UKC

I bought a new laptop which has Windows 7 on it. None of my cameras or my card reader will download photos to it. This surprises me. I believe I need something called a Driver. Extensive googling just produces incomprehensible (to me) gobbledygook and I don't want to risk making things worse. Can anyone give me any idiotproof (I am an idiot) advice in words suitable for someone with an IT literacy age of 3. Thanks for any help.

In reply to Robert Durran:
drivers... little bits of software that make each "device" attached to your computer to be recognised and understood by the operating system. windows can sometimes take a few minutes the first time you plug something in to install the driver.

when you plug the camera in and switch it on, does the laptop make any kind of noise or does a new icon appear next to the clock?

unless your gear is really old or really new i'd be surprised if win7 doesn't recognise it... what sort of card reader are you plugging in (single slot... multi slot) does the laptop have a SD card reader built in? does it recognise cards plugged into that?

In reply to Robert Durran:

If you're really stuck, I recommend Ron at apple@work in Kinross. He's good, but will say you should've 'bought a Mac'....

http://www.computer-repairs-maintenance.co.uk/r2548/apple-at-work-kinross-c...

In reply to Robert Durran:
Are they film cameras?

If not, which ones? As rallymania says, they should just work unless they are REALLY ancient.

edit - you are switching the camera on, aren't you? All my cams require them to be switched on to connect to a computer.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Do any other USB devices work when plugged into the same USB port?
Might be a hardware fault as opposed to a missing driver, etc.

In reply to dek:


That's just across the road from me. Might give him try.

Thanks for the replies. The laptop and cameras are all less than six months old. They are not film cameras and are switched on! When I plugged in one of the cameras the first time I got a message saying "no driver" or words to that effect, but nothing the next time. I have tried all the USB plugs - none work.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Aye, something fishy going on there. See the man is good advice.

In reply to Robert Durran:

What edition of Windows 7 are you using Robert? There's a similar problem to yours here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/drivers/213957-win-7-does-not-recognize-my-canon...

My Windows 7 Ultimate 64 recognised some fairly elderly cameras no problem.

In reply to Turdus torquatus:


The laptop is very new, so I assume it's up to date.


Very similar.....

I think I'll get the man to look at it.