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View Full Version : Uploading from my Rebel XT - nightmare from HELL



andrgo
09-23-2007, 10:19 PM
I purchased a new Rebel XT a while back, and although I am very pleased with it and the quality of the photos, the uploading process is a royal pain in the @$$! Currently I've got an 8GB CompactFlash card with about 700 photos on it (each about 2.5-3.5 MB.) Even though most of the photos were taken in June, I have yet to put the majority of them on my computer. It's a combination of poor uploading techniques from Canon and Windows XP, and my own personal bad luck.

Here's how it's going so far:
- I plug the USB cable into the computer, and to the camera.
- Turn camera on, go to 'My Computer' and click 'Canon EOS...' From there, the camera reads each and every single picture on the CF card as it prepares to display them on the computer.
- Then I wait approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes, before all 700 pictures are read. But before I can see them, a little prompt titled 'Microsoft Scanner & Camera Device' (or something) pops up and it does the EXACT SAME THING as the damn 'Canon EOS' thing did earlier.
- So then I wait another hour and 25 minutes, then it asks me which photos I'd like to copy and to where.. finally! So the process begins, and since the photos are quite large, the process takes a bit of time; so I leave my desk and go watch TV. But, since there's a nasty and unpatchable flaw in my copy of Windows XP, my computer likes to restart whenever it is not in use (it goes through a weird cycle where every 7 or 8 days it doesn't restart, but then on the 9th day it goes bizzerk and anytime you step away from it, it will certainly crash.)
- As you could probably guess, today is the 9th day of that stupid, idiotic cycle - which Microsoft could fix if they wanted to, but since I paid them $199 I guess that's not enough to persuade them to fix it. So, without further delay, my story ends with my computer crashing every time and I get to start the process all over.
- And of course by this point the camera battery on my Rebel XT is nearly drained. So I get to charge my battery (and it's 12:15 in the morning so I might as well say "f**k it" and call it a night anyway.) Then tomorrow I get to do eeeeeeverything alllllllll over again! I have to wait 3 hours and 50 minutes to make sure my camera can read all of the photos, then select which photos I want to upload (which happens to be all 700), and if I leave my desk for a mere 3 minutes my computer will crash and the process will yet again start all over.

If I had a bottle of Jack Daniels right now I would chug the hell out of it. Sorry for my rant, but when I'm pissed I need to write this s#!t off or it makes me angrier. I hate having bad luck, a crappy PC, and whatever else the other factors are in this whole mess. It sucks. The end.

Paradox
09-23-2007, 11:00 PM
I'd recommend a good card reader - they're usually a lot faster than the camera cable. My camera cable takes about 45 minutes to fully unload my 2 gig card, my reader can do it in 6 (Though my reader is integrated on the computer, not plugged in the USB). Just a thought.

TheObiJuan
09-23-2007, 11:01 PM
$10 card read, problem fixed.
No utilities.

Visual Reality
10-08-2007, 10:25 AM
I don't have that problem. Do you have USB 2.0 or USB 1.1? Sounds like the older, slower one.

I just use Canon Camerawindow and it loads them all in for me when I connect. Its pretty much hassle free and even splits the pictures into folders with the date on them.

For how much time its taking your computer, it only takes me half the time to unload two full 4gb cards.

I can say for sure, that you don't "need" a card reader.

TheObiJuan
10-08-2007, 03:00 PM
He has some other software and settings mudding up his transfer process.
My setup is just as yours.
I hook the camera up to the PC with the supplied cable and automatically the images are transfered.
No previews, no multiple programs.
I also like having the images in separate folders,too.

SE-Mark
10-17-2007, 11:35 AM
Also, in the view options for the folder that is trying to load, select "Details" or "List" rather than "Thumbnails".

Paul79UF
10-30-2007, 07:11 PM
Sounds like your computer needs to have all the personal files backed up, then format C:, and reinstall a fresh copy of windows.

I do that about once a year to keep my computers running fast and clean.