Card reader

[glenbarr]

For some time now my PC will simply not recognise my camera. Have now given up and have been advised to buy a card reader. Can someone explain to me what this will do. Will I simply have to plug it into my PC ? I am not very clever when things go wrong with it so dont want to get into another mess.

[Ethel]

I bought my card reader for under �4 and it is brilliant.

It plugs in to a USB port, I put the card from my camera in, and it very quickly downloads the images.

Super fast.

[Buenchico]

A card reader has a lead which simply plugs into a spare USB port.

The media card from your camera just goes into the relevant slot in the card reader. (Most card readers accept several types of media card. Just put your card into the slot which is the right size for your card)

When you go to 'My Computer' on your PC, you'll see the usual drives (e.g. floppy disk, hard drive, CD drive, etc) plus a new set of drives. (One for each slot on the card).

If you double click on the relevant drive, you'll see the contents of your media card. (You might initially see just a folder icon. Double-click on this, and any more folders you might see, until you actually see your image files).

Now you can simply 'copy and paste' or 'drag and drop' your files to anywhere you want them to appear on your hard drive. (If you've ever copied files from your CD drive, or a floppy disk, to your hard drive, it's exactly the same process).

It's far quicker and easier than connecting your camera to your PC.

Chris

[glenbarr]

Thanks to both of you for answering my question, but when you say the relevant one what exactly do you mean. I told you I was no good at this!!!!!!!!!!

[Buenchico]

When you go to 'My Computer', at the moment, you'll probably see something like these:
3� Floppy (A:)
Local Disk (C:)
Compact Disc (D:)
(Exactly what you see will depend upon what hardware your PC has got).

A card reader typically has 4 slots (to accommodate different types of cards). When you plug it into a USB port, your PC will automatically allocate the next 4 letters to the new drives. So now, you'll also see these drives:
Removable Disk (E:)
Removable Disk (F:)
Removable Disk (G:)
Removable Disk (H:)
(Each 'disk' simply represents one of the card slots).

The first time you use the card reader, you won't know which lettered drive is the one which corresponds for the slot with your card in it. For this first time only, it's a matter of trial and error. Double-click on Drive E. If you get a message saying 'Please insert a disk into drive E', you'll know that you've tried the wrong drive letter. Just click 'Cancel' and try Drive F, and so on.

When you get to the drive with your card in it, double-clicking on it will bring up the folder which contains your images. In future, you'll be able to go straight to the correct drive letter. (Either make a note of it or, if you want, right-click on the drive and use the 'Rename' option to call it something like 'Media Card').

Chris

[glenbarr]

Thanks for all the advice which I have taken. Where did you get your cheap card reader from? I looked at PC World website tonight and they are much more expensive although not really suprised.

[Buenchico]

Tesco Extra often has really low prices on computer accessories but I'm not sure whether this includes card readers. (I only mention it in case you're going to shopping at Tesco in the near future).

Otherwise, you can buy online, for �3.99, from eBuyer:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/119852

Chris