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Digital Camera Compatability with XP?

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Gerryl

Technical User
Dec 22, 2001
8
US
I recently purchased a new computer (Compaq 5320us), which has Windows XP Home Edition as the operating system. I connected my digital camera (Kodak DC280)to the computer to transfer some pictures to the computer. The computer recognizes the camera, tells me how many pictures have been taken and pass the camera test. But when I try to transfer the pictures to my computer, I get a message from the WiZard program that there are no picures in the device and therefore no transfer takes place. I spoke to Kodak and they could not help out. As far as they are concerned, the camera should be fully compatable with windows XP software. Anyone have any ideas?
 
I have a DX3900 and every thing works fine. Did you get the WinXp software from the kodak website? Link below:


When I connect my camera it shows up in the My Computer window as a "drive" I click on the drive and the click on the "DCIM" folder. All my pictures are there for the taking/copying...
The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.
 
I have already been to the Kodak website you recommended. The new Kodak software does not apply to the DC280 model. That is why Kodak recommended that I use the software built-into Windows XP to transfer the files. However, that feature does not appear to work on my computer. Thank you for the suggestion anyway
 
I think rj is correct.My Fuji sometimes(rarely)displays similar behavior.If the camers IS showing up in "my computer" as a removable drive then just open it and and take the pictures from there.Copy and paste or drag and drop to wherever you need them.If it is NOT showing up I would try another USB device in that port to ensure it works correctly.Also try new batteries or use the ac adaptor.
Jimi_l(AKA Malepipe)
 
There is software at that site that is relevent to your camera. Particularly the new firmware update. That may be something to look into.

Also if you have installed ANY Kodak software at all remove/uninstall it and then try again with just XP. On my system the XP software didn't work until I deleted all the Kodak software. You may not know this but Kodak and MS had a big fight about camera support before XP was released and even though they both said their issues were resolved I wouldn't bet on it from either of these GIANT corporations.

Good Luck ... The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.

 
I removed all Kodak software from my computer and tried to transfer my pictures from the camera using just the XP software. The results are the same. Apparently my camera is not compatible with XP. It appears, as you had stated, that camera issues between Kodak and Microsoft may have not been resolved. Rjkrash, anymore ideas?
 
I think this article( link below) at MS lists your camera as supported. listed in this file is the following entry:
DC-280 Zoom 2Megapixel 20MBCF 2XOpt Zoom USB

Is this your camera? If so, then we know if there is something we should be able to fix.



The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.
 
My camera (DC280) is on the MS list that the link points to. I have the firmware update but have not updated the camera. I haven't done it yet because the update requires deleting the pictures in the memory card in order to provide sufficient space for the new firmware files to be copied to. Since I don't want to lose these pictures, I won't do this update until I can first transfer these pictures from the camera.
 
Got it, and don't blame you! You probably don't have a second memory card right?

As a stop gap to save your pictures maybe you could take them to a camera store (Wolfe Camera here in ATL) and have them xfered to a CD. A cost for sure but maybe worth it this one time till you/we figure out what's what on your system/camera.

That said, I'm outta ideas for now but am determined to help. I'll keep researching, leave this thread marked for notification if you have any news and will post if I find anything.

Joy...
The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.

 
I stumbled accross this at kodak: (my bold type)

KODAK DC240 / DC280 / DC240i Zoom Digital Cameras

Current Status
The latest KODAK DC240 / DC280 CD (v1.1) software installs on a WINDOWS 2000 system. All camera applications work when using the serial interface except the Border Transfer Application. The camera USB interface does not function with WINDOWS 2000[\b].


Support Plans
New KODAK software enabling USB with these cameras is available on the Kodak Web site at The Border Transfer Application support for WINDOWS 2000 is under consideration.

WinXP is a Son of Win2k. These comments on the Kodak site makes me feel that the firmware fix may be very important for fixing the problem. Kodak support should have been able to tell you this but the there is support and then there is support. :)


The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.
 
Sorry about the bolding screw up in the previous post.
I went back to Kodak's site again and there is a driver file for Windows 2000. As I said before with WinXP being a son of Win2k it might work. A lot of people are using win2k drivers on winxp. If it doesn't work no pain just revert.

You don't have to mess with you camera to try this..., and don't sweat it if XP says it not a signed driver just use it anyway. Be sure to reboot after installing even if it doesn't tell you to.

The link for your convienience: (since I was there anyway...

The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.
 
Does the camera show up as a removable drive or not? I never saw an answer to that question in any of the posts.This would seem to be a key point to me as far as a camera vs O/S issue.
Jimi_l
 
The camera shows up as a removable drive.
 
I have to make a correction. The camera does not show up as a removable drive. It shows up only as a camera icon. No images appear when I try to open this icon. The program take me to another screen, which gives me the option to get pictures. When I take this option, the Wizard screen appears and tells me that there is no picture in the device.

I would like to add this bit of information as it might be relevent to the camera problem. When the camera in not connected or when it is not in the picture transfer mode (connect mode on the camera), the XP Wizard does not recognized my HP scanner, which is also connected to a USB port. In this configuration, I can not scan any pictures just using the XP software. However, when I activate the HP software, which was successfully installed on the computer, the computer recognizes the scanner and I have no problem scanning.

I also tried switching ports, connecting the camera to the port that the scanner is usually connected to. The results were the same. XP does not see any pictures in the camera, even though it can tell me how many pictures are stored on the memory card.
 
You know, we may have a miscommunication going on here. malepipe's question "Does the camera show up as a removable drive or not?" is, I think, intending to ask:
When you double-click on My Computer on your desktop does the Camera show up?

On my system the camera shows up in the My Computer Window under a 'group' labeled Scanners and Cameras. It also 'shows' in a window with a title bar of "Scanners and Cameras" after running the XP wizard - Scanners and Cameras from the Control Panel.

Which "view" are you refering to Gerryl? I think you are talking about the second. For clarity's sake lets call the first view the MyComputer view and the second the Wizard view.

The reason I go into detail above about which 'view' you see the camera icon in is because they are two different ways to access the camera. From the MyComputer view the camera is kinda like a disk drive and if you can access the camera that way you can get/see the pictures on the camera like files on a drive and copy them to a folder on a 'real' disk. You only get this view if the system is "seeing" the camera.

The second view (Wizard view) with Scanners and Cameras in the title bar is from the XP wizard and is just an icon to restart the transfer software, which you say isn't working properly. BTW the only way I get this view is if my system is 'seeing' the camera out on the USB bus AND I double click on the Scanners and Cameras icon in the control. panel.

Now, since you say the Camera icon shows up in the Wizard view I assume the Wizard at least starts. You say it tells you how many pictures and all but won't transfer them. On the first screen, "Welcome...", of the Wizard do you see a line that says - If you prefer, you can work directly from your device. This option is recommended for advanced users only ? Have you ever clicked on the "advanced users only". If so what happens/shows? You should get the same view as if you clicked on the camera icon from the MyComputer view. All the pictures on the camera should be there in as thumbnails. From there you can copy etc. Let us know.





As to the second piece of info you conveyed in the last post - about the HP scanner. I would expect the behavior you describe. Until HP's software loads/starts, the XP software is 'waiting' for the HP software to activate/show the device to the system.

One final note: Gerryl, if you would like to talk via the phone about this with me directly send me an email at rjkrash@hotmail.com and I'll reply with my phone number and you can call me. (I don't want to publish my phone here.) It might be easier/quicker if we don't have to post and wait, post and wait. If we resolve we can post our successes after the fact.
The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.

 
Consider also that some cameras (not this Kodak, I imagine, but my Panasonic PalmCam) do indeed appear as removable storage devices. Of course in my case that's because it is such a device: a USB SuperDisk drive that just happens to be a camera too.

Of course this unit never looks like a camera in "My Computer." It really is a USB drive.
 
My camera shows up in My Computer in the subgroup labeled Scanners and Cameras.
New Info:
I purchased a memory card and took some pictures and was able to transfer these pictures onto the computer. However, when I powered down the camera and then repowered, in most cases I could not successfully repeat the picture transfer operation. I had to reboot the computer in order to transfer the pictures. Though this is a partial success, it still shows that there is camera bug with XP.

A friend has the same camera. I'm sending him the old memory card to see if he can extract the pictures on his setup. His OS is either Windows 95 or 98. I'll let you know what happens.
 
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