canon powershot a310 problem uploading pics to pc...

[Pentheon]

Nah, havent talked to them at all...is there any troubvle shooting to see if it might be a firewall added by the internet or something, or would you know how?

Also yea I tried zoom ex browser by itself, it does the same thing as if it did it automatically.

I have 3 usb ports on my comp and I tried all 3, someone told me to uninstall and reinstall the drivers but im not sure how, when I unplug the wire to upload with, and then plug it in a new port it says new hardware found, new hardware installed but doesnt do anything diff...

[Chunk]

I originally had the canon powershot a300, everything worked fine for a month, I bought it august 1st and then about a week ago it stopped letting me upload my pictures, I have the usb cord plugged into my pc and into the camera, I have no idea why all the sudden this happened, sometimes is says no camera found, sometimes it says no camera connected, and sometimes it does nothing at all, when I used to plug the wire in and turn the camera on to upload the pics, a window would pop up right away with 4 options on which program to use and I always selected zoom ex browser, not that window wont even pop up, it will pop up once in a while IF I turn the camera off, right after I turn it off the window pops up...I dont know what to do, I was thinking maybe it was my internet at first, it seemed to start doing it when I switched from verizon dsl to comcast cable internet... so today I switched from the a300 and exhcanged it for the a310 and still get the same problems...

can anyone help me? I have no clue what else to do, I tried reinstalling the problems several times and still the same thing...

Have you tried starting the Zoom Browser by itself?
You are probably right about it being caused by the cable install. There may be some setting in the antivirus/firewall/security stuff that can be changed. The cable support people have probably seen something similar before. Have you talked to them?

The simplest solution that would also result in a faster and to my mind better way of transfering pictures would be to add a USB card reader to your system. I bought a fairly inexpensive SanDisc version that has slots for 4 different kinds of memory cards. When I slip a CF card in there it appears as a drive on my computer and transferring files is simply a matter of dragging them to where I want them.

[Pentheon]

Nah, havent talked to them at all...is there any troubvle shooting to see if it might be a firewall added by the internet or something, or would you know how?

Also yea I tried zoom ex browser by itself, it does the same thing as if it did it automatically.

I have 3 usb ports on my comp and I tried all 3, someone told me to uninstall and reinstall the drivers but im not sure how, when I unplug the wire to upload with, and then plug it in a new port it says new hardware found, new hardware installed but doesnt do anything diff...

[Clemmie]

Let me run this possibility by you. You say the problems started about a week ago, right? And just 'out of the blue'?

Just happens that about a week ago, Microsoft unleashed a batch of security updates to Windows XP, which likely self-installed. I have had a LOT of problems in the past, with something or other suddenly not working after such updates.

One very notable item in Microsoft's latest update batch, is that the basic Firewall built into Windows XP is now turned ON as the default. Most likely you will need to turn it back OFF -- like I had to on my Laptop, because the new setting disabled both wireless net cards.

Always under fire for their notorious security lapses, it seems Microsoft is fighting back with the 'block everything' approach. Unfortunately, that only works for people who never plug anything in.

I doubt that your change of internet providers has any bearing on this problem. The cable modems usually have a hardware-based firewall in the modem box, but that only affects what is coming in on the cable from outside. It has no bearing on equipment, such as a camera, connected directly to the computer.

[Chunk]

Nah, havent talked to them at all...is there any troubvle shooting to see if it might be a firewall added by the internet or something, or would you know how?

Also yea I tried zoom ex browser by itself, it does the same thing as if it did it automatically.

I have 3 usb ports on my comp and I tried all 3, someone told me to uninstall and reinstall the drivers but im not sure how, when I unplug the wire to upload with, and then plug it in a new port it says new hardware found, new hardware installed but doesnt do anything diff...

It doesn't happen to show up as new drive by chance?

[Pentheon]

Let me run this possibility by you. You say the problems started about a week ago, right? And just 'out of the blue'?

Just happens that about a week ago, Microsoft unleashed a batch of security updates to Windows XP, which likely self-installed. I have had a LOT of problems in the past, with something or other suddenly not working after such updates.

One very notable item in Microsoft's latest update batch, is that the basic Firewall built into Windows XP is now turned ON as the default. Most likely you will need to turn it back OFF -- like I had to on my Laptop, because the new setting disabled both wireless net cards.

Always under fire for their notorious security lapses, it seems Microsoft is fighting back with the 'block everything' approach. Unfortunately, that only works for people who never plug anything in.

I doubt that your change of internet providers has any bearing on this problem. The cable modems usually have a hardware-based firewall in the modem box, but that only affects what is coming in on the cable from outside. It has no bearing on equipment, such as a camera, connected directly to the computer.

How can I turn this firewall off? Im not familiar with turning any firewalls on or off =\

[Pentheon]

It doesn't happen to show up as new drive by chance?

Im not sure what you mean =\ Im not familiar with alot of this stuff, like drives, firewalls etc...

[Clemmie]

Start > Control Panel > Windows Firewall > tick the checkbox for 'Off', and click OK.

That will take care of the Windows Firewall.
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To see if the Camera is being read as a new Drive:

Start > My Computer

This screen lists the connected Drives. Diskette drives will usually show up as A or B drives. The Hard Drive is usually C. CD-Rom and DVD drives usually show as D or E.

An external device that the computer interprets as being an additional drive, such as a Card Reader, will show up here - with the next available letter assigned to it, such as F, G, etc.

If it does show up like that under My Computer, you can click on it there to see a listing of the files on that 'drive', and click on the files to open them.

It is quite common for a card in a card reader to show up as an extra drive like this. It is not common, though certainly not impossible, for the camera itself to show up as an extra drive.

[Pentheon]

Start > Control Panel > Windows Firewall > tick the checkbox for 'Off', and click OK.

That will take care of the Windows Firewall.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To see if the Camera is being read as a new Drive:

Start > My Computer

This screen lists the connected Drives. Diskette drives will usually show up as A or B drives. The Hard Drive is usually C. CD-Rom and DVD drives usually show as D or E.

An external device that the computer interprets as being an additional drive, such as a Card Reader, will show up here - with the next available letter assigned to it, such as F, G, etc.

If it does show up like that under My Computer, you can click on it there to see a listing of the files on that 'drive', and click on the files to open them.

It is quite common for a card in a card reader to show up as an extra drive like this. It is not common, though certainly not impossible, for the camera itself to show up as an extra drive.

When I go to start control panel, there isnt anything that says windows firewall, I dont see anything about firewall at all...

and when I go to my computer, I have one of the 2 cds in the disk drive and I have the usb plugged into the front of the pc into the usb port and when I look at my computer it shows a camera icon and I double click it, it connects and just sits there blank...=\ guess that means its still not reading it or whatever..

[Clemmie]

When I go to start control panel, there isnt anything that says windows firewall, I dont see anything about firewall at all...

and when I go to my computer, I have one of the 2 cds in the disk drive and I have the usb plugged into the front of the pc into the usb port and when I look at my computer it shows a camera icon and I double click it, it connects and just sits there blank...=\ guess that means its still not reading it or whatever..

Sounds like an accurate diagnosis to me. (See there - you know more than you thought you did.)

And I see two things here of relevance:

#1 is 'nothing about Windows Firewall'. That is good - means the new Firewall isn't installed, and thus isn't an issue. If you get any pop-ups about installing Windows XP Service Pack 2, DON'T DO IT! I'm finding out it has some bugs, and had to un-install it today. (Another Microsoft update that ain't ready for the real world.)

#2 is that it IS detecting the Camera as a Camera - it just isn't reading it.

So, let's try uninstalling and reinstalling the software that came with the camera:

Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > find the program in the list and click on it. Click the box to remove or uninstall it - and let it do its thing.

Unplug the camera, and restart the computer.

Reinstall the software, per the original instructions. Then try it.

If this doesn't get you going, then try calling Canon's tech support to help troubleshoot.

[Pentheon]

I give up, I just tried to reinstall it and still the same thing...

Whats another good camera like this around the same price range? I got it for about 145

[Clemmie]

Oh, well.....

The only digicam I know anything about in that price range, is the one I have - the Kodak CX6230, which is a 2-megapixel with a zoom lens. $148 at Walmart. The software that comes with it works quite well.

But let me throw a caveat in with that: I run a small support group for the model on Yahoo (8 of us), and our group experience is that half of them have to go back for warranty repairs at least once. Kodak does a fine job of repairing them, and has first class customer support - but it's obvious there are serious quality control issues at the Chinese factory.

Thought I would share that detail so you'll have the 'big picture' about the model. My own experience with mine is that it has held together just fine, and does nice pictures - but it is hard on batteries. NiMH rechargeables are a must.