Camera Driver Install Problem.

[elwesso]

IF THIS IS IN THE WRONG FORUM, MODERATOR FEEL FREE TO MOVE IT.....

Alright, I thought that I considered myself a fairly competent computer user, but this one has me completely stumped.

I have a Canon Powershot G2.. It works fine, I have installed the driver on other computers, and the camera and computer communicate fine... however, I cannot install it on MY computer... I remember a few months ago I tried to use my camera, had been working fine but then it stopped working, so naturally the thing to do is to remove the driver and try again... Well I think I did that, but now when I try and install the driver, it gets all the way to the end of the install, and says the installation has failed...

I have downloaded the latest drivers from Canon's website, as well as updated the firmware and all that fun stuff... I have tried using "Registry Mechanic", as recommended by a friend of mine... No effect. I have tried installing the driver manually through Add/Remove hardware, and tried every possible combination of doing things to get it to install...

Here is what is goofy about the whole problem.. in MY COMPUTER, the camera shows up, it lists it, and if you look at the status of it in the system device manager, everything looks fine, driver looks good, all is good..... but the camera will not communicate with the computer like it should.. I used to use the Windows Picture Manager for the longest time, and it worked fine... As soon as I plugged the camera in, it would start downloading pictures, and life was good...

To add to the oddness of the problem, i can quasi-view the contents of the camera... If I RIGHT CLICK on the camera and select GET PICTURES, it simply does nothing... if I double click on the camera, it seems like it does something, but the window freezes, and must be terminated via the task manager..... HOWEVER, I can view the pictures on the camera if I bring up a BROWSE box, or something similar to it... For instance, I could view the contents of the camera by clicking BROWSE to add an attachment ot this thread... Albiet, it is very slow, but eventually you can get pictures to come up and you can simply copy and paste it...

I think this is a problem with the software installation, not with the driver itself.. I think that if the canon software could be installed properly, the device would work as it should. I see no reason to think otherwise...

So, is there any utility out there that lets me view what the Install/Uninstall process does? I think that if I was able to view the list of files and registry entries the UnInstallShield modifies, i could manually uninstall the driver and then reinstall it properly.. maybe not, unless someone else has any good ideas.... I woudl REALLY like to avoid reformatting just for a stupid camera and would like to explore other options before i dump the entire system.....

Any assistance would be appreciated...

Regards,

[ktkendall]

Actually sounds like a hardware problem to me, perhaps with the usb port you are using for the camera on your PC.

[elwesso]

Its possible I guess, but my other USB devices work on the USB port. I have a flash drive that works fine, as well as a few other things, like my Ipaq and stuff... All that stuff works fine, but how would that prevent the driver from installing anyway?

[ktkendall]

Sorry I did not read enough detail into your post and missed the driver failed statement. It must be a conflict of some sort with something else that is perhaps running.

[glc]

I usually do not bother with installing camera connect software - I simply remove the memory card and use a card reader. Lots less hassles this way.

[elwesso]

Originally Posted by glc I usually do not bother with installing camera connect software - I simply remove the memory card and use a card reader. Lots less hassles this way.

I think at this point its more of "defeating the system". This week i have been on a roll (fixed 2 problems in my car that I thought id never fix).....

Anyway this is probably what it will come to. Card readers are cheap..

BTW, i tried installing the driver in safe mode, and it did not install (huge surprise ) That should negate any software conflicts, right?

I really appreciate the help thus far and if anyone else has suggestions, id appreciate it.

[ktkendall]

Actually the fact that it won't install in safe mode is probably quite normal since there is only the absolute minimal drivers and devices loaded in safe mode.