PowerShot SD800 IS pics won't transfer to computer

[Maryann29]

Need some help please, camera is not downloading pics to the computer...

Hi! Maybe you can help me with this? I have a Canon Power Shot, SD800 IS, digital ELPH camera and it takes pictures like it should. When I plug in the cable into the computer to download those pictures onto the computer, nothing happens. I do not see my pictures on the computer. It used to work, and now nothing happens. I just downloaded some pics about 2 weeks ago. Went okay. Tried to contact Canon, but no advice is given, because they say the camera is out of date. I went to the community help part, to ask, and someone said to get a memory card reader. Do you know if that's my answer to loading my pics onto the computer? Is it my camera? Or is it just that my computer is old. using Windows 10? I am not good with computers. Hope you have an answer for me. This is why I am looking for another camera, just in case the camera is the problem. Thank you! Maryann 

[kvbarkley]

"Do you know if that's my answer to loading my pics onto the computer?"

While you may be able to eventually figure out how to use the cable, the card reader will work as soon as you plug it in. It will appear as a disk drive and the images are in the "DCIM" folder.

[Tronhard]

Keith is very correct. Using a card reader in your computer, built-in or via a USB connection, is the most reliable and fastest method to transfer files.
The process is:
Turn off your camera
Remove the SD card and insert it into the card reader - the computer should now see this as a removable drive
There will be a folder on that drive called DCIM, open it and there are your files.
Select all the files: you can do so with quick keys, Ctrl+A on a PC or Cmd+A on a Mac
Press Ctrl+C (PC) or Cmd+C (Mac) to tell it to copy the files
Go to the folder on your hard drive where yo wish to place the images
Press Ctrl+V (PC) or Cmd+V (Mac) to tell it to paste the files there.
check that the files are all copied to the new location
Remove the card from the card reader
Place it back in your camera
User the camera's format command to format the card clean, ready for your next shoot (don't just delete the files)