I have a Canon Digital Rebel 300D (DS6041) and my Sony Vaio laptop (runs Windows 7) WILL NOT recognize my Compact Flash Card reader, nor can I install a driver via a camera cable to get my photos onto my computer. I don't know what the H*** to do. NOTHING seems to work.
Could be the card reader, try getting a new one to see if that works if it doesn't you can just return it. Im not sure about Windows compatibility with those cords and what not I use Apple so my first thought would be get a new card reader. Best buy sells them fairly cheap but the one I have has lasted years. Good luck!
It's a brand new card reader. I can't get a driver to install either to transfer my photos over the camera cable. In fact, I bought two new batteries and a charger as well. The camera works perfectly. I just cannot get my photos off it.
Then it could be a corrupt CF card. Or your port on your computer is broken or could have dust in it. Try it on a different windows computer if you have access to another and if it works on there then something with your computer isn't right. Im no geek squad but that's just what I would try.
Just because the card reader is brand new doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with it. It could be old stock that has been sitting somewhere since W98! Or it could just be defective from the factory.
Agree 100% Card readers are notorious for being extremely unreliable. I've had... at least 3 or more die on me, sometimes within weeks of purchase.They are all pretty cheap too. Go get another from Best Buy (or similar) and see if that does the trick. And return the other one obviously. Cards these days are far less likely to crash than a card reader being dead.
With the 300D you should be able to download from the camera without a driver. Go to the Setup 2 menu tab and change the "Communication" setting from "Normal" to "PTP".
If that doesn't work you can download EOS Utility for XP from Canon's support page and it *should* work with Win7.
https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/camera...
I'll assume you can still start up the camera and take additional photos? if not then obviously it's a camera or card issue. But we'll assume that the camera is working OK still so...
With Windows 7 you should not need any sort of river for you to connect your camera. In fact, I rarely ever install any of the "camera" software as it often is geared towards non-professionals, and has less features than what I already have. Anyway, just plug the camera in, turn it on and you "should" be seeing a new HD show up in Windows Explorer, just like any portable USB drive. If that doesn't work, I'd try it out on another PC, just to verify or not what is going on.
I have never had to install any drivers to download with a USB cable from my 5D and 5D-II to Windows 7 and Vista PCs. Same cable as used with a D70 and D3100. I just plugged them in and the PC quickly and automatically recognized them as new USB devices - no hassle at all. The card reader on one of my PCs has finicky connections with both the CF and SD cards, but removing and replugging them in (sometimes repeatedly) usually - USUALLY - gets them to work. But the USB cable has never failed to connect.
My comment may be a little late.
First, I do not recommend removing your CF or SD card from the camera. (ya, ya, the 300D has a CF card, but this also applies to SD cards) Use the USB and d/l them to a computer.
If I remember, this is the USB "mini B". Take the camera to Best Buy or your preferred electronics or photography store to match the cable.
Every time you remove the card and insert it into something else, you create wear. It is so easy to bend or even break a pin or contact that is isn't worth it. Leaving the card in the camera and d/l the photos over a USB cable removes the wear component.
Yes, there will always be a need to remove a card at some point. My advice is to do that as little as possible and carefully as possible. Starting with a larger card is safer.