The camera needs to be reset. Remove the USB or A/V cable. Press the reset button on the bottom of the unit with a paper clip or similar. If this does not help, turn the unit off, remove all 4 batteries for at least 5 minutes. Re-insert the batteries. Power up the unit and press reset again. If the problem persists, repeat the process but replace the battries with new ones. If this still does not work, check the USB connecting port for damage. The little tab in the middle can be damaged and/or loose or there may be something inside causing a shortcircuit on the USB port which will cause the camera to cycle to USB mode. If there is nothing inside the USB port then there is nothing further that you can do other than sending the unit in for repair. I do not recommend opening the unit as this will negate the warranty and there are no user serviceable parts inside unless you have electronices training.
Keep in mind that, this camera it includes 16MB of internal flash memory, which, with such small
resolutions, can store over 200 photos or 5 minutes of video, plus an SD
card slot can expand that capacity to practically limitless levels. The
SD slot is in the battery compartment, which requires a screwdriver to
open, thus preventing children from losing the batteries or card. Check if the SD is inside or in right position.
The camera includes 2 cords, a standard USB cord like any other camera
and a monaural A/V cord with a proprietary mini-jack. When connecting
the camera to a Windows PC, the PC instantly recognizes the camera and
offers to import the media. Mac OS X will recognize the camera as a
removable drive, allowing photos and movies to be accessed from the
Finder, but iPhoto doesn't recognize the camera as such, so any images
you want to save will need to be added via drag and drop or other manual
methods. Also, since the camera has no internal clock, you'll need to
adjust the creation date of the files if you like to sort them by date
or event.
Its possible that, with the PC connection you need format the SD card.
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Hello Sarah
Normally when you connect a device to a usb port , the two devices do something called a handshake in which each device tells the other it is on and ready to receive data. This handshake is again broken when the device is safely removed in windows/your operating system.
Sometimes the problem can also be caused by power failure (like a low battery or unexpected ejection of the battery) as the dip in power affects the usb circuit into thinking it got a handshake.
The first thing I would like you to try is connecting the USB cable and then safely removing it in windows. Repeat this about 10 times and check to see if it sends a stop signal to the camera so that it goes of USB mode.
If that does not work , try removing the camera's batteries for the night and try it again tomorrow. This is in hope that the camera will reset as you are not able to access the reset in the software at this time.
Let me know by tomorrow if neither options worked and I will look for an alternative to sending it in for repairs.
Kind Regards
StephanSA
Okay , to safely remove a USB device , please do the following
Click on the arrow in your taskbar
This will bring up the following box (the icons may differ)
Now RIGHT click on the icon with the usb and the green check mark.
This will bring up a list of devices attached to the USB port.
Now left click on the name corresponding to the camera and the computer will give you a message that it is safe to remove you hardware.
This should always be done with any USB device to prevent damage.
Stephan
I'm holding my thumbs!
I was just researching the camera a bit more and found that it has hard reset button. It is located on the bottom of the camera and you can press the tiny little button with a ball point pen or something small and blunt. This should reset the camera to default settings and should theoretically solve the problem.
Kind Regards
StephanSA
That is unfortunate. This means that something inside the camera is actively changing the camera into USB mode and this will probably be a circuitry problem inside the camera and not something you can fix at home.
You will unfortunately have to send it in for repiars as there is nothing left to try. These camera's go for about $60 and I doubt that it will cost less than that to repair as these were designed to be thrown away when broken.
If your child is more than 10 years old , I would suggest you rather buy a entry level normal camera as the image quality on the kids camera is only 0.3Mp as opposed to about 8-10Mp you can expect from a cheap entry level camera and the cost will only be slightly more.
Something with a low optical zoom and an internal lens would be better for a child.
Kind Regards
StephanSA
Sorry Sarah , but no further steps are possible. You will either have to replace the camera or send it for a repair which will surely cost more than the replacement value of the camera.
Kind Regards
StephanSA
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i have plugged the usb in to the computer and it recognises a removable hardware attached but i dont know what you mean by safely remove in windows as nothing happens and i cannot find it anywhere on the computer. Please give more detail, do i just plug in and unplug 10 times??? or is there something else i should be doing?
Thank you, we have tried removing 10 times as suggested but nothing has happened. I will now try removing batteries for the night and try again in the morning and contact you if doesnt work.
no luck for restarting the camera overnight or by pressing the reset button. When we switched on this morning it looked as though it was going to work but then the camera started switching between normal menu screen and the usb screen in a flashing motion, it then went back to usb mode. nothing changes when you press reset.
Hello
Please advise if there is any further help you can give me. Thank you
I am getting no reply from the first expert and we still have not solved the problem on the camera although it does work intermitently when switched on and then goes back to the usb picture. please can you advise what i should do next. Thank you
The problem is nothing to do with the SD card or the storage of photos or the transfer of pictures to the PC, we have some kind of software issue which is malfunctioning in the camera as immediately you switch on the camera it goes to this USB image and no function is possible including switching on/off, we have to remove batteries to switch off as it does nothing and will not work, this is the same with or without the SD card.
i still have no answer to my original query on the usb picture which appears on the camera rendering it usless, it now keeps flicking between the usb picture and to normal camera screen before then stopping again.
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