Sony digital camera messes up files on my VAIO RZ504 desktop

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I purchased a Sony Vaio destop PC this time last year. A PCV-RZ504. Although I am very impressed with this system, I have had a few problems with it in regards with certain things...


My main problem comes when using my Sony digital camera with it ~ A Sony DSC-P12.

When I install the necessary software, and plug the USB cable in for the first time, it reassociates the main folders under the "My Computer" section.


Now my RZ504 has multiple drives, some of those being internal hard drives; others being DVD / CD Rom / Floppy drives; And the rest being other removable storage drives such as Memory Stick and Compact Flash Etc...

When the camera software is installed, it rearranges the removable drives. The Memory Stick now becomes the camera. If I wish to read any information on the Memory Card (Situated in the camera) I have to click where it says "Memory Stick" ~ It does not recognise the camera as a new drive as it is supposed to.


To make matters worse, if I wish to read data on a Memory Stick (Situated in the PC), I have to click another drive, such as "Compact Flash"


Has anyone else experienced such problems using this combination of VAIO / Camera? Is it a unique complication to just me, or using this particular combination of P12 & RZ504, or does it also happen with people using other models?


I have reinstalled everything multiple times, but the problem occurs everytime. THe only way to undo the damage is to perform a complete system restore. Restoring to an earlier date does not solve it either, it has to be a complete reformat.

[RobertP]

Some guessing involved here.....

Your system obviously has some customisations to XP that Sony have done. You seem to have a card reader built in which has drive labels to identify the slots. A drive label is just a name given to a drive as well as it's letter. For example I gave a name of 'maxstor' to my f: drive.

If you add another drive then XP will give it a drive letter - but not always at the end. Sometimes all the drive letters will get incremented as the new device gets called E: for example.

So you add a drive and what was called say e: 'compact flash' is now F: but the name stayed with E: which is now something else.

In control panel > administrative tools > computer management > disk management you can force drive letter changes to get it back how you like it.

Personally I would not have installed any camera software and just plugged the card into the reader and cut/pasted the files off of it.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Yes, I have a built-in card reader. When I add the camera it should technically appear as a new drive, with all other drives visible, as it does when I plug in my phone / Ngage / Walkman Etc...

The problem I am having is that it replaces my Memory Stick drive, and makes the camera my new primary Memory Stick drive... Ok, fair enough, but the labels all get switched with each other...


Eg. I have a Compact Flash drive. It is labelled drive (F) and has a picture of a Compat Flash card on it. When clicked, it takes me to the Compact Flash drive. As it should.

After installing the camera though, I still have the Compact Flash picture on the drive (F), but when I click it, it is actually now linked to another drive, such as the Smart Media drive...


My Memory Stick drive is typically drive (G), with a Memory Stick picture on it. After installing the camera though, I click that very same drive, but it will take me to files stored on teh Memory Stick inside the camera instead of the Memory Stick I may have in the PC slot... To access that Memory Stick I will have to click the icon with the Compact Flash picture on it (Drive F)


It's hard to explain unless you experience it yourself.

I don't even have a contact eMail address so that I can ask for assistence from Sony. All I can seem to find is a contact phone number, which I really want to avoid using as it is not the best way I can submit my problem to them. Besides, it is so much clearer in writing than it would be if I were talking to someone.

[RobertP]

As I see it what you are describing is not a fault - it is just the way XP handles removable drives. What is giving you problems is that XP can give a label to a drive and if that drive is removable the name can end up wrong as drive letters get added.

In windows explorer you can just select the name of the drive and rename it (or give it no name). In my windows explorer I currently have 4 drive letters where each one is called 'removable disk' - 4 card reader slots. I don't rename them to CF XD MS or whatever for the reason you describe.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by RobertP

As I see it what you are describing is not a fault - it is just the way XP handles removable drives. What is giving you problems is that XP can give a label to a drive and if that drive is removable the name can end up wrong as drive letters get added.

In windows explorer you can just select the name of the drive and rename it (or give it no name). In my windows explorer I currently have 4 drive letters where each one is called 'removable disk' - 4 card reader slots. I don't rename them to CF XD MS or whatever for the reason you describe.

I tried that. That's the very first thing I did when I first encountered this over a year ago. I managed to successfully rename the folders, but for some reason I can't change the pictures. It's annoying having a Compact Flash picture for a Memory Stick Etc...

In the end I just gave up trying, reformatted everything, and just decided to not bother connecting the camera up via USB. I find it a hell of a load quicker and simpler to just remove the Memory Stick and slot it straight into the PC!

Besides, the USB on the camera is in the most awkward of places... And everytime you plug it in, it takes you to some annoying file transferring program... It's much easier to just plug the Stick straight in the PC and copy things across via Drag & Drop.


I think I was mainly curious to what was actually wrong, opposed to actually finding a way to sort it. I am perfectly happy doing it the way I am now, and it's one less wire I have to have trailing out of the front of the PC...