External Mouse & Digital Camera

[wilson steer]

Dear All,

Thanks for all help previously received.

Two problems or 'quasi problems'.

1. I have a really good laptop, XP etc. and want to attach a mouse via USB socket not funny mouse socket. Will there be problems with this?

2. I have a good new digital camera with CD ROM Software, I am scared to install the CD software and transfer data because last time everything went wrong and all my jpg files were useless, because association files of pictures were lost.

Thanks in advance.

Wilson Steer.

Pattaya.

[lopburi3]

1. Should not be a problem as long as you have usb mouse. You might have to load software but probably XP will be usable without it.

2. You can always get setting back. Just click on the file you want to open and if nothing assigned to open it you will be given a chance to pick your poison. If you want to change the assigned program just right click/select properties/change (program used to open file). You can also go from the other end and open programs you want to use and then select files you want to open.

[wilson steer]

Thanks for that,

Just a quick question,

Can I ask for a shop to dismantle an old computer and save the hard disc drive for future use and data removal?

Cheers,

Wilson Steer

Pattaya.

[stumonster]

get a usb card reader , I presume your camera has a memory card.

all software I have seen that comes with cameras to utilize the usb cable is just not worth it. a usb 8 type card reader should cost you 400-500 baht.

removal of hard drives is a easy task , both laptop and desktop hard drives should take 5-10 minutes with a philips head screwdriver to remove. when I upgraded my laptop drive I swapped in the new drive and placed the old one in a external usb case which allowed me to copy the files I wanted from it straight to the new one and reformat the old one for use as file storage and backups.

just be sure your old drive is virus/spyware free so as you do not infect the other drive when you copy files across.

other threads in this forum will tell you the way to scan and remove spyware and virus'

[wilson steer]

Thanks for the advice about a USB card reader. I will buy one , my camera has a memory stick, what happens next does it just come out as a .jpg?

Thanks etc..

[Firefoxx]

The thing that I don't like about taking the memory out and using a reader vs using the USB cable is that doing this every time will put strain on the plastic hinges of the camera. My camera's card/battery door has become really loose after a couple of years of taking the battery out to charge.

For some cameras, it is actually better to use the provided software. My Canon camera, for instance, has panoramic shots and orientation sensors and the data on these are lost if the software isn't used. It also stores only a few images per folder, making a manual move very tedious. File association should not be a problem if you specify it during the install of the software.

Otherwise, when you put in the memory stick into the reader, it will be seen as a normal drive in your computer. You can just copy the folder holding the images into your hard drives.

There are also some cameras that are automatically recognized (generically) by WindowsXP when they're connected via USB and with those you can use the MS Scanner and Camera wizard to transfer pics.