Using USB in Windows 95/98

For those suffering as I was trying to get pictures out of a Pentax camera into a PC running Windows 98, here is an answer. The ACDSee software supplied with these cameras works OK with Windows 2000 or XP but the USB driver doesn't work with Windows 98. However, it is possible to access the camera's memory via the USB port in DOS mode. To do this, it's best to create a DOS Boot Disk on a floppy disk; any geek worth his salt can do this, so I won't bore you with the detail here. Having done that, you need to download two device drivers named "USBASPI.SYS" and "DI1000DD.SYS" from the Internet (easy to find with Google) and stick them on the floppy. Then, you need to call up both drivers in the CONFIG.SYS file on the floppy disk (eg: DEVICE=USBASPI.SYS). USBASPI searches for any USB device that is plugged in and switched on, and allocates a new drive letter for each one it finds. The other driver enables the PC to talk to the camera's memory. With the boot disk configured as above, shut down your PC, plug in the camera and switch it on, insert the boot disk and power-up the PC. The PC will then "map" the camera as a memory device (usually giving it "Drive D:"). Provided you know your DOS commands, it's then easy to copy files from the camera's memory onto the PC's hard drive. Once you've copied the files across (and deleted them from the camera's memory if you wish), then disconnect the camera, remove the Boot Disk and re-boot your PC. You can then use the "smart" software supplied on the CD to play around withyour images and sound. Easy!

Hi,

Why not just use a card reader? They only cost a couple of pounds, are very fast and easy to use and you don't need cables to the camera with the chance of knocking on the floor
Kim

Best Bet to try is to go to the Pentax website and go to Downloads...this is where you can find the appropriate driver for your Operating System.

Als Protege

The software supplied with modern Pentax P&S cameras doesn't work with W95 and W98.

However, it's pretty useless anyway. As Kim says, the only sensible way to go is to buy a card reader.