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Hoping that someone can help me with this problem I am having - I am a complete novice when it comes to understanding the workings of a PC.

I am running a Compaq laptop (with windows 98 , 2ndEd) on a company computer (not my own personal PC - I don't have my own). The laptop has a dial-up connection program that allows me to connect to the company network from my home. My problem - I recently purchased a digital cam that allows me to view my pix on a PC, however whenever I connect (thru USB) the camera, the PC will not recognize the camera's connection? The problem appears to be a lot of front end loading of programs on the laptop whenever I start up my PC, which I interpret as blocking the recognition of the camera. This occurs whether I am logged into the company network or not. Is there a way that I can get around the front end loading of these programs so the camera can be recognized by the laptop.
Appreciate any advice !

hopelessly unconnected,
pegasus

I seriously doubt that's the problem. I assume you're running Small Business Server or something at work which installs some applications to allow you to use features of the office network.

There's nothing in there that should prevent the camera from being detected.

Try going to the camera manufacturer's web site - they may have a FAQ page which lists your problem and a solution for it.

QUESTIONS:

- Have you installed other USB devices on this laptop in the past?

- Do you have a problem installing the camera and having Windows detect it so it can install drivers, or does the driver install just fine but the software for the camera can't detect the camera?

- What exactly happens when you try to use the camera software? Do you get an error? If so what's the error?

- Go to the Windows Device Manager (Start->Settings->Control Panel->System->Device Manager) and see if the camera is listed in there. It might be under Scanners, USB devices or Sound, Graphics & Video. If it's listed, see if it has a yellow exclamation mark which would indicate that it's not installed properly.

Thank you for taking time to reply Flying Penguin.

In answer to the questions you posted :

1)This is the 1st USB that has ever been connected to this laptop.

2)The driver installs perfectly; but when I connect the camera to the PC (when inserting the USB jack to the camera & to the PC, a geen light on the camera is supposed to turn on , but it does not), the camera therefoe is not being recognized. If it was recognized, I would be able to see a new "removable disk" drive (E " appear thru My Computer.

3)From my home whether I am dialed-in or not to the company network, when I try connecting as I've described above, I get no response/recognition of the camera connection. I tried 'refreshing' My Computer to invoke the driver, to no avail.
What I omitted to state earlier, is that if I try connecting the camera from my place of work, it instantantly will connect the camera to the PC!?!

4)Device Mgr setting does not contain the exclamation, I see the normal USB symbol with 'Unknown Device' and under the properties tab it says "this device is working properly".

Pegasus

I admit I'm stumped. It shouldn't make any difference whether or not you're connected to the office network.

However, the camera should not be listed as an "unknown device" in device manager. There should be a description of the camera.

It's vaguely possible that they installed some software that might interfere with the camera, but it seems rather unlikely.

Does you office have an on-site IT tech? He'd have a lot better idea of what the possible culprit may be.

Tivoli. That's your problem.