Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Will wonders never cease?

I don't believe it???

My Kodak Easy Share P850 camera has been acting up. First, Review was 'sometimes'. Then over the weekend, I took over 20 photos. Since my Review Mode hadn't been working, I didn't bother looking at them in Review Mode.

When I downloaded my photos, uh oh, not all were there.

hmmm - we've all been there - what is wrong? who to call? where to turn?, is this junk already? should I buy another? Hey, this one was $300.00 (an enormous amount for me!) and is just 2 years old. I am using an additional memory card and have tried another memory card, and tried Internal Memory - all are acting squirrelly. Was the battery needing replacing?

I went to Kodak site, many times, trying unsuccessfully, here and there, searching, and to add another issue, my User's Manual is nowhere to be found. (BTW, KODAK makes a LOT of stuff!) When you don't know what the problem is, it's difficult to find the right SEARCH term.

OK, contact Kodak (live!) and type my message. Wow - this is amazing technology! Bjorn V. was my contact and happily, he spoke/typed excellent English. I didn't wait more than a minute to connect with him. We exchanged info and he said I had to format my memory card. Huh? what is that about? I can feel the panic rising up my spine, but he said this is a fixable problem and easy ( !!! ) to do. "It's NOT the battery - it is a memory issue." Yikes - I know I cannot do thissssss!! wahhhh! 8-(

He directed me to a PDF file (enormous) for the User's Manual and lo and behold, there is something mentioned about "Review Mode - No Images," but doesn't give me instructions. Hmmmm now what????

Finally, gathering my courage, I started pushing buttons on the camera and found myself deeper in it's menus than I've ever been before. And there, right in front of me it says "Format". After considering the warnings (nothing of interest to me) I hit "ENTER" and something made some noises, and ... "DONE." Yep, I think that does it. I took a bunch of photos, they are all visible in Review Mode.

My mouth is still hanging open in disbelief - I actually DID fix it!

19 comments:

  1. WOO HOOO!! You are a techno wiz kid now!!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wasn't that fun??!! Oh, pray it doesn't happen again, or else bookmark that wonderful man's spot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. See, nuthin' to it, just summon up the courage to start pushing buttons. And once you've pushed those buttons once, it's easier the next time. You go, girl.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so glad the problem is fixed. I have to change the batteries in my camera all the time. You have not changed your batteries in two years?

    ReplyDelete
  5. We broke the little door on our Kodak that keeps the battery in. We talked to the Kodak people and they said to send the camera in. A couple of weeks later it was back and fixed. I too am quite impressed with them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on your geeky success! I do find that the Internet, once a research toy, is now a necessary tool, don't you?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glad to know there are others in the world who are technology challenged. Lucky for me, one of my sons can usually figure these types of things out for me thank goodness. By the way, you have once again inspired me with your kaleidoscope quilts. I just have to figure out which 45 degree ruler I need to make one. Thank you again for your inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm having some camera problem now too - mine is that I am having trouble getting photos in focus. Will try the re-format thing and see if that can help. My camera is about 2 1/2 yrs old and wonder if it is going bad too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey... a steep learning curve and you did not fall off! Congrats, and may your confidence level keep rising!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have used the "live chat" function a few times to fix things. I find it facinating that they can walk me through things and it works! It is much better than a phone call. I have even printed out the chat box in Notepad to keep so I can fix things again.
    You go girl!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good lord! I have a Kodak, although not this model. I'm hoping I don't have to replace it. Now that I know the potential feeling as you so perfectly stated "I can feel the panic rising up my spine" is a potential. Forget it! Sheesh.

    Well, the important thing HERE is that YOU DID IT! and that's reason to celebrate Elaine. I say, let's have a party. Congratulations. You rock!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yep. You have to reformat your card in the camera. Downloading the pictures to the computer does not mean that the card is completely empty. Apparently it can go corrupt.
    I need to reformat mine after I download my retreat pictures.
    I need to remind my daughter to reformat her's before she goes to Hawaii.
    Thanks for the update.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yay, Elaine! Good for you, you hung in there and conquered the little beasty. By the way, I'm drooling over the class k'scope pics. They are beautiful! You're a really good teacher. Wish I could be there. I do have my 45deg wedge. Now I just have to take it out of the pkg and figure out how to use it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Three cheers for you!! Doesn't that make you feel good, that with a bit of coaching you can fix stuff?

    ReplyDelete
  15. We are the same Elaine. First we both have computer problems, then camera issues. My flash won't work. I was goofing with the camera to try some new settings and somehow I turned off the flash and can't get it back. Maybe I'll stumble on it like you did!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Some things are easy when you know how, but things like formatting the memory card you have to know about first. I just discovered that about a year ago. Glad you were able to get help, sometimes it seems like we just go round and round trying to get answers.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have had such good luck when contacting via the Internet.
    So glad you got to fix your problem.. it can only be good for us! We can see more of your quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  18. now thats when you need... trial and error... you know what I mean roflo so glad its fied, a blog withouth photos ;(

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fantastic! I know how you feel when you start getting into the bowels of technology! I will never get out of here!!! Well done!

    ReplyDelete

I no longer will accept Anonymous comments. I hope my adjustments to Comments do not cause anyone hardships.