USB i/o errors

[fishbob]

My daughter bought a new computer (compaq). She is not particularly computer literate. She tried plugging her digital camera USB connector into the computer to download photos and keeps getting i/o errors. I live 800 miles away, and can not troubleshoot this over the phone. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[El Greco]

Windows XP ?

 

[fishbob]

I think so. Probably home version, or whatever it is called. She has been a little light on getting me that kind of info.

 

[El Greco]

Well, with XP she shouldn't need to install additional software in order to download photos. But if she has problems perhaps she should install the drivers and the software that came with the camera. It would also help to know what exactly is the error message. Does the transfer initiate and then suddenly stop ? Did she manage to download at least a few pictures before the error ? Does the USB port work OK with other devices ?

 

[fishbob]

Does the transfer initiate and then suddenly stop ? No transfer starts. The camera memory is supposed to look like another disk, but does not.

Did she manage to download at least a few pictures before the error ? No pics get downloaded.

Does the USB port work OK with other devices ? She has not tried other USB devices yet.

Not much help, is it? I will ask more questions.

Thanks

 

[garys_2k]

Try:

- The camera on another PC

- Another memory stick on that PC

After these it should be clear where the problem lies.

 

[El Greco]

Does she use a memory reader (a small device where you put the camera's memory and reads it faster) or she plugs directly the camera on the PC ?

 

[fishbob]

A cable plugs directly into the camera and the Compaq USB port. The memory card is removable and could be used in a card reader.

This setup worked just fine on my old HP here. She initially loaded the camera photo reader software on my computer, the she plugged the camera into the USB port, and the computer recognized the camera as another disk drive. She was able to drag and drop photo files from the camera memory onto the computer hard drive. The camera photo reader software is cumbersome and annoying for downloading - it works ok for editing the photos. The drag and drop works much better for getting the photo files from the camera.

 

[fishbob]

So I call my daughter to get more info about her computer set up. After many previous requests that she read the owners manual, or ask some of her computer literate friends for help, she tells me 'don't worry, I don't need the USB port anymore'. I ask 'why not'? She says 'because it has a memory card reader on the front'.

Anyboyd want to buy a kid, cheap?

 

[Benguin]

Digital cameras can be a real pain, XP has a habit of trying to load in drivers from previous incarnations of windows automatically and screwing everything up.

If you can let us know the make and model then maybe some more useful help will be forthcoming?

Oh, and does the computer recognise the insertion of a USB device (go ding-dong, show activity in the systray next to the clock, list a device in device manager)?

Alternatively you could just settle on a peaceful life with the card reader ....