Vista is the debbil.
November 11, 2007 11:06 AM Subscribe
How do I get Vista to find my camera? It runs a cord from the camera to a USB port, and a option box popped up, and I think I clicked some option like 'dont look for this again' and... now... no idea. frikking Vista. I want my pictures!
Dunno about the procedure on Vista, but on XP, you can usually fix this by:
1. unplug the usb cable and plug it in again
2. go to Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Action > and select Scan for hardware changes
If your camera won't work, it's quite possible that you need to update its driver. Usually, you can fix this by going to the Device Manager, finding your camera in the hardware list, right-clicking and choosing "Update Driver...". If this doesn't work, you'll have to manually download the driver from the manufacturers web site. However, if you're really unlucky, the manufacturer doesn't support your camera on Vista.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2007
1. unplug the usb cable and plug it in again
2. go to Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Action > and select Scan for hardware changes
If your camera won't work, it's quite possible that you need to update its driver. Usually, you can fix this by going to the Device Manager, finding your camera in the hardware list, right-clicking and choosing "Update Driver...". If this doesn't work, you'll have to manually download the driver from the manufacturers web site. However, if you're really unlucky, the manufacturer doesn't support your camera on Vista.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2007
Best answer: looks like Windows Vista probably isn't supported...
posted by nitsuj at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2007
posted by nitsuj at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2007
Some cameras have a back-of-camera menu option to put themselves in Mass Storage Transfer Mode (I know the Ricoh Caplio cameras can do this). If you can find a similar option on your camera, I expect that Windows will then see it as a standard USB flash drive, and won't need a special driver.
posted by flabdablet at 3:42 PM on November 11, 2007
posted by flabdablet at 3:42 PM on November 11, 2007
And of course Vista is the debbil. Switch to Ubuntu.
posted by flabdablet at 3:47 PM on November 11, 2007
posted by flabdablet at 3:47 PM on November 11, 2007
Response by poster: Yeah, Vista wouldnt take it anyway. Why oh why do we let M$ keep putting these things out?
So the obvious follow up question is, how easy is Ubntu to use? Could my grandmother do it?
posted by Jacen at 4:46 PM on November 11, 2007
So the obvious follow up question is, how easy is Ubntu to use? Could my grandmother do it?
posted by Jacen at 4:46 PM on November 11, 2007
Hell, your grandmother could probably install it.
OK, that's a bit hyperbolic. But it's a far, far easier install than Windows XP (I haven't used the Vista installer, so I can't speak to that) and the operating environment is windows, icons, mice and pointers; anybody with entry-level Windows skills has entry-level Ubuntu skills. There are of course many differences (both superficial and fundamental) between Ubuntu and Windows, but for the most part these will cause you less grief than the differences between XP and Vista.
If your plan is to blow Vista away completely and make your box 100% Ubuntu, the installer is absolutely painless and straightforward. If you want to do something slightly more complicated, there's endless help available.
Also, the standard Ubuntu installer disc is a Live CD - you can boot it up and find out whether Ubuntu will run OK with your hardware, and give you the software tools you need to get your work done, without changing your existing hard disk in any way. Be aware, though, that running stuff off the Live CD is way, way slower than running the same stuff off the hard disk.
As your grandmother's Designated Tech Support Guru, you will have much less work to do keeping her Ubuntu system in good working order than you would for a Windows box.
The main downside to using Ubuntu is that making your existing Windows software base run under it can be tiresome or impossible. The main upside is that you typically don't actually need much of your existing Windows software base, because so much functionality is either built into the Ubuntu CD from the get-go, or available via a few clicks in the package manager.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: these are Interesting Times for Microsoft. This is the first time they've pushed out a new version of their OS into a marketplace containing free alternatives that are not merely as good as their own offering, but better. We can't (and shouldn't) stop M$ from keeping on putting these things out, but we can (and should) adopt ways of working that make their doing so increasingly irrelevant.
posted by flabdablet at 5:12 PM on November 11, 2007
OK, that's a bit hyperbolic. But it's a far, far easier install than Windows XP (I haven't used the Vista installer, so I can't speak to that) and the operating environment is windows, icons, mice and pointers; anybody with entry-level Windows skills has entry-level Ubuntu skills. There are of course many differences (both superficial and fundamental) between Ubuntu and Windows, but for the most part these will cause you less grief than the differences between XP and Vista.
If your plan is to blow Vista away completely and make your box 100% Ubuntu, the installer is absolutely painless and straightforward. If you want to do something slightly more complicated, there's endless help available.
Also, the standard Ubuntu installer disc is a Live CD - you can boot it up and find out whether Ubuntu will run OK with your hardware, and give you the software tools you need to get your work done, without changing your existing hard disk in any way. Be aware, though, that running stuff off the Live CD is way, way slower than running the same stuff off the hard disk.
As your grandmother's Designated Tech Support Guru, you will have much less work to do keeping her Ubuntu system in good working order than you would for a Windows box.
The main downside to using Ubuntu is that making your existing Windows software base run under it can be tiresome or impossible. The main upside is that you typically don't actually need much of your existing Windows software base, because so much functionality is either built into the Ubuntu CD from the get-go, or available via a few clicks in the package manager.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: these are Interesting Times for Microsoft. This is the first time they've pushed out a new version of their OS into a marketplace containing free alternatives that are not merely as good as their own offering, but better. We can't (and shouldn't) stop M$ from keeping on putting these things out, but we can (and should) adopt ways of working that make their doing so increasingly irrelevant.
posted by flabdablet at 5:12 PM on November 11, 2007
On a lark, I pulled out my Sony-DSC50 camera and tried to get it to work with Vista. It seems to work. Here's what I did.
1) When I first plugged in the camera I got the dialog box you likely dismissed that said something along the lines of "You need to install a driver for this device". I selected the "Never ask me again" option so I was in the same state you where.
2) Open up Device Manager (Start -> Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager)
3) In the tree view I saw under "Other Devices" something that said Sony DSC. Double clicking on it brought up the properties, and I had this as device status:
"The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.
To reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver."
4) Reinstall Driver -> Browse my computer for driver software -> Let Me pick from a list of device drivers of my computer
5) Scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, Click Next
6) Pick "Sony Coperation" as the Manufacturer and "Sony DSC" as the Model.
7) Get this scary dialog box:
---------------------------
Update Driver Warning
---------------------------
Installing this device driver is not recommended because Windows cannot verify that it is compatible with your hardware. If the driver is not compatible, your hardware will not work correctly and your computer might become unstable or stop working completely. Do you want to continue installing this driver?
---------------------------
Yes No
---------------------------
8) Click Yes.
At this point windows says it installed the driver and I got a ballon from add new hardware saying my device was setup. I could now go to computer and see it as a disk drive.
posted by mge at 6:31 PM on November 11, 2007
1) When I first plugged in the camera I got the dialog box you likely dismissed that said something along the lines of "You need to install a driver for this device". I selected the "Never ask me again" option so I was in the same state you where.
2) Open up Device Manager (Start -> Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager)
3) In the tree view I saw under "Other Devices" something that said Sony DSC. Double clicking on it brought up the properties, and I had this as device status:
"The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.
To reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver."
4) Reinstall Driver -> Browse my computer for driver software -> Let Me pick from a list of device drivers of my computer
5) Scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, Click Next
6) Pick "Sony Coperation" as the Manufacturer and "Sony DSC" as the Model.
7) Get this scary dialog box:
---------------------------
Update Driver Warning
---------------------------
Installing this device driver is not recommended because Windows cannot verify that it is compatible with your hardware. If the driver is not compatible, your hardware will not work correctly and your computer might become unstable or stop working completely. Do you want to continue installing this driver?
---------------------------
Yes No
---------------------------
8) Click Yes.
At this point windows says it installed the driver and I got a ballon from add new hardware saying my device was setup. I could now go to computer and see it as a disk drive.
posted by mge at 6:31 PM on November 11, 2007
mge, what does nitsuj's list have to say about your exact camera? I can't find anything called a "DSC50" on it. There's a DSC-P50 and a DSC-S50 that show as having no Vista support, and a DSC-T50, DSC-U50 and DSC-W50 that are supported. Which is yours? Because it seems to me that the only hope of your experience being applicable to the DSC-P1 is if your '50 is one of the unsupported ones but worked anyway.
posted by flabdablet at 6:42 PM on November 11, 2007
posted by flabdablet at 6:42 PM on November 11, 2007
Gah, typo. Yes, it is the DSC-P50 which that site listed as "not supported".
My guess is this is why Vista warned me that the driver might not work, but it did seem to work.
posted by mge at 9:44 PM on November 11, 2007
My guess is this is why Vista warned me that the driver might not work, but it did seem to work.
posted by mge at 9:44 PM on November 11, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Jacen at 11:19 AM on November 11, 2007