Troubleshooting connection problems to the camera - Windows

Must install the camera's driver on to your computer before plugging the usb cord into the PC.

I would as a rule install the camera's software from Nikon.com's support site if it did not install automatically.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-Camera/26191/COOLPIX-S8000.html

It can sometimes be difficult to setup a digital camera on a new computer. Usually the process is simple: plug the camera in, allow the system to install the driver and begin using the system, however, sometimes things can go wrong. Following these steps can solve more than 90% of problems relating to USB connection issues. You must be thorough and follow it step-by-step.

1. What CF Card is installed in the camera?
   A large number of problems are caused by incompatible CF Cards. In many cases these cards will work while shooting but can fail to properly download to the computer. You must be extra careful that the card is approved. Actually look up the card you are using in the manual to see if it on the list. Many retailers include "Unapproved" cards in their bundles, so just because a card came with the camera doesn't mean that it is "Approved".
   
   If in doubt, use the "Nikon Starter Card" for testing.
   
   
2. Is the Camera in Mass Storage Mode?
   While PTP mode can be used if your camera and operating system (Mac OS X and Windows XP) supports it, for troubleshooting it may be useful to switch to MSC USB mode using the camera's setup menus.
   
   
3. Are there images on the card that can be viewed on the camera in playback mode?
   Nikon View will not auto launch or give a transfer window with no images on the flash card. If you have covered the first three items you should now connect the camera to the rear USB port (not through a hub or front port) on the computer. On all Windows systems excluding Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) ("Plain" Windows 98 is not supported.) make sure the Nikon View CDROM has been removed from the system prior to connecting the camera.
   
   
4. Does the LCD Display Screen go dark after being connected for 2 seconds?
   If you are not getting the "Found New Hardware" wizard then check the LCD display. If the display stays "on" and the camera seems to be in Shooting mode or Playback mode then you may have a bad cable, camera USB port or computer USB port. If this is the case, contact Nikon Support for more information or Click Here for more troubleshooting.
   
   
5. Does "New Hardware Wizard" Start?
   If you connect the Camera and a "Found New Hardware" wizard comes up you should allow the system to auto search for the driver by simply clicking the "Next" button until it is finished. (Windows 98SE requires the Nikon View CD-ROM to be in the CD-drive at this point.) On Windows systems newer than Windows 98SE the camera should pick up and use the Microsoft Mass Storage driver.
   
   
6. "Hardware Handshaking"
   You need to understand how hardware handshaking works. The hardware Handshake occurs when a USB device is connected to the USB port. The computer detects the USB device on the USB bus and asks: "What are you?" The Coolpix line of cameras should answer: "I am a Nikon Coolpix 5700 currently set to Mass storage mode."
   
   If the computer does not understand this message the most likely cause is an incompatibility with the USB chipset on the particular USB controller that the USB port is connected to. You can check your controller chipset on the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility list. First find your "USB Controller" (i.e. Intel 82801AA USB Host Controller) in your computer's "Device Manager" and then look it up on the above link. You can tell if the handshake failed if the camera is listed in Device Manager under “Unknown Devices” or “Other Devices”.
   
   
7. Drivers
   The Mass Storage Driver set consists of two drivers. The first driver is the “Mass Storage Driver” ("Nikon Mass Storage" driver on Windows 98SE systems) and the second is the driver for the CF card in the camera. The CF Card driver should be listed under “Disk Drives” in Device Manager. Be sure both drivers are installed and showing up cleanly in Device Manager.
   
   
8. Auto Launch
   If both drivers are installed "cleanly" in Device Manager (no question mark or exclamation point) then you do not have a camera or driver issue. If Nikon View does not “Auto Launch” or the Nikon View “Transfer Window” comes up but fails to transfer images then the you can usually resolve these problems with the following steps. Nikon View is not required to transfer images from Nikon Coolpix camera’s capable of running in Mass Storage Mode.
   
   
9. If the drivers are clean but you are unable to transfer images
   Double click on “My Computer" and verify that a “Removable Disk” icon with a drive letter is listed. If the "Removable Disk" is not listed then there may be Network Drives mapped with drive letters that follow the last actual local drive listed. If this is the case Click Hereto learn how to change the drive letters to accommodate the Removable disk
   
   
10. If the Removable disk does mount
    There are two simple ways of transferring images:
    a) You can click through the directories on the removable disk: i.e. "g:\DCIM\100Nikon" and copy the entire contents of this directory then paste into a local drive location such as "c:\My Documents\My Pictures."
    b) The second option would be to launch Nikon View and select the removable disk from the folder list on the left. With the removable disk expanded down to the "100Nikon" directory you can "select all" and drag the images to a local drive location listed on the left.
    
    
11. Transfer starts but fails to transfer all pictures.
    If Nikon Transfer starts but fails at any point during the transfer then there may be some bad picture files or corrupted data on the flash card. This will sometimes occur if the card has been used in a card reader to move non-picture files between various computers.
    
    Note at which file number the transfer is failing and go through the mounted removable disk to delete that picture file. You can also copy all the picture files except the damaged files from the card. Always format the flash card in the camera after you have recovered the undamaged picture files to the computer.

The key to getting back to "It used to work fine;" is to make Windows "GO BACK IN TIME" to that moment when it last "It used to work fine;" occurred. How to do that. Try to pinpoint the exact date that it started acting badly. Now do this: START-ALL PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS-SYSTEM RESTORE. I'm hoping you actually have RESTORE utility turned on...Now select the restore date BEFORE it quit working. DONE! Windows will run as it used to run when all worked well. I use RESTORE all the time and I have 100% success rate!

RAW NEF images from Nikon cameras are proprietary formatted raw data directly from the cameras's sensor. If the images are improperly transferred to the computer they will not be able to be opened and will give an "Unsupported File Format" warning. Macintosh OS X has an "Image Capture" application (found in: Hard Drive/Applications/)that can be used to transfer images. If "Image Capture" is used NEF files will be corrupted and will not be able to be read. Only Nikon View, or manually dragging images from the mounted card, should be used to transfer NEF's. To disable "Image Capture": Double-click to open the hard drive and then the "Applications" folder Double-click "Image Capture" From the "Image Capture" menu choose "Preferences..." In the "When a camera is connected" pop-up choose "No Application" Close the Preferences window and Quit Image Capture After disabling Image Capture, it will not launch when the camera is connected and you can use Nikon View to properly transfer NEF images.

Users of Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Mac OS 9.x may experience problems trying to download images from the Nikon D70 using Nikon View. Initial shipments of the D70 have the USB option in the "Set up" menu set to PTP - Picture Transfer Protocol. PTP is only compatible for downloading images with Windows XP and Mac OS X. To solve this issue please set the USB menu option to Mass Storage and then connect the camera to the computer. The D70's card will then mount like a removable disk and Nikon View will be able to transfer images

RAW NEF images from Nikon cameras are proprietary formatted raw data directly from the cameras's sensor. If the images are improperly transferred to the computer they will not be able to be opened and will give an "Unsupported File Format" warning. Macintosh OS X has an "Image Capture" application (found in: Hard Drive/Applications/)that can be used to transfer images. If "Image Capture" is used NEF files will be corrupted and will not be able to be read. Only Nikon View, or manually dragging images from the mounted card, should be used to transfer NEF's. To disable "Image Capture": Double-click to open the hard drive and then the "Applications" folder Double-click "Image Capture" From the "Image Capture" menu choose "Preferences..." In the "When a camera is connected" pop-up choose "No Application" Close the Preferences window and Quit Image Capture After disabling Image Capture, it will not launch when the camera is connected and you can use Nikon View to properly transfer NEF images.

Occasionally Windows computers will lose connection to the camera; this is usually caused by a problem with the computer not loading the correct camera driver. To correct this: Connect the camera to the computer, and turn the camera on. Right click on My Computer (on the desktop) and select "Properties" Click the "Hardware" tab (Windows 2000 and Windows XP, Windows 98 click "Device Manager" tab) Click the Device Manager Look for the following: Unknown Device Other Devices Digital Camera USB Device Double click on one of the above items (which really is the camera, just not properly being recognized). Click the "Driver" tab Click the button marked "Reinstall Driver" or "Update Driver" The "Update Driver Wizard" will appear Choose the "Display a list" (or similar) option Choose the last option "Do not search, I will choose the driver to install." Update the driver that the camera is using by choosing from the list displayed or clicking "Have Disk" and browse to either a disk or a downloaded directory. The latest version of the drivers as well as the entire Nikon View program can be downloaded from the Nikon Technical Support web site. http://www.nikontechusa.com/ Click on your camera model and then "Software Downloads". These downloadable drivers are only needed for Windows 98 users, or Coolpix 880/990, all other OS's use the operating systems built-in camera drivers. In many cases simply reinstalling the proper driver for the camera will allow the computer to properly communicate with the camera.

This document assumes that your computer did not recognize your digital camera after you have installed Nikon View version 5 or version 6 (5/6) using "Easy Install" and then restarted your computer. Nikon View 5/6 compatibility: Windows 98 SE Windows ME Windows 2000 Windows XP Home Edition/Professional Note: Log on as Computer Administrator when installing drivers on Windows XP Home Edition/Professional or as Administrator when installing drivers on Windows 2000 Professional. Cameras that are not supported by Nikon View 5/6 Nikon View 5/6 does not support direct connection of COOLPIX 950, 910, 900, 800 or 700 digital cameras however it will support a Compact Flash card reader which contains images taken with these cameras. Before installation - Before installing Nikon device drivers, make sure the camera is disconnected from the computer. If the Device Wizard launches when you connect a camera, click Cancel to exit the Wizard. - You have turned off any virus-checking software that may be running. - You have exited all other applications. Procedure for driver installation First DISCONNECT THE CAMERA FROM THE COMPUTER and follow the instructions below. Insert the Nikon View CD into the CD-ROM drive, the Select Language dialog box appears. Select a language Select the language of your choice from the pull-down menu. After you select a language, click Next to display the Install Center window. Custom Install Step 1: Select the software to be installed. Select the programs you want to install from the list in the Custom Install tab. Step 2: Install the driver Choose the camera driver you wish to install and click Install. If you have chosen more than one program, the programs are installed in the order of display. - PTP Drivers Select this check box to install PTP drivers. This check box is only displayed if you are using Windows XP. - COOLPIX Camera Drivers (all models except 990 and 880) Select this check box to install the driver for COOLPIX series cameras (excluding 990/880). This check box only appears if you are using Windows 98 Second Edition. - Drivers for COOLPIX 990 and 880 Select this check box to install the drivers for the COOLPIX 990/880 - Drivers for D1 series cameras Select this check box to install the drivers for the D1/D1X/D1H cameras. Install PTP Driver (Windows XP only) Check that the camera is disconnected If you selected the PTP Driver, the installation of the driver will start. The Setup dialog box below is displayed, asking you to confirm that a camera is not connected to your computer. Make sure a camera is not connected, and click OK to begin installation. Windows 98 SE If you are using Windows 98 SE, drivers for all COOLPIX cameras (all models except 990 and 880) will be installed if selected. The dialog box shown right will be displayed. Click OK to continue. When you install the device driver, the dialog box shown below may be displaye

It can sometimes be difficult to setup a digital camera on a new computer. Usually the process is simple: plug the camera in, allow the system to install the driver and begin using the system, however, sometimes things can go wrong. Following these steps can solve more than 90% of problems relating to USB connection issues. You must be thorough and follow it step-by-step. What CF Card is installed in the camera? A large number of problems are caused by incompatible CF Cards. In many cases these cards will work while shooting but can fail to properly download to the computer. You must be extra careful that the card is approved. Actually look up the card you are using in the manual to see if it on the list. Many retailers include "Unapproved" cards in their bundles, so just because a card came with the camera doesn't mean that it is "Approved". If in doubt, use the "Nikon Starter Card" for testing. Is the Camera in Mass Storage Mode? While PTP mode can be used if your camera and operating system (Mac OS X and Windows XP) supports it, for troubleshooting it may be useful to switch to MSC USB mode using the camera's setup menus. Are there images on the card that can be viewed on the camera in playback mode? Nikon View will not auto launch or give a transfer window with no images on the flash card. If you have covered the first three items you should now connect the camera to the rear USB port (not through a hub or front port) on the computer. On all Windows systems excluding Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) ("Plain" Windows 98 is not supported.) make sure the Nikon View CDROM has been removed from the system prior to connecting the camera. Does the LCD Display Screen go dark after being connected for 2 seconds? If you are not getting the "Found New Hardware" wizard then check the LCD display. If the display stays "on" and the camera seems to be in Shooting mode or Playback mode then you may have a bad cable, camera USB port or computer USB port. If this is the case, contact Nikon Support for more information or Click Here for more troubleshooting. Does "New Hardware Wizard" Start? If you connect the Camera and a "Found New Hardware" wizard comes up you should allow the system to auto search for the driver by simply clicking the "Next" button until it is finished. (Windows 98SE requires the Nikon View CD-ROM to be in the CD-drive at this point.) On Windows systems newer than Windows 98SE the camera should pick up and use the Microsoft Mass Storage driver. "Hardware Handshaking" You need to understand how hardware handshaking works. The hardware Handshake occurs when a USB device is connected to the USB port. The computer detects the USB device on the USB bus and asks: "What are you?" The Coolpix line of cameras should answer: "I am a Nikon Coolpix 5700 currently set to Mass storage mode." If the computer does not understand this message the most likely cause is an incompatibility with the USB chipset on the partic

RAW NEF images from Nikon cameras are proprietary formatted raw data directly from the cameras's sensor. If the images are improperly transferred to the computer they will not be able to be opened and will give an "Unsupported File Format" warning. Macintosh OS X has an "Image Capture" application (found in: Hard Drive/Applications/)that can be used to transfer images. If "Image Capture" is used NEF files will be corrupted and will not be able to be read. Only Nikon View, or manually dragging images from the mounted card, should be used to transfer NEF's. To disable "Image Capture": Double-click to open the hard drive and then the "Applications" folder Double-click "Image Capture" From the "Image Capture" menu choose "Preferences..." In the "When a camera is connected" pop-up choose "No Application" Close the Preferences window and Quit Image Capture After disabling Image Capture, it will not launch when the camera is connected and you can use Nikon View to properly transfer NEF images.

This document assumes that your computer did not recognize your digital camera after you have installed Nikon View version 5 or version 6 (5/6) using "Easy Install" and then restarted your computer. Nikon View 5/6 compatibility: Windows 98 SE Windows ME Windows 2000 Windows XP Home Edition/Professional Note: Log on as Computer Administrator when installing drivers on Windows XP Home Edition/Professional or as Administrator when installing drivers on Windows 2000 Professional. Cameras that are not supported by Nikon View 5/6 Nikon View 5/6 does not support direct connection of COOLPIX 950, 910, 900, 800 or 700 digital cameras however it will support a Compact Flash card reader which contains images taken with these cameras. Before installation - Before installing Nikon device drivers, make sure the camera is disconnected from the computer. If the Device Wizard launches when you connect a camera, click Cancel to exit the Wizard. - You have turned off any virus-checking software that may be running. - You have exited all other applications. Procedure for driver installation First DISCONNECT THE CAMERA FROM THE COMPUTER and follow the instructions below. Insert the Nikon View CD into the CD-ROM drive, the Select Language dialog box appears. Select a language Select the language of your choice from the pull-down menu. After you select a language, click Next to display the Install Center window. Custom Install Step 1: Select the software to be installed. Select the programs you want to install from the list in the Custom Install tab. Step 2: Install the driver Choose the camera driver you wish to install and click Install. If you have chosen more than one program, the programs are installed in the order of display. - PTP Drivers Select this check box to install PTP drivers. This check box is only displayed if you are using Windows XP. - COOLPIX Camera Drivers (all models except 990 and 880) Select this check box to install the driver for COOLPIX series cameras (excluding 990/880). This check box only appears if you are using Windows 98 Second Edition. - Drivers for COOLPIX 990 and 880 Select this check box to install the drivers for the COOLPIX 990/880 - Drivers for D1 series cameras Select this check box to install the drivers for the D1/D1X/D1H cameras. Install PTP Driver (Windows XP only) Check that the camera is disconnected If you selected the PTP Driver, the installation of the driver will start. The Setup dialog box below is displayed, asking you to confirm that a camera is not connected to your computer. Make sure a camera is not connected, and click OK to begin installation. Windows 98 SE If you are using Windows 98 SE, drivers for all COOLPIX cameras (all models except 990 and 880) will be installed if selected. The dialog box shown right will be displayed. Click OK to continue. When you install the device driver, the dialog box shown below may be displaye