Trying to copy photos from phone to computer

[bf7]

I haven't been able to copy my photos & videos from my Samsung Galaxy SIII phone to my HP Pavilion since April, 2017. I have been able to do this for years prior to April, though. We haven't had software or driver changes since then that I'm aware of. We have wireless internet.

I connect my phone to the computer, go to my "Photos" on my computer and press "Import". After 10-30 minutes later, a message "Unable to find software on your computer that can recognize your device. Service pack 3, Windows Media Player, Version 10 or higher for Windows XP or Android File Transfer for MAC OS must be installed." 

I have tried choosing Media Player before in my settings & that didn't change anything. We don't have Windows XP on our computer but Windows 10 Home. If the problem is when the HP Pavilion thinks we have Windows XP (but in settings it states we have Windows 10 Home which is correct), how can we communicate with it to straighten that out?

I tried again this morning to copy photos. After I pressed "Import" & the "Looking for a device to import from" appeared, after 10-20 minutes, it disappeared. No message & no photos/videos were copied. Thank you for your help.

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

"Working for years" suggests that you were using an application that was not included in Windows 10.  Did you upgrade your PC's OS? If yes, was your previous OS XP?

[bf7]

Thank you for replying. I've been trying to look into that.

My earliest pictures in "Photos" are dated January, 2014 & I have had my phone for a couple of years. We bought this HP Pavilion last August from Office Depot when they installed Windows 10 Home on it. We have never had XP on this computer. I could continue copying pictures/videos after we bought our new computer until April when it ran really slow while copying photos but I haven't been able to copy anything to the computer since.

Is there another place in settings I can look to see why it's not communicating with my phone? Thank you!

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

I have a Galaxy S3.  When I transfer photos I use a USB cable and then either use W10 explorer or the previous (older) version of Samsung Kies.  You might need to get the drivers off the Samsung site for the S3.

Transfering files on the newer S5 and S7 is a lot faster as they are equipped with a USB 3 port.

If you are trying to import using the W10 Photo app then you might be into a rude awakening as the worse case scenario involves a W10 reset.

Did Office Deport do a transfer of progams to your new PC?

[bf7]

Thank you so much for your help. When I tried all I could to find & fix the problem with my HP Pavilion, I went to my Verizon store today to see if there was something wrong with my phone. A problem solver there taught me how to get the Google Photos app on my phone to let all the photos go on that instead without plugging anything in. Once they finish downloadiing, I can take the photos off my phone freeing up storage & still access my photos from anywhere on any computer or phone. My portable hard drive can be used for other things, too. I still don't know why the computer won't recognize my phone when I plug it in but at least now it doesn't matter & my problem has been solved! Yeah!

[Carreau]

I'm having a similar problem but with an iPhone transferring photos to my HP. I even set my screen to not lock thinking that and the screensaver maybe knocking off the connection I have using the USB cable. When it finally recognized the cellphone, the number of photos compared to the actual number of my phone vary differently, and not all of my photos were uploaded. Under settings, there is a feature that was highlighted green to not upload duplicate  or similar photos. So, only 4 of my beach vacation photos uploaded our of way more than that. Needless to say, I wanted each photo uploaded and saved! I've never had this happen before, having owned an HP prior, as well as other computers, so this was frustrating, and it took forever once it finally began to upload, without telling you that it's uploading, just that it found so many photos and videos. The number is not the same on my cellphone, so I have no idea which photos were uploaded or not, and won't until I go through and compare each one. This is a major nuisance, needless to say, and waste of time, when all I wanted was what HP and other computers have always done without a hitch before. Then, I chose for my screensaver to use my  pictures, but it displays and error message stating it cannot. This is a brand new HP computer, mind you. The HP AllinOne0013w, or something like that. So, in spite of these problems, I love the computer so far, but need a fix for the screensaver and I switched off to no upload duplicates, which came preset, unfortunately. I tried using iTunes for my photos, but no go there, too. I then tried copying from "This PC" DCIM to Pictures but then some folders emptied themselves oddly enough, and I have no idea why or which photos were in those Apple folders. So, I have a big mess of not knowing which photos are in but knowing they all are not. lol Something so basic for computer functions, and my new computer failed. I've never experienced that in my life. Hope HP fixes it if it is their fault...I don't know...but it's weird.