Windows NT and Digital Camera

[terbear0007]

Well...I looked, but can't find anything specific to my problem. My stepdaughter has Windows NT and a friend bought her a polaroid digital camera. One of the cheap ones, I think. But... the problem is that she called Polaroid support and they told her that her camera was not supported by Windows NT. It shows that her camera is not connected. I have tried all the ports that are working , and they all give the same error message.

Sooooooo...my question is this. Does anyone know if Windows offers a driver that would allow this camera software to work? And, if so, where would I locate it, and on and on and on...

Thanks for any help.

Terbear0007

 

[plejon]

How does the camera connect to the PC ? Does it use a serial, USB or another type of connection ?

 

[terbear0007]

Hi plejon,

Thanks for the response...the camera is connected by a serial port. The manufacturers of the camera state that this camera and its software is not compatible with this OS. BTW , the OS is Windows NT, not Windows 2000.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Sincerely,

terbear0007

 

[plejon]

Hi,

If Polaroid claim that their software is not supported on NT, this could mean two things :
1) They developed the software for another OS and never bothered to test it on NT. This would not be unusual, as you mention that it is a cheap camera, so aimed at home users, which usually use W95/W98/ME.
2) They did test it on NT and confirm that it doesn't work.

First, try to find out from their support in which situation you are.

In 1), you could give it a try anyway.
- You mention that you get an error message. Does it say abything meaningful ? Do a web search with the error message, you might hit something
- you could try to play around with the settings of your serial port. You will find them in start/settings/control panel/system/device manager/ports (com & lpt)/comm port /properties port settings.
- If you want to monitor what is happening on your serial ports, you can download Portmon from http://www.sysinternals.com/

in 2), there probably isn't much you can do.
- do a search on the web with the name of your camera, driver and NT. Maybe somebody has developed a driver, but this is a real long shot.
- You could consider a multiboot system, booting in NT for your regular work and in W95 for downloading photos

In the end, if it is a cheapo camera, it probably isn't worth going through all the trouble. Low-end camera's are so cheap nowadays, that you would probably be better off to buy a new one, and try to sell your current one second hand. Be careful though : some (most) new camera's come with an USB conenction. NT4 does not support USB, you will need at least Win2000 or Win 98.

 

[terbear0007]

Hi again,

Thanks for all your help. Got another question that you probably can answer, if you will. We are thinking of getting her an HP315 digital camera, but it also comes with a USB connection. And, it states that one must have a usb interface. What, exactly, do they mean by that? Can I buy a "converter" to convert the USB cable into a serial port input? Or does "interface" mean something else?

Again, thanks for your help, and your time.

Terry

 

[plejon]

USB or Universal Serial Bus is an advanced serial bus, which is much faster than the standard serial bus and allows to connect more than 2 devices.

It is used nowadays to connect all sort of peripherals : cameras, scanners, printers, joysticks, keyboards, speakers, cd writers, you name it.

If your pc is less than 2 years old, chances are that it has USB already installed. Check for a rectangular connector that says USB or has a "trident" like symbol. The link below has a picture of the connector and lots of more info about USB

http://www.usb.org/shopping_bag.html

If your PC is older than 2 years, all hope is not lost. USB interface cards are sold seperately, and they can be plugged in a free PCI slot in your PC. I bought such a card recently for 35$.

Operating system is the next hurdle :
- Win95: later versions had limited USB support, early versions do not support USB
- NT4 : does not support USB
- Win98, Win ME, Win2000, WinXP : all support USB

 

[plejon]

oh and by the way : buying a USB to serial convertor, if such a thing should exist, is not a good idea.

As I stated before: the USB is much faster than the classic serial port. If you would use such a convertor, you would obviously be limited to classic serial bus speed, it being the weakest link in the chain.

 

[terbear0007]

Hi Again...

Didn't expect a reply at such a late hour, but thanks. I really appreciate your help. I know a little about computers, but just enough to get me into trouble. And, fortunately, there are people like you who come to my aid. Thanks, again, very much.

May God Bless your life.

Terry

 

[plejon]

Actually, since I live in Belgium / Europe, it is now 9:30 in the morning for me, so not that late

 

[terbear0007]

Well...now I now know someone who lives in Belgium. Nice to have met you. Have a beautiful evening and, again, God Bless You!

Sincerely,

Terry

(from Florida) USA

 

[Rockn]

NT was never intended to be a mutimedia platform, so if you are looking for that kind of environment switch to one of the other OS's like Win98....or god forbid WinME. You won't find that NT will directly support USB either if you try and install on her PC.

 

[terbear0007]

Hello Rockn...

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I copied the replies I got on this site, sent them to her, and found out that she has Windows 2000 Professional. Will THAT OS support USB ports?

Thanks for your help. And...I know what you mean about Windows ME...I have it, and have had nothing but problems with it.

Terry

 

[plejon]

From the USB FAQ http://www.usb.org/faq/ans3.html#q2

Q2: Can I use USB devices with Windows NT or Windows 2000?
A2: NT 3.5 and 4.0 (including service pack 4) do not support USB. Windows 2000 (formerly known as NT 5.0) does have USB support.

 

[Rockn]

You still need to check the software and hardware that you do buy for their minimum requirements. If the package does not say that it's compatible with Win2k, do not buy it. If it's software you will be stuck with it as most stores do not take it back after it's been opened.