to expand...

If a new drive is not appearing in the Disk Management when you plug the
camera in, there is something else wrong.

Have you tried multiple USB ports? When you move a device to a new USB port,
Windows thinks it's a new device and should reinstall drivers, etc. that it
needs.
 
We just upgraded our computers from Win2K to WinXP. I have a Nikon
CoolPix S3. On Win2K, I used to put the camera in the cradle and plug
in the USB cable. The camera appeared as another drive (E, F,
etc.). From there, I could copy the photos wherever I needed.

When we first got the new computers, I plugged the camera in and I got
some "new hardware" wizard. I think I selected "show a windows
explorer folder", or some such, afterwhich it worked more or less the
same.

Today, I plugged the camera USB cable in as always and nothing showed
up in My Computer. When I plug or unplug the USB cable, I get a bell,
so the system knows something is happening.

Last week, our tech support guys did something with the drive letters
to fix the fact that the DVD drive was not showing up. It is not the
G-drive. I don't know if that is related and they are out until
Monday.

I just tried inserting the SD card in the computer. Same result. I get
a 2-tone "bell" (do-sol on insert, sol-do on eject) just like when I
plug in the USB cable, but nothing appears in My Computer under
Devices with Removeable Storage or anywhere else.

I ran the same test on my wife's computer and I got the "new hardware"
wizard, selected show Windows Explorer, which it did, and was able to
upload the photos.

I checked the device manager. There are no "disabled" devices that I
could find. In fact, I couldn't find anything that looked like a
driver for the camera at all.

Can anyone suggest what I need to do to get the camera to show up as a
drive?
Click to expand...

I have new data -- but no complete solution.

It appears that some setting somewhere has made the "D" drive letter
unusable.

I have a digital camera and a USB hard drive. Both of them used to
work on this computer. Neither do now. In between, a tech support guy
did a "fix" because the built-in DVD drive would not auto-start. If I
put a disk in the DVD drive, I could run it from the CMD prompt (and I
think I could see it as the D-drive in Explorer), but it would not
auto-start.

After the "fix", the DVD is now hard-coded as the G-drive and it will
auto-start. But the D-drive seems to have gotten broken as a result.

If I plug the camera memory card in, it appears to become the D-drive
(a message pops up momentarily), but it is invisible for some reason.
Same thing with the USB drive.

I tried plugging in the camera card and then the USB drive. The camera
card was not visible, but the USB drive showed up as the E-drive.

I then reversed that and the camera card showed up as the e-drive. Now
the camera card comes up as the e-drive even if the USB drive is NOT
plugged in, so the USB drive no longer works.

The tech guys are still working on it.
 
I have new data -- but no complete solution.

It appears that some setting somewhere has made the "D" drive letter
unusable.

I have a digital camera and a USB hard drive. Both of them used to
work on this computer. Neither do now. In between, a tech support guy
did a "fix" because the built-in DVD drive would not auto-start. If I
put a disk in the DVD drive, I could run it from the CMD prompt (and I
think I could see it as the D-drive in Explorer), but it would not
auto-start.

After the "fix", the DVD is now hard-coded as the G-drive and it will
auto-start. But the D-drive seems to have gotten broken as a result.

If I plug the camera memory card in, it appears to become the D-drive
(a message pops up momentarily), but it is invisible for some reason.
Same thing with the USB drive.

I tried plugging in the camera card and then the USB drive. The camera
card was not visible, but the USB drive showed up as the E-drive.

I then reversed that and the camera card showed up as the e-drive. Now
the camera card comes up as the e-drive even if the USB drive is NOT
plugged in, so the USB drive no longer works.

The tech guys are still working on it.
Click to expand...

PS: If I click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon, it offers me a
chance to remove the USB mass storage device on Drive (D:).
 
I have new data -- but no complete solution.
PS: If I click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon, it offers me a
chance to remove the USB mass storage device on Drive (D:).
Click to expand...

Do you have TweakUI installed on that PC? It can be used to disable drives.
 
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