Laptop cannot find disc

[barb1314]

Hi,apologies if I sound stupid but not very technological.I have bought a new digital camera.We are trying to put the software on our laptop so we can transfer photos. The laptop is a Dell only about 3 months old.When we put the disc into the reader absolutely nothing happens.It makes a whirring noise but nothing comes on the screen.Can anyone point me in the right direction.Is there another way to find the information? Thanks very much.The media centre appears but I have no idea where to find the Canon information.

[Ethel]

Two questions.

Is your laptop Vista?

Is your camera software Vista compatible?

If your laptop has a card reader, put the card in without installing the software.
If your laptop doesn't have a card reader, try connecting your camera without installing the software.

[barb1314]

Hi Ethel,thankyou
Yes laptop is Vista
Yes Vista compatible,checked booklet.
Don't think I have card reader,thought I should get one.
Wary of connecting camera without software downloaded,instructions keep saying not to!

Sorry not very good at this!

[Ethel]

It really won't go bang if you connect your camera without installing the software.

Try it - you may be pleasantly surprised. When I connect my camera (I haven't installed the software), Windows recognises it and gives me choices - view, download and so on.

Let us know what happens.

[Ethel]

Thinking about it, are you sure your laptop doesn't have a card reader? A little slot down the side.

[wildwood]

Please explain.... is it the CD with the software that you can't install?
Or have you installed the software but the computer can't read the camera?

[barb1314]

Ethel,you are a star.Connected it and it didn't blow up and I now have my photos!! Thanks very very much. Still can't see if I have a card reader...can't see too well,have been up since 4.30 this morning! Cheers.

[Ethel]

barb - in all honesty, I have had several cameras over the years and they all come with their own software. It is totally unnecessary, in every case. Just fills the hard drive up with software you will never use.

If you are serious about digital photography and want to edit your photos then there are much better options out there.

If you just want to upload and view your pics and save them to hard drive (or burn to cd or whatever) then the software really isn't necessary.

The same goes for mp3 players.

[barb1314]

Sorry wildwood,it's the CD that my laptop can't find but I just connected the camera to the USB and Windows found the photos.Thanks to you both.
Ethel it's just for viewing photos mainly taken of my beautiful black labrador pup!! And maybe some holiday snaps.Now need a much bigger memory card.The one that came with the camera is full after 10 photos!! Wonder why they don't give you a bigger one.Bit of a waste of time really. Well you learn something every day,the instructions had me convinced it would blow up if there was no software!

[Ethel]

Memory cards are cheap enough now. :)

Enjoy your camera. If you want to share your photos with friends/relatives who have their own computers, you can upload them to sites such as PhotoBucket or Flickr.

[trish432]

If you want to try installing the software, or for any other disc you might want to use, if nothing comes up on the screen. Click start - computer- Right click your dvd drive and open from there.
Have you configured autoplay (in control panel) You can tell it what to do for different types of disc that you may insert.
I have mine set to ask me every time, so I get a message on screen asking what i want to do each time I insert a disc.
Apologies if you already know this,but it took me a while to figure it out, so thought it might help.