Here's a difficult Plug-and-Play or USB digital camera
problem... I am trying to help a friend with a digital
camera problem but have run out of ideas. I e-mailed HP
(the manufacturer of the camera) but they were unable to
help. The problem: The memory card is not displayed as a drive
in My Computer or Windows Explorer. The HP support
representative I corresponded with told me that pictures
could be uploaded back to the camera by dragging image
files from my hard drive to the drive icon in Explorer
representing the camera memory card. However, even though
the camera is detected by Windows so that images can be
downloaded from the camera, the memory card is not
displayed as a drive (preventing me from uploading pictures
back to the camera). Does anyone know how I could get the
memory card to be displayed as a drive?

Windows 98 4.10.1998 HP Photosmart 318 digital camera

Thanks,
Joel Nelson
jnelson@mmjcd.net
:confused:

No need to post twice, I usually catch the ones that belong elsewhere and move them to where they need to be.......

I am not familiar with this model, but are you sure th camera itself has that function?

Most of the time you would need a card reader to be able to use the card like a drive....

I believe the camera does have that function. How would using a memory card reader provide me with any different function than accessing the memory card when it is inside the camera? My JVC camera (camcorder/digital camera combo) displays the memory card as a disk drive (on both Mac OS X and Windows XP) without the use of a memory card reader.

From the HP manual(paraphrased):

If you have the HP Image Unload software installed on your computer, the images in the camera will automatically download to the computer when you connect the USB cable.

To download images to a computer that does not have the Imaging software installed, switch the camera to Disk Drive in the USB Configuration menu found in the Setup menu. This allows the camera to be seen as another disk drive on the computer.

Easiest way to sort things out when all else fails- simply:
Unplug any leads from the computer that connect to the camera.
Uninstall ALL software connected with the camera.
Go to System, and delete all the camera hardware you see.
Reboot the system.
Now DO NOT CONNECT the camera in any way to the computer.
Reinstall ALL the software - I don't know HP, but if it's like the majority of others, there will be a camera (so you can use it as a pc-cam) some editing/viewing software, and the mass-storage medium software.
Now reboot your system again.
Once everything is booted again, connect the camera to the system, and switch it on (make sure the card is inside it)

Doing it this way round allows Windows to go find the drivers and necessary files without much input, if any from you. It likes it this way, as it feels smug and all-knowing. It likes to auto-detect in it's own way, regardless of what you are told in the manuals!
Connecting the camera before installing the drivers can cause heaps of trouble:(

Don't hold your breathe for a fix. I've got the same problem with a Visioneer 7600, only backwards. Creates the drives, but won't "see" data using it card reader.

Looked all over the net for driver updates and newsgroups faq, etc---
nothing.

In this case the scanner works fine in 98SE, but won't work in ME....
actually it does scan in data, but no "drives present" just to copy data.

The only thing I would check is if you have a CD-rom, reset the drive letter to something higher lie "R" or "X" . If you are using a zip drive or any other USB connection, try it once with them disconnected.

If that doesn't work put your right hand on the top of your head. Stand on your left foot and hop up down ten times while rotating clockwise.

It won't fix anything but your blood pressure mght come down a little.:confused:

If that doesn't work put your right hand on the top of your head. Stand on your left foot and hop up down ten times while rotating clockwise.

It won't fix anything but your blood pressure mght come down a little.



Yes.......

Ok, if the camera is supposed to have it then moset likely it is a software problem and the uninstall/reinstall is the way to go, also check with HP for any updates they may have for the software.

I wonder if this link might be useful:
http://h20015.www2.hp.com/en/document.jhtml?lc=en&docName=bpy60341&prodId=hpphotosma43206

Thanks for the help!

I dunno if all these driver updates, etc, have worked for you but u I have just been playing around with connecting my video cam to the computer too and you may just be doing one obvious thing wrong. Many of the new cameras have different Modes, e.g. VCR mode for visual playback on the camera, record mode for videotaping or taping photos, and MEMORY mode. IMPORTANT! The only way the computer will detect the camera as a virtual drive is when the camera is plugged into the USB port, the USB drivers are installed, and the camera is on and set to MEMORY. This should hopefully solve your problem.