Why does the Picture Import Settings dialog flash briefly?

Question

I have foolishly set the picture import settings wrongly for when a camera card is put in my computer. It correctly asks me whether I would like to import the pictures using Windows picture import, and when I click on this option it flashes up the "import pictures" dialog very briefly, and then immediately gets on with importing the pictures to the wrong place.

I simply want to click on the "import settings" link on the dialog - but it's too quick for me, and even if I do manage it it just ignores me. Windows Help, useful as ever, tells me to click on the link.

Answer 1

Try opening regedit, searching 'Camera and Portable Device' using Edit -> Find (it should be found under key 'Photo Acquisition') and delete the entire branch ('Camera and portable device'). That should reset your import settings so that the dialog box pops up.

EDIT: try navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Photo Acquisition\Camera and Portable Device and change the value AcquisitionFlags to 82.

Answer 2

There is no easy way, but I eventually figured it out.

• Record some footage on your camera.
• Then, when you connect the camera to your PC, it will immediately start downloading.. without letting you change the setting.
• Quickly cancel the dowload.
• Now go to "My Computer" you'll see your video camera listed as a device.
• Right click and select Import Video
• Here's the sneaky part: For a brief second before the import starts, the "Setting" tab will be available. Click the "Setting" tab and the window opens. You can make the changes there.