Trouble with a digital camera

[Jest3r]

So I have this computer in the shop where a customer of mine was trying to get a digital camera to connect to it via USB. It would not work for whatever reason, and she continued to plug it in and take it out violently. She then closed her laptop and now it is having trouble booting. When you turn the computer on now, you get the black "Windows is loading files..." screen, as if it's starting for the first time. The automatic repair that runs says that I should remove any cables and restart the computer, as if it thinks the camera is still plugged in.

Well I didn't look at it too much today, but I think it can be fixed with the windows disc repair utility. However, it is not fixed by that, have any ideas on how I should approach this?

 

[Fardringle]

If she was "violently" plugging in and removing the camera's USB cable repeatedly, it's possible that she physically damaged something on the motherboard or short-circuited the USB ports.

 

[chronodekar]

A simple method to check your hardware, is to try out a LIVE Ubuntu session. Don't install the OS, just put in the CD and boot up. If you can reach the main GNOME screen, that likely means that your hardware is fine and something is wrong with the Windows software.

(I did not intend to sound like a Linux-fanboy in that last statement)

 

[corkyg]

In order to tether a digital camera, one should first install the software that comes with the camera. Tethering is really a poor way to transfer data. Her best solution is to get a USB reader/writer for her camera's media.

BTW - what OS is she using? You can sometimes disable the USB port and then reinstall it.

 

[Jest3r]

Tested the USB ports today in Ubuntu, and they seem to be fine. It is for sure a Windows problem.

I am going to continue the Windows repair tomorrow after I reset her password, which she forgot (what a great computer user, eh?). Hopefully the Windows repair will fix it; she just wants Windows to boot without this auto repair running.

 

[corkyg]

The main point is missing - in order to properly read and actuate a tethered digital camera, the software for that needs to be installed.

 

[Jest3r]

corkyg - the main problem now is that the computer will not boot into Windows. When you turn it on it goes to the black "Windows is loading files" screen, then starts an automatic repair recovery which fails everytime. If you restart the computer, it does this all over again. The main problem is that this computer will no longer boot into Windows and is unusable until it can. She doesn't care about the camera at the moment, she just wants to use her computer.

I believe it is my fault for incorrectly naming the topic as I did. It should have been more along the lines of "User having errors with digital camera, now windows is messed up." For this I apologize.

Anyhow, now that I have cleared up that confusion, any other insight on this issue? I'll post more tomorrow after I remove the admin password and try a Windows disc recovery.

Edit: maybe I'll take some pictures of what I'm seeing as well.

 

[chronodekar]

Worst case scenario is that you'll need to install Windows all over again. I recommend that you back-up any important data from that PC first. (You could use a live linux session for the purpose)