Windows 10 Stopped Recognizing My SX50 HS

[tmorse]

Sometime within the last couple months (I haven't been doing much photography recently), Windows 10 on my laptop stopped recognizing my camera when I connect it with a cable to either a USB 2 or USB 3 port. When I plug it in to the laptop and start Camera Window, I get an error box that says, "Cannot detect camera."

It appears that people have been having this problem with a number of different Canon models over the last several years. The solution most often proffered is to update the driver from the Device Manager. When I try this, I get an error message, that Windows encountered a problem while trying to install the driver for MTP USB Device: The system cannot find the file specified. I checked the Drivers and Downloads section of the suppport page for the SX50 HS. No drivers are listed, and it says: "This product is compatible with the operating system selected and when connected to a computer via a USB cable the camera should be automatically detected as a media device. It is not required to install a driver."

To reiterate, this is a recent problem. A couple months ago, it worked just fine. There have been monthly updates to Windows in the interim, and I can't rule out that one of them is the problem.

Details: I am running 64-bit Windows 10 Home version 2004, build 19041.1110, with Window Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3530.0 installed on a dell Vostro 1320 laptop with 8GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD.

Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Terry

[Mark35mmF2]

Hi there,

I think the first thing to check would be the USB connection itself, if you have not done so already. When you connect the USB cable to the camera and power it on, does Windows give a notification that a USB device was detected? If not then the physical connection is not being made. If Windows does recognize a new USB device then it may be a matter of a Windows or security software update being extra critical of the Camera Window software. That would usually be resolved by either checking the software manually to allow an exception for Camera Window or if you uninstall and reinstall Camera Window you should be asked to allow access to the software in the install process.

[tmorse]

Thank you, Mark.

I just double-checked this, and I don't think the cable is the problem. When I plug the camera in and turn it on, I get the typical sound you get when Windows detects a new device. The camera doesn't show up in Windows Explorer, but it is listed as "Canon Digital Camera" under the "Unspecified" heading in Devices and Printers. When I open the device properties, it says "no drivers are installed for this product" and, under Driver Details, "no driver files are required or have been loaded for this device."

In device manager, the camera is listed as Canon Digital Camera under the "Other Devices" rubric, which is where I get the "Windows encountered a problem installing the drivers for your device ... The system cannot find the file specified" error as related in my original post. So it appears to me that the cable isn't the issue.

Since it could be a Windows issue, I'm going to check the Microsoft Community website tomorrow.

Terry

[Waddizzle]

I suggest you try deleting the Canon software and re-installing it.

[tmorse]

Worthwhile suggestion, but after uninstalling CameraWindow and installing the latest version, I tried connecting the camera, but nothing changed. Windows still shows it as an unspecified device, though it is still listed by name. I connected the camera to my Windows XP desktop using the same cable. XP detected the camera, and CameraWindow automatically opened in response, the behavior I used to get on my laptop. CameraWindow indicated that the battery was low, so I installed a freshly charged battery and tried again to get Windows 10 and CameraWindow on my laptop to recognize the camera. Still no luck.

Terry

[Waddizzle]

What do you mean XP automatically detected the camera?  Are you running Windows XP or Windows 10?  

If you are running Windows 10 as an OS upgrade on an older machine, then that would explain all of your issues.  Windows 10 upgrades are still running the older OS under the hood.  With an Windows 10 upgrade, all that you are really seeing is new desktop.  True Windows 10 machines use different hardware than what was used for previous operating systems from Microsoft.

[tmorse]

Windows 10 laptop. Win XP desktop. Two different computers. When you connect the camera to the desktop with a usb cable and Windows detects it, CameraWindow opens to the transfer images screen. You don't have to start the program; it runs automatically.

As to the version history of the laptop, it came with Windows Vista and I upgraded to Windows 7 Home. When Microsoft was pushing everybody to adopt Windows 10, I took advantage of the free offer. This was perhaps a year-and-a-half ago. The issue with Windows not recognizing the camera is at most 2 months old. Pinning everything on Windows 10 might be too simplistic. I've tried running CameraWindow on the laptop in various compatibility modes going back to Win XP, but it didn't help.

I've been over to the Windows Community forum, where people have been reporting similar problems back as far as 2009, much predating Windows 10. However, many of the complaints specifically concern Windows 10. No definitive solutions were given. The most relevant message I found said:

"As future Windows 10 feature updates are released it will introduce an incompatibility with older devices and PC's. Certain components will not support these changes as observed by some users not seeing transparency anymore. Recommendations include: rollback, block the upgrade or consider upgrading components in your system such as graphics, storage, BIOS, motherboard or purchase a new Windows 10 PC."

That may well be what happened here. I will try posting to the Windows forum to see whether I can get more Windows-specific information. I tried uninstalling all the updates back to when the  camera was last recognized, but it didn't fix the problem. If worse comes to worst, I can use the desktop to transfer files, then copy them to the laptop, or use the card reader built into the laptop. Windows does recognize the sd card, just not the camera itself.

Terry

[Waddizzle]

There you have it. Upgraded operating systems are compatible with the Canon apps.

Your laptop does not meet both the hardware and software prerequisites, which can viewed on the software download page.

[Waddizzle]

Oops. I meant to say upgrades are NOT compatible.

[tmorse]

Thank you. I understood what you meant.

Which hardware and software prerequisites are you referring to, Canon's or Microsoft's? CameraWindows and my camera have been coexisting with Windows 10 just fine for years. Can you point me to the webpage that details the prerequisites in question?

Thanks,

Terry