As I've documented here a few times now, my Dad (Digital Grandad?) recently upgraded to a new Dell box - 3Ghz, 18" flat panel - the works.
I bought him a copy of Adobe Photoshop Album last November and now that he has a new PC he's installed it. He also plugged in his old KODAK Compact FLASH card reader from his previous PC into one of the USB ports on the new Dell.
And that's when the trouble started.
The card reader needed a driver when used on a Windows 200 system. It apparently even needs a driver when used on an XP system, which is odd but not unheard of. My Dad didn't have the original CD and so he called Kodak. The tech on the other end, trying to get him off the phone, told him he didn't need a driver. So he was stuck with a an old card reader that didn't work.
I found the url for the software and emailed it him but he wasn't able to find it so I offered to download the software for him, burn it on a CD and then mail it him (now that's customer service!).
After mutually deciding this was a big hassle I suggested that he go down to the local Radio Shack and buy a new, cheap, card reader. I just bought one for $9.99 that supports four formats - Compact FLASH, Smart Media, Memory Stick and SD (Secure Digital). The proliferation of card formats seems to be quite a sport in the industry these days.
He brought home a Dazzle card reader and installed the software on the CD. Oops! It says in the instructions (after explaining how to install the software) to skip the install if you have Windows XP. You think the instructions would be more clear, like saying up front Do not install this software if you have Windows XP. Now he has the Dazzle reader connected but he still can't see any files on the card and gets an "I slash O" error message (his words).
At this point my two year old daughter is getting ready to go the swimming pool with me so I am trying to figure out, on the phone, the fastest and easiest way to get this resolved.
I talk my Dad through uninstalling the Dazzle software: Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove software. I then have him unplug the reader from the USB port and Start -> Shut Down the computer. By the way, why would someone click START if they want the computer to STOP?
After a healthy power cycle he plugged in the Dazzle card reader. The reader gets recognized and a drive E:\ appears. Hooray! He starts Photoshop Album (one beef with Photoshop Album is that is takes a looong time to load) and clicks Get Photos. He selects Card Reader and......there they are!
Phew. And then I went off to the pool with my daughter.
Comments