Trying to upload pics from a camera, my USB port seems to be not working.?

Question

Ok so when I start up the pc on the lower righthand side there's an icon that says "safely remove hardware" and if you open it up, it says "USB mass storage device." I am not sure if that has anything to do with it, but the comp is not recognizing that my camera is plugged in. Normally the camera wizard pops up. I have tried "removing" the hardware, restarting the computer, plugging into different usb ports, and nothing is working. The same usb works fine to update my ipod, but nothing for the camera. Please help, this is driving me nuts!!

Answer 1

That little icon allows you to safely remove a plug and play storage device. Specifically, it makes sure all files on the device are fully written and closed. For any storage device that you plug in, you should click that icon and close the device before unplugging your storage device.
When your camera is plugged in, double click My Computer and you should see an additional drive letter for your camera. You should be able to see and access your files when you double click the drive icon.
The reason that your wizard doesn't come up is because some program must have changed one of the registry settings.
Usually, when a CD is loaded or some plug-in storage device is connected, Windows would pop up a dialog box which asks you what you want to do with the CD/storage device. In your camera's case, the software for the camera initially set up Windows so that a certain program is run when you connect your camera.
I don't know which program file your camera runs, so I can't help you with that. Try uninstalling and re-installing your camera software.

Answer 2

When you go into My Computer, is a new drive listed that could be the camera's memory? Perhaps the autorun for cameras has been disabled.

Answer 3

I had the same problem go to google and type in picasa if you download this it is so easy to upload pics from your camera using the USB.