Canon ImageBrowser EX 1.2.1 fails to load on a Windows8 system due to problems with Silverlight5

[pbkessler]

I recently got a new Windows 8 computer and loaded my Canon A610 software on it.  I was unable to use it until I updated that software by replacing ZoomBrowser with ImageBrowser 1.2.1 (and  Silverlight5), as advised on Canon's Update website.

This allowed me to open and use ImageBrowser and the associated CameraWindow - but only that one time.

Since then I get a failure message at 80% loaded saying there is a problem with Silverlight.  I have reloaded Silverlight only to have the same thing occur - that is I'm able to use ImageBrower just once, and then get the failure message every time after that.

I have also confirmed that Silverlight works as I'm able to open websites I know require it, so it seems that only ImageBrowser thinks it is bad.

I have found the exact same failure being reported on the Microsoft Community Forum, but no solution is given.  Can anyone here help??

[ICUTWO]

Im stupid when it comes to computers.   I have Windows 7 not 8, does that matter?  Im sick of this Xanon software, I spent hours trying to fix it ( including Starlight download).  I may return the cameea as a matter of primcipal, I work for a major electronic company and hear customers complaining about Canons software. If I decide on another good affordable program does anynody have a suggestion? 

Thanks for everybodys help.

Dave 

[pbkessler]

I don’t think that it matters if it’s Windows 7 and 8 because the problem is occurring on both.  The only advantage to being on Windows 7 is that it’s possible to use the ‘old’ ZoomBrowser program instead of ImageBrowser -(assuming you have/can get a copy of it.

Returning the camera on ‘principal’ seems a bit drastic, especially if you like the camera.  I have a Canon digital camera (and 3 Canon printers) and I really like them all hardware wise.  And up until recently, when I moved from Windows XP to Windows 8, I was happy with their software too.  But now, having to use this newer ImageBrowser program with its problems plus the fact that one of my 3 printers (admittedly an old one) won’t run at all on Windows 8 does give me cause for some dissatisfaction.

But I am now of the opinion that this 80% hang problem is not Canon’s fault anyway.  Microsoft’s Community forum contains an array of Windows 7 and 8 discussion threads that relate to difficulties accessing the Internet, and suspected to be caused by problems and/or conflicts between programs that access the Internet, including Windows itself, Internet Explorer, SilverLight and Windows Live Mail.

And my experiences support this:

• Back in May I fixed my ImageBrowser 80% hang problem at the time by restoring Microsoft’s Internet Explorer program to its ‘Default’ settings; and ImageBrowser has been fine since then, until:
• A few days I discovered a totally unrelated problem in Windows Live Mail that will now cause ImageBrowser to hang at 80% again.  Microsoft has yet to fix the problem but I have found a way to clear it out so that ImageBrowser will work.  All I do is close the ‘hung’ ImageBrowser program and then just open and close the Internet Explorer program.  This clears whatever is preventing ImageBrowser from loading, and all is OK – at least till the next time Windows Live Mail causes the problem again!

So my conclusion is that ImageBrowser is hanging at 80% due to a Microsoft induced problem that prevents it from connecting to the Internet to complete its loading process, so it can’t get past 80% loaded.

If this is the case then Canon (and us!) can either wait/hope for a solution from Microsoft - or Canon can be proactive by changing ImageBrowser such that it does not attempt to access the Internet during its load process.  This would at least allow the program to get fully loaded, and usable for most of its functions. 

In the meantime opening and closing the Internet Explorer program may alleviate the problem for you.

[stoney73]

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@pbkessler wrote:
...The only advantage to being on Windows 7 is that it’s possible to use the ‘old’ ZoomBrowser program instead of ImageBrowser -(assuming you have/can get a copy of it.

[stoney73]

Argh! still figuring out how to quote in a reply... was supposed to add that I found a copy of Zoombrowser in the support files for my old Canon S5 IS & am happily running it in W8.

[pbkessler]

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@stoney73 wrote:

Argh! still figuring out how to quote in a reply... was supposed to add that I found a copy of Zoombrowser in the support files for my old Canon S5 IS & am happily running it in W8.

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Hi stoney73,

What I should have said is that one part of ZoomBrowser - its ‘CameraWindow’ feature – that won't work on Win8.  It's the part of ZoomBrowser used to download images from the camera/camera memory cards into the computer, and it really worked well.  In fact it was really the main reason I was using ZoomBrowser, as I much prefer Picasa for accessing and handling my images once they are loaded onto the computer.

So after I installed ZoomBrowser on my Win8 computer and found that CameraWindow no longer worked – it just sat there and would not recognize my cameras or camera memory cards – I tried various things to get it to work.  Having no success I contacted Canon (via this) forum and they advised I had to update to ImageBrowser, so that's what I did.  This version of CameraWindow works fine, but the rest of ImageBrowser is pretty bad, so I'd love to go back to ZoomBrowser if I could!

So please let me know if you are using the CameraWindow in ZoomBrowser successfully, and if so, how you got it to work! 

[stoney73]

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@pbkessler wrote:

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@stoney73 wrote:

Argh! still figuring out how to quote in a reply... was supposed to add that I found a copy of Zoombrowser in the support files for my old Canon S5 IS & am happily running it in W8.

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Hi stoney73,

What I should have said is that one part of ZoomBrowser - its ‘CameraWindow’ feature – that won't work on Win8.  It's the part of ZoomBrowser used to download images from the camera/camera memory cards into the computer, and it really worked well.  In fact it was really the main reason I was using ZoomBrowser, as I much prefer Picasa for accessing and handling my images once they are loaded onto the computer.

So after I installed ZoomBrowser on my Win8 computer and found that CameraWindow no longer worked – it just sat there and would not recognize my cameras or camera memory cards – I tried various things to get it to work.  Having no success I contacted Canon (via this) forum and they advised I had to update to ImageBrowser, so that's what I did.  This version of CameraWindow works fine, but the rest of ImageBrowser is pretty bad, so I'd love to go back to ZoomBrowser if I could!

So please let me know if you are using the CameraWindow in ZoomBrowser successfully, and if so, how you got it to work! 

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Hmmm, pbkessler,

Interesting! On my HP Envy W8 notebook, AFAIK, CameraWindow is working fine... in fact, so much so that it now attempts to open Imagebrowser instead of Zoombrowser, which irritates me to no end when IB fails at 80% load... There's definitely something going on... Wonder if the CW problem is tied to the user profile, too? Have you tried it in the other profile?

[pbkessler]

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Hmmm, pbkessler,

Interesting! On my HP Envy W8 notebook, AFAIK, CameraWindow is working fine... in fact, so much so that it now attempts to open Imagebrowser instead of Zoombrowser, which irritates me to no end when IB fails at 80% load... There's definitely something going on... Wonder if the CW problem is tied to the user profile, too? Have you tried it in the other profile?

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Hmmmm too...  Wonder if we are using same levels of ZoomBrowser and ImageBrowser.

I still have ZoomBrowser running on my old Dell Dimension XP computer – it’s ZoomBrowser EX 5.5, Version 5.5.0.190 (Copyright 1996-2005) and includes 4 CameraWindow ‘Tasks’ that are all at either 1.0.0.3 or 1.0.0.5.  The one titled ‘Acquire Images’ is at 1.0.0.5.  All this software came off the Canon Digital Camera Solutions Disk Version 26.0 that came with my Canon PowerShot A610 camera purchased in 2006. 

The ImageBrowser I’m using on my new Dell Inspiron Windows 8 computer is ImageBrowser EX, Version 1.2.1.13 (Copyright 2013). No info re its CameraWindow is provided.  All this software came from the Canon website.  (I know there is a later level available but I   don’t want to disturb what I’ve now got working!)

Also please expand on what you refer to as ‘user profile’.  The term is familiar but I can’t recall where/what it is! 

[stoney73]

My version of Zoombrowser is 5.8.0.74. Downloaded it last month from the product support page from my old Canon camera (which I just replaced)... also downloaded Imagebrowser & began having the "problem" with Silverlight... gave up & went back to Zoombrowser.

Whatever the latest version of Imagebrowser is, that's what I installed. (Can't check version without uninstalling, reinstalling, both it & Silverlight just for 1x access to confirm the version. Not worth it.)

In a Microsoft forum on this same subject, I thought it was you who had commented that you got it working by setting up another user profile on your laptop. Apparently, it wasn't you... anyway, I assume what the user was talking about was setting up another user account on the machine to use the same software. I could do that, I suppose, but I don't want to deal with the hassle of having my photos ONLY in the public area. I'm much more concerned with internet security than that. 😉

[stoney73]

pbkessler wrote: " opening and closing the Internet Explorer program may alleviate the problem for you."

Not for me, but thanks....

[stoney73]

Hi ICUTWO,

Personally, I like Windows' native transfer software for moving pix from camera to pc. And I like Windows Live Photo Gallery (it has most of the software from former stand-alone product Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 embedded in a front end organizer that IMO is better than Zoombrowser & Imagebrowser combined. Best of all, it's free. 🙂