Windows 10 Photo app hijacks camera import

[perkcan]

Windows 10 Photo application hijacks the import of images from my Canon PowerShot.  Does anyone have information about how to successfully set CameraWindow as the default application loaded when a Canon camera is connected via USB?

(For the record, I'm not interested in commentary on the Photo App or how to use it.  I have explored the settings enough and played with it enough to already know it is an cheap, inferior program.  I simply want to configure CameraWindow how it worked on Window 7, how it was designed to work.)

Prior to Windows 10 upgrade, I had Windows 7 with CameraWindow 8 installed.  When I plugged my PowerShot SX510 into the USB (or any of my canon cameras), CameraWindow would start automatically.

Not only did CameraWindow start automatically on Windows 7 (and prior versions), but it was easy to configure the default applications for Auto Start on Windows 7.  Windows actually allowed changing the settings and honored the settings I chose.

But on Windows 10, it ALWAYS starts the Photo application.  I have changed Auto Play settings, default application settings, device settings (Control Panel - Device and Printers) for the camera, but NOTHING works to stop the new Photo App from starting.  In the Device settings, the "Download Images..." option lets me choose CameraWindow, but on the General Settings page, another option says "Import  photos and videos (Photo)" but is greyed out, so it can't be changed.  Microsoft essentially forces the use of their own software and ignores the other settings.

It is very annoying on many levels.  Perhaps the worst is that Windows 10 removed all ability for the user to configure options in this regard!   Second, the Photo app has very limited settings:  There is no control over the import process, like the folder structure, image rotation options, etc.  Finally, CameraWindow itself has no option to make itself the default.

[cicopo]

Have you checked Canon Support for a Windows 10 version of the program? I'm waiting to do my upgrade to Win 10 until everyone else seems happy with it.

[perkcan]

Yes, I downloaded and installed the most recent CameraWindow DC 8.10.4b --listed as compatible with Windows 10. It updated the software, but did not change any defaults.

[jrhoffman75]

Does this help:

http://www.howtogeek.com/223144/how-to-set-your-default-apps-in-windows-10/

[perkcan]

Thank you for the linked page, since it shows most of the new Windows 10 management options I tried.  However, most of those options are for apps triggered by opening a file or navigating to a URL (i.e. by file type, by protocol).  These settings do not set what happens when a USB device is connected.  In the "Set defaults by app" page, CameraWindow is not even listed.  The list of apps includes primarily Microsoft apps along with a few other applications that have registered themselves "correctly".

None of these new Windows-10-style option pages set the "traditional" AutoPlay and other device settings.  The new settings appear to either be the same or supercede such traditional settings, but by going to the classic Control Panel, one can view and set AutoPlay setting as well as Devices and Printers settings.

Within Device and Printers, I find and double click my Canon camera device.  Here's what I see:

This looks promising:

These are the options which would be listed in the AutoPlay dialogue which was displayed previously when the camera was connected.  Even though this is what changes the behavior in previous versions, it is apparently ignored on Windows 10.

Now look at the the last "general settings" page.  See that the option is greyed out, and it shows the new Photos app.  I've even looked for a registry setting to change this, but was unsuccessful in finding one.

[perkcan]

For the record, this also did not work:

[Waddizzle]

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@perkcan wrote:

For the record, this also did not work:

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Have you tried choosing "Take no action", yet?

[perkcan]

Yes, I tried both options, but even when I tried "Take no action", it still opens the Photo app.  Also, setting it to "Take no action" does not alter or reset the option I selected in the "Change Program" pop-up from the Device settings page.  So there is already a problem beyond the Photo app stealing the show... Windows has too many settings that supposedly define what should happen when I plug in the camera.  Even if something worked to keep the Photo App from starting, it's a mystery which option is actually supposed to be honored.

[Waddizzle]

How is your computer set to behave if you plug in a memory stick full of image files?  

You want the PC to take no action for that scenario, too.  In fact, you want your computer to take no automatic actions besides installing device drivers, if needed, when you plug something into a USB port.

[perkcan]

Right now, when a USB stick is inserted a Windows Explorer window opens to browse the files on the stick.  I don't happen to have a USB stick with only images, so I'm not sure if it would behave differently in that case.  However, if you look at the screenshots I posted earlier, you can see that Windows detects and treats my Canon camera as a specific device.  There are other options for setting behavior upon insertion of generic USB storage devices.  Although via the partiuclar camera device I can still access the folders and files just like a USB stick, I want Windows to be smarter than that and execute a particular program of my choice and/or of the manufacturer's setup.  Previous versions of Windows allowed this and it worked intuitively and usefully and according to design... and allowed user control!

To some extent I appreciate alternatives, but on the other hand this is a really stupid flaw / bug / decision by Microsoft which should be fixed.  I posted here in a public forum because I hope perhaps to eventually find a solution which I can post for others to find.

Ideally, the technical people at Canon should also browse these forums and even make improvements and design based on what they find here.  They are large, significant company and I imagine their own developers should have more influence on getting something like this fixed.  They should have some sort of formal relationship with Microsoft.  If they don't do all of those things, they are ignoring very valuable resources which only hurts their products.  Other companies go to extra effort in forming and even paying for consumer focus and feedback.  They have it here free.  Other companies who develop hardward and software have developer agreements / subscriptions / communication with computer OS producers.