New Digital Cam

[blas]

I bought a digital camera at Wal-Mart tonight.

It comes with a CD which is software that you need to install before you can upload photos.

I'm not very techy by any means at all. It says you need either XP or Vista to install the software.

My question is, if I borrow someone else's computer (because mine is one of the first Vistas that came out, and isn't compatable with anything and won't install anything I try to) and put photos on there, will I be able to save them and share them on sites such as Facebook?

[Racket_Man]

are you using the internal memory installed on the camera or are you using a memory stick?

I too have one of the first Vista's out and have had very little problem with the camera connected with a USB cord.

[Hyndis]

All computer memory is flash memory, just like your standard USB flash drive. Almost every digital camera can be hooked up to a computer and then you can access the pictures on the camera directly, just like it was a regular USB flash drive.

You may need an adaptor to hook it up to the camera, but once you do it is very straightforward.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

My laptop has a slot for an SD card. I just plug it into that slot and the computer transfers the pictures. No special software required.

This especially came in handy because I had the software that came with my camera on my old computer, and when I got my laptop the software wasn't compatible with Vista.

[Broomjockey]

(because mine is one of the first Vistas that came out, and isn't compatable with anything and won't install anything I try to)

Um, that shouldn't matter. Have you updated it to Service Pack 2? If you press the Windows Key and the Pause Break key, it will bring up your system information and should tell you. If you've not updated it, let us know, and we'll figure out the best way to get it updated. It fixes a lot of stuff.

[blas]

I have Basic Windows Vista Home (2006), if that helps? I don't want to upgrade because they seem to have to be purchased?

I'm only going by previous experiences, using other cameras to try to upload photos onto my computer and it wouldn't let me.

If all else fails, I can just use another computer.

[Broomjockey]

I have Basic Windows Vista Home (2006), if that helps? I don't want to upgrade because they seem to have to be purchased?

No, service packs don't need to be purchased. It's like a giant honkin' patch. It updates a crap-ton of stuff.

[lordlundar]

Just to get it out of the way, have you tried plugging the camera into your PC through the USB port? If not, give it a try while the camera is powered and let us know the results. There's a very good chance it will load up like a Removable Hard Drive and allow you to extract the photos.

[earl colby pottinger]

USB solutions

Note: My old HP Camera had two diffirent modes available thru the menus on how it interfaced to a USB port. One mode was a camera mode that only worked with the supplied HP software, the other mode made it look like an USB storage stick.

In the storage mode there is not a single modern OS that can't read it's files.

Warning, if you install the manufactor's software it will also install a ton of other useless software into your computer. If you can avoid doing so I would try my best no to go that route.

What I find works with *ALL* OSes out there and I am including Windows XP, Vista, Win7, Mac, Linux, BeOS/Haiku, basicily any OS that can use an USB storage unit is to go to your local photo-shop (Henry's, Black's, Japan Camera Center, etc) and get a memory card to USB adapter. This will let you not only read the cards with your present computer but also any future model you may change to.