We can no longer download pictures and videos from our camera to the computer.

Hello!

My name is David N., and I am a Community Independent Advisor and Windows fan. I will be happy to assist you with your issue.

There are several possible reasons why this might be happening. The two fixes below should do the job.

Reinstall the driver

1. Plug in the camera.
2. Choose Start, then Device Manager.
3. Under Cameras, locate your camera.
4. Right click on it and choose "Uninstall device".
5. Uninstall and reboot.

This should reinstall the camera drivers.

If that does not work then reinstalling any camera software might do the trick.

1. Make sure that you have a copy of the camera software. If you do not have this and do not know where to get it please send me the brand and model of the camera and I will try to find it for you.
2. Choose Start and type in "add". Choose "Add or remove programs".
3. Locate the camera software.
4. Click on the three-dot menu on the right.
5. Choose "Uninstall". You can also try other options if there, such as Modify, to see if Repair is an option available.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if this resolves your issue or if you require additional assistance.

Regards,

David N.

Community Independent Advisor

Hello!

Thank you for the reply. This helps.

First, yes, we can probably eliminate a problem with the camera if it works with Picassa.

Second, the suggestion that you reset Windows may be the best way to go, but here is a different, simpler solution that stands a good chance of working.

1. Choose Start and type in "cmd". Choose to run Command prompt as admin.
2. A black box will appear. Enter these commands one at a time and wait for them to complete.

Next, here is a good way to keep your pictures safe.

1. Get an external USB drive (even a small USB thumb drive these days

Hi David

Thanks for your reply. I took my computer to a small local computer place a month ago. They couldn't get my windows picture file to open either so they couldn't download my new pictures. They loaded what they called an older picture program called PICASA 3. It opens and excepts my pictures. I can then transfer them to my windows pictures. The problem is this new program will load pictures but not video's. Looking on line a number of people that have Picasa 3 can't get it to load video's. Some or most can..

I am a windows fan and an old school guy that just like's the simplicity of what I had with Windows. Because it loads Picasa 3 probably the camera is good.?? What do you think ?

Pictures and video's are my hobby ( I'm a 76 yr old retired Canadian Antique and collectable collector.) I have huge number of pictures and video's About a year ago

our PC went dead but fortunately we had a back up device on it or I would have lost all my Pictures & Videos. I'm a little bit apprehensive to try the second step you suggested because I don't want to loose all my pictures.

Thankyou for your previous reply and suggestions. What do you think now??.

Thanks and regards

Don Green

.

PS I am not good with computers. My wife had a computer at work before she retired so has some knowledge. That's why were so apprehensive.

Hello!

Before you do anything else, I recommend plugging the camera into another computer and see if it functions there.

A system restore stands a good chance of fixing this issue. It isn't hard to do and should leave all of your files intact and your system functioning normally, though some settings may be reset.

To be safe, though, you should probably back your important files up to the cloud (Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.) or an external memory device (a USB thumb or portable drive) first.

Here is how you reset Windows:

1. Click on the Start button and type "settings". Open Settings.
2. Open Update and Security.
3. Open Recovery in the left menu.
4. Find "Reset this PC".
5. Click the "Get started" button.
6. Choose "Keep my files".
7. Choose "Cloud download".
8. Click "Next".
9. Click "Next".

The computer will reboot and restore Windows. Your files should be usable once it is complete and with luck the camera will function at that point. If it does not then there is a good chance that the issue is the camera itself. It is possible that the manufacturer's support may be able to help.

Regards,

David N.

Community Independent Advicsor

Hi David,

 We have tried the first of your suggestions (above) without success.     We are not good on computers. We believe that the camera is not the issue. We found in Microsoft's chatline from 2016, a person that had exactly the same problem that we have. We are cutting and pasting their question and their solution to the problem. She found that by doing a system recovery, her problem was fixed. Again, we are not computer literate enough to do this recovery or try your second suggestion. Our computer and camera have worked well for years. We have a Windows 10 system and about 10,000 pictures and 60 videos. It has always worked well until a week or so ago. There must be just some little glitch or change. What do you suggest?           

Thanks so, so much for your time & efforts on this matter.

Below is her post from 2016.                                 

I plug my cannon camera into the computer, and turn the camera on so that I can view the pictures.  I hear the little music that says the camera is connected to the computer, but nothing happens.  Before a little screen would pop up that said what would I like to do with Cannon Power Shot.  I would press import pictures and a few seconds later it would say the import was complete.  Very easy.  Now, nothing except the little music plays. I used the tile on my start page that says photos to look at the pictures.  That tile is frozen and I tried to unpin it and then pin it again to the start page, but it didn't work, so I use the file folder at the bottom of the computer.  I can open the pictures that I had prior to this problem, but when I click on them to view them individually, I get the message "invalid value for registry" I did try what you mentioned and I can open the pictures this way, but I have to do right click and open with for each picture which before I only had to double click the picture and it would open up right away. I'm thinking of trying to do a recovery on the computer and see if that helps.  If you can think of anything else I can try I'd appreciate it.

 JillDickert

Replied on January 30, 2016Report abuse

In reply to Jill Dickert's post on January 30, 2016

I did a recovery on the computer and everything is working as it should be once again.

Thanks again Mr. Syed for your help.