Problem with digital camera and ME

[Meredith Van Ruymbeke]

Hello...I am trying to help a friend who has a problem connecting her Kodak DX3500 digital camera to her Windows ME machine. She had had the computer reformatted and she reinstalled the original software that came with the camera. However, the computer does not recognize the camera...I assume it's a driver problem because the camera is recognized by my XP system and works just fine.  I also tried using another camera imaging program, Cam2PC, with no luck on her PC, worked fine with XP, which really makes me think it's a driver problem. I download a driver from the Kodak support site, K35v0101.fw but Windows is looking for a file with an .inf extension. Also, the list of cameras on ME does not include the DX3500, and the hardware installation program looks for dll files for the one I am forced to select because the one I am installing is not listed, even though I'm providing the driver (for the DX3500). I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Kodak software to see if it was a bad install, but it will not uninstall. I tried a couple of freeware uninstallers I found on the web, but they still go through the windows reinstaller, using a different interface, and I still cannot remove the program.  I checked the for IRQ conflicts, and verified that the USB ports are working through Device Manager. Does anyone have any ideas, or suggestions where I can find an .inf driver? Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

[pcdoc4christ]

Meredith:

Many Windows ME systems shipped with an earlier (and slower) version of USB (i.e., Universal Serial Bus 1.1).  The digital camera may require Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0).  Check the documentation that came with the camera to see if it is USB 1.1 compatible.

Doc

[Meredith Van Ruymbeke]

Thanks for the tip! I appreciate it. However, she said that it worked fine before she had it reformatted, and whoever did it used her original CDs...it's an older camera so still uses USB 1 (slow as molasses!).

[patio]

ME handles USB fine except it's not instantaneous...people have to be patient enough to give it time to do what it thinks it can do...i've worked on many machines where people lost tons of photos just because they got tired of waiting for the "safely remove hardware" thing to finish and/or they thought it wasn't working properly...

patio.  

[Dell4700]

Meredith,

some other things you can try:

Connect the USB cable to the PC (with the camera connected and turned on, make sure the camera batteries are charged) - you will need the original camera setup disk for this.  Make sure the original software is installed.
- check the Device Manager under System Properties (Control Panel)...is the camera listed (it could be under Drives)?  If yes, does it have a yellow question mark or does it show any other problem (i.e. driver not installed, conflict, disabled...)?  If yes, press the Remove button.
- if the camera is not listed under the Device Manager, is there anything else listed showing a yellow question mark?  If so, this could be your camera.  If you think it is, do the same as above and remove it.
- restart the PC, do not remove the camera and cable connection

Did the PC recognize new hardware when you restarted?  If yes, insert your setup disk, and browse to it via the new hardware window.  It should recognize the drivers on the original disk and continue with installation.  If it doesn't locate them, you are browsing to the wrong folder or the disk is bad.  Note that many camera drivers are supported by Win ME, so that it might not even need the disk.

Does the camera now show on her desktop or My Computer? If yes, then done.  If no, then let us know what happend.  Let us know anyway.

Hope this helps!
Dell

[Meredith Van Ruymbeke]

Hi pcdoc4christ, Patio, and Dell4700,

Thanks for the assistance...if this happens again I will certainly try your suggestions...I just reformatted and reinstalled everything (it was so satisfying to FDISK after several days of frustration!) and it works fine now. I did a system restore point after installing it and verifying that it worked so hopefully I can try to restore first if this happens again. The system restore did not work previously....

Thanks again!

Meredith

[pcdoc4christ]

Meredith:

Glad we were able to help you out!  

Take it easy,
Doc

[patio]

I find FDisk sometimes to be a very rewarding task...it feels good once in awhile !

patio.  

[pcdoc4christ]

Patio:

Yes, but have you ever tried a sledge hammer?

[patio]

Only on a laptop...

patio.  

[pcdoc4christ]

Only on a laptop...

patio.  

Dropping it from a second or third story window also relieves frustration.

[patio]

A desktop or a lappy ? ?


patio.  

[pcdoc4christ]

Lappy, 'cause it looks more like a turkey trying to fly once it is thrown out of an airplane.

[merlin_2]

One normally loads the drivers,that came with the camera......did you? fdisk would not solve this problem....never....