Fuji FinePix Flusteration

[FourTailsLampwork]

Arrrgh.

First off, I know someone's going to say that the solution to all my problems is to buy a better camera. I'm in the middle of buying a house; cameras are waaaaaaaaaaaaay down that list! Besides, the FinePix has a macro setting that I just found, lets you adjust white balance (Ditto), and though it only takes 2 megapixel shots and has only 3x optical zoom, it still does me fine for now.

The problem is that my desktop doesn't even see the camera. I know it isn't the camera and cable, as the appropriate wizard obligingly pops right up when I connect the camera to my laptop. Reinstalling the driver on the desktop consistently freezes the computer. Grump. So I can either 1) Dig out the Lagtop, boot it up, attach the camera, get the pictures, put them on a jump drive and transfer them, or 2) Unhook the camera from the tripod, pull out the XD card, plug in the memory reader, put the card back, re-do the date and time ...

What I want to do is plug the camera in to the computer! Any ideas what's gone wrong? I'm running Windows XP.

Edited to add that it's a Fine PIx 2650....state of the art lo MANY MANY years ago, when 2 megapixels was far more than any nonprofessional needed

[navarre]

Sounds like you have a USB glitch - which is actually fairly common.

Are you plugging the cable directly into the PC - or going via a hub?
Have you tried plugging the cable into a different USB socket? (Sometimes that can be enough for the computer to recognise the device)

Another thing to try is open the control panel - open system - select the hardware tab - select device manager - then look for any items with a redX or a yellow ! (Sort them out if you have any issues shown there) Then go to the "action" menu and select "Scan for hardware changes"

I will try and relocate some troubleshooting tips when I get back home later (yes I am skivving time from work) - or maybe someone else will have waded in with advice for you.
Regards
Navarre

[Donna*Jo]

Do you have the finepix software that comes with that camera?
If not I have an extra that might work. I had a Fuji A210 (I think and upgraded to a Fuji s5200(huge difference) but now I don't need the old software because both cameras are using the new software (clear as mud?).

[Emily]

You say your desktop doesn't recognize the camera. I assume by that you mean that the wizard doesn't open up when you attach the computer. If you go into "my computer," is your camera shown as attached to the computer? If so, what happens if you click on that?

If you don't have the software that came with the camera, you should be able to download it from the Fuji site, and that will let you open the pictures and copy them to wherever you want them. Here's a link to a download page.

Fuji drivers and software download page

[FourTailsLampwork]

Thanks, everyone!

Part of the frustration I was feeling is that not only did I have the original CD, I had downloaded the driver, and every time I got an error when it tried to install. But Emily's and Navarre's idea worked wonders, and so far, mirabile dictu, it is working--thank all of you!!! You have unflustered and unfrusterated me