Optio 330GS & USB Driver Problem with Windows XP

Hi, any help gratefully received.

I am no longer able to use my camera on my Windows XP PC. The camera used to connect correctly, but no longer works since installing some Microsoft patches to the operating system; I can only guess that the problem is related to incompatibility of the Pentax code with the patches issued by Microsoft.

I have installed v1.1 of the drivers using the package ‘opt_slg_usb.exe’ from the Pentax site. I followed the instructions prompted by the wizard and everything seemed to work.

When connecting the camera to the USB port, I got a message saying that the hardware had been found. I then got a window prompting me for a file: USBSTOR.SYS. I managed to get a copy of the file, place it in folder windowssystem32drivers, changed the ‘copy from’ drop-down list to point to this folder and then clicked OK.

I then got the a message saying that the software I was installing had not passed the Windows Logo Testing. I clicked ‘Continue Anyway’.

I then got a message (same as before) about the USBSTOR.SYS file. Again I pointed to the location of the file and clicked OK.

I then got a message saying that the hardware could not be installed, access is denied.

As the message suggests, the PC does not recognise the camera.

I have tried different combinations of uninstalling, rebooting etc, but to no avail.

I had this problem a while back, after installing Windows update SP1. However then, pointing the window to the location of file USBSTOR.SYS, plus another file of which I no longer remember the name, seemed to enable the wizard to complete without error. At that time the camera worked OK.

You (and others who for some reason insist on using USB cables to connect to their computers) would save yourself a lot of grief by buying a card reader.

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/normal_search_result.php?PHPSESSID=&keywords...

You pop the card into the reader and it acts like another disk drive.

If you have a laptop, you can buy a PCMCIA device. Otherwise a USB reader will work on any computer with a USB port.

It really is the only way to go. I do not know why camera manufacturers include USB/Firewire connectivity. It has no advantages and just causes a lot of aggravation.

George