Set Your Camera to Automatically Transfer Pictures to Your Computer, Sort By Date and More! (Windows XP)

Transfer the pictures to your computer, sort by date, automatically delete pictures off of the camera after transfer, and automatticaly run programs

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I always use this for my camera, it's extremely handy. Basically what this Instructable is about is some settings that are customizable for some cameras that are activated by plugging the camera into the computer via its USB cable or whatever.

Tools ====

Compatible Digital Camera and PC Connection Cable - This doesn't work with all cameras, unfortunately. Some of them just don't have the features. For this Instructable I used my sister's cheap 2 Megapixel Kodak EasyShare CX7220. It's the same camera I use for the pictures in all of my instructables. It's also the one in the picture (for list view).

Windows XP

Step 1 Open Camera Properties

Go to the Camera Properties, either by going to "My Computer" and right-clicking on it and clicking "Properties", or by going directly to the camera drive and opening the properties window from there.

Comments

[harry599]

i have a samsung s850, and my computer does not recognize it as a camera, it recognizes it as a removable drive, is there any way of fixing this, if so please email me at      [e-mail]  

[rebsluvspics]

when I plug my camera into my computer with the camera cord and turn on my camera it doesnt show the pictures in my computer...my sony camera i have as soon as i turn my camera on my pictures pop up or when I look them up in the hard drive ...this camera i832 polaroid doesnt' do that i cant get my pics on my computer

[Aeshir]

When you plug it in and turn it on, nothing automatically pops up on your monitor? Use the Reply button, instead of making a new post.

[rebsluvspics]

My i832 polaroid camera doesnt read anything when I plug it into my computer and turn it on...Do I have to download the program into my computer to be able to pull up my pictures...

[Aeshir]

There is no program to download. This is built into Windows XP. What do you mean it doesn't read anything when you plug it in? Whatever the problem is, try updating your drivers.

[Aeshir]

Yay! I submitted this to Lifehacker.com and I got on (i'm guessing it's not hard to do).

Article on Lifehacker

[Punkguyta]

Sweet, I didn't even know you could do that in windows xp, unfortunatly my digital camera died.

[Aeshir]

What happened to it?

[Punkguyta]

Well, it was a Olympus D-390, took fairly nice pictures for a 2mp camera. But I unfortunatly experianced a problem otheres with the same model had, where you increasingly get lower and lower battery lifetime, didn't matter how new the batteries, brand, rechargeable or not. And eventially it came to the point where it wouldn't turn on at all. I think I'm gonna salvage the lcd out of it and wire it to some kind of controller board. But right now I'm looking to see if anyone will give me or sell me their old digital camera for a low price so I can do a few instructables I want to.

[unreconstructed1]

You can get 3 megapixal cameras now for under $100 . Some under $75 .

[unreconstructed1]

Kodak 5.1 MP cameraThis link is to a 5.1 megapixal kodak for $89 .

[Punkguyta]

I'm not buying something that's cheapo if I do buy one, by the way, I don't exactly even have $100

[unreconstructed1]

you could try getting a job .

[Punkguyta]

Nevermind

[Aeshir]

It doesn't have optical zoom..... xP

[glenncvance]

Is it possible to get this working with XP Pro? None of the options you mention are in my properties.

[Aeshir]

It's just doesn't work with your camera then. It doesn't work with one of my cameras.

[scotty3785]

I remember an Instructable that told you how to set up a USB Memory Drive to automatically copy its contents to a folder on your PC using xcopy in dos. If I remember it added an autorun file to the root directory of the USB Drive and a batch file that contained the dos commands. You could probably do this on your camera memory card, so that it will copy the files on to your PC everytime you plugged the card in to the slot on your PC.

[Rogue Trooper]

Is there a way to do this if you just plug in the memory card? or does it only work when the actual camera is attached?

[Aeshir]

Short answer: no. Long answer: this works specifically with the device you set up. So if I did this with one camera, it would only apply to that camera.

[unreconstructed1]

This works very well with my canon powershot S2 IS . Thanks for the tip .

[seanf]

My camera, a Polaroid i832, is picked up by Windows as a simple removable storage device, even with the camera drivers installed. Do you know of a way to make this tip work with plain ol' removable storage?

[mattcollinge]

It'd be so good if this option was available for all storage devices. To get around it I coded up a utility called USB Detect and Launch. It's aimed at power users and isn't as pretty or integrated as the solution above, but it will work with any removable storage. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

[Aeshir]

No, unfortunately. I just found this by accident I guess.

[JeeDub]

Most cameras that I have owned have had the option of picking a setting that determines whether the camera is seen as a camera or a removeable drive. It is usually buried in a sub-menu somewhere, but you should be able to find it. Picking the camera option usually requires you to load the propietary software on your PC that comes with the camera. The nice thing about this is you could change the setting to removeable drive if you were say, at a friends house, and wanted to copy some pictures you just shot to their PC. Set it to removeable drive and plug it in to the PC via the USB. Copy the files from Camera to PC and then disconnect and reset the menu setting back so when you connect to your PC at home, it will recognize the camera again and download your pics. Handy, eh? Hopefully you have this option, but YMMV. If you aren't sure, RTFM and see. L8r, JeeDub.

[pocketlama]

Simple, cool, useful. Thanks muchly!

[cflowers]

Great tech tip! I featured it on The Daily Hack. Keep up the great work!
C. Flowers
TheDailyHack.net

[Aeshir]

Thanks! :D

[CrispyShot]

Remember, the camera has to be on for it to work. Most cameras automatically turn on when plugged in, some, like mine, have to be turned on automatically.

I think you mean, some, like mine, have to be turned on manually.

[Aeshir]

Lmao. Thanks for pointing that out.

[PetervG]

Eww, a 2.0 MP. I just got myself this a few days ago. Canon SD630 6.0 MP Anyways, really cool, I had no idea you could do this. Do you have to have the camera connected through the usb cord they come with?

[Aeshir]

Purty camera.... :D

[Aeshir]

Welll....USB in general. All usb cords do the same thing, they're just shaped differently for different port shapes. I'm not really sure what you mean, my camera only has on cord. Its got a really small round on one side flat on the other.