By Redsrover (Redsrover) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 09:40 am: Edit

Hey all,

Got my Canon Powershot A20 ready to go yesterday only to find my home PC has trouble communicating with the camera when hooked up to the USB port. I followed instructions carefully and no go. I get an error message like "system not detecting camera, check connection or camera ready"...

Frustrating. I uninstall and try again, no luck. Then I realize that all the printed material from Canon that came with the CD software says "System Requirements: Windows 98..." My PC has Windows 95. So I am off to get an upgrade to 98 today.

Here's the stupid question: Will an upgrade from 95 to 98 really have the effect of making a USB port connection recognizeable to the PC? Or is my problem someplace else??

Thanks for any help. And, as soon as I can get some pix laid down the internet, I'll post some of my new RTE 2" lift for the Disco!

Red

By Kyle on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 10:09 am: Edit

Upgrades are typically a really bad idea. You should get the full on version and start from scratch....

Kyle

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 10:53 am: Edit

You could also go to the Microsoft web site and see if they have a patch for the USB and win 95.. You never know.. Maybe they still have one on their site and it may fix your problem for free.. Of course the software that came with your camera may still have issues but, it may work. Most program that I have that said win 98 still worked with win 95. Worth a try first any ways.

By Redsrover (Redsrover) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 11:08 am: Edit

I called Microsoft and their guy says 95 doesn't support USB ports. Moreover, he said if a USB port does work with 95, it is purely by chance. I asked about the upgrade and he said no problem, the upgrade will add what is necessary without screwing with other settings like ISP and email systems whereas the full version will more than likely.

So, I called wife and asked her to swing by office depot whilst she's out spending holiday money today and pick up the 98 or ME upgrade for me to load tonight. We'll see....

Red

By Kyle on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 12:18 pm: Edit

lol , again I say , stay away from the upgrade.... And ignore ME all together...

Kyle

By Kyle on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 12:19 pm: Edit

Also , there is a specific version of 95 that had built in USB support. I have it right here in my hand,,,,like that helps...

Kyle

By Redsrover (Redsrover) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 01:12 pm: Edit

OK, I'll bite...what's the problem with upgrades? And whats wrong with ME? Thanks

Red

By RVR OVR (Tom) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 01:26 pm: Edit

ME has a whole different driver model. Existing things may not work at all anymore. It's really a crap shoot without checking out Microsoft's HCL (Hardware Compatability List). Even then, it can be touchy.

Kyle is right that upgrades are a pain in the ass. Sometimes go 100% smooth, sometimes not.

What kind of machine do you have? Windows 2000 Professional may be a better upgrade choice. It has the best upgrade install routine that MS ever put out. However, depending on your machine, you may not have compatible hardware even though 2000 supports more than ME.

Tom

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 02:34 pm: Edit

I had installed Win Me on my PC and it really sucked.. It slowed things down, made things run like crap and made no improvments on anything other then giving MS another 90 bucks. I have since went back to running WIN 98 second edition which is by far the better WIN operating system.. However, they are full of it when they say USB and 95 don't work.. Both my USB ports worked fine for me for a year when I first bought my PC running WIN 95..

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 02:54 pm: Edit

dont do the upgrade

i just got the windows XP and aside from a few probelems (from trying to upgrade) it is working great. (one i started over and just did a full on installation)

most of my hardware devices the drivers were not compatible so i had to go too there respective sights and download them from there.

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 07:31 pm: Edit

You might be able to just download a patch free(from ms or someone else) that will allow USB support, bringing you up to effectively kyles version. Doo a google.

Dean

By michel on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 10:47 pm: Edit

USB work with win 95 with the usb upgrade BUT, the cannon software will not work no matter what you do. The software is made to only work with 98 and beyond. It's not just a USB problem.

Michel

By Redsrover (Redsrover) on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 05:56 pm: Edit

Michel's right, the Canon software just wouldn't work with the 95. I upgraded to the ME because Office Depot is out of the 98 upgrade. ME is slower than the old 95, but the Canon software is working although there are some limitations due to the ME and not 98 upgrade. I took the ME back and have the 98 on order. That should fix the problem.

Red