Until recently, whenever I connected a digital camera to my computer the ZoomBrowser EX program automatically started and downloaded my photos into the My Pictures folder (within the My Documents folder on my computer). However, since installing the Google Picasa2 software on the computer, ZoomBrowser EX no longer appears. Instead, Picasa2 proceeds to download the photos automatically to an unknown location, and I cannot access the original photo files except through using the Picasa2 software. I would like to return to using ZoomBrowser as the default photo program, but I am unsure how this can be done. The computer is running Windows XP SP2.

When you connect certain devices to the computer, such as a digital camera, Windows XP can be configured to perform a default action through a feature called AutoPlay. For example, if you insert a CD into the computer with many photos then Windows may detect that the CD comprises mainly of photos and a window will appear asking what you would like to do. The options may include open the photos with a particular software package (e.g. Adobe Photoshop) or simply browse the contents of the CD (i.e. open Windows Explorer to display the contents of the CD). In your case, when you connect a digital camera to the computer the Picasa2 has been configured to automatically load. Previously the ZoomBrowser EX software would have been configured to load when the digital camera was connected, but when Picasa2 was installed the software probably detected this existing association and determined it could also perform the same function, and set itself to automatically download photos from the digital camera.

There are a few procedures you can try to resolve this issue. The first is simply reinstalling the ZoomBrowser EX software. During the installation of particular software the installer normally checks whether the program can be associated with any file types or default actions, much like what the Picasa2 software would have done during installation. Therefore, by reinstalling ZoomBrowser EX this should (in theory) re-establish the association to open ZoomBrowser when the digital camera is connected, allowing this software to download photos automatically from your digital camera.

Should reinstalling ZoomBrowser not resolve the issue and Picasa2 continues to automatically download photos from the digital camera, you can manually change the default AutoPlay action for the digital camera. As a starting point, have a read of the following article in the Microsoft MSDN Magazine: msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301341.aspx . This article provides a very comprehensive (and somewhat technical) explanation of how AutoPlay works in Windows XP. Of particular interest are the sections ?Autoplay V2 on Volume-based Devices? and ?Autoplay V2 on Non-volume-based Devices? which detail how to change the default AutoPlay action on volume based devices (i.e. storage devices with storage space and data which the computer can access, such as portable USB hard drives and flash drives) and non-volume devices (i.e. devices from which the computer can request to download data, but cannot directly access the storage and contained data). Therefore, to change the default action for the digital camera we need to determine whether the camera is considered a volume based device or non-volume based device by Windows.

You may think that the camera is a non-volume based device, because it is a camera and not a portable storage device (such as a hard drive). However, depending on the model of digital camera which you own, it may be either a volume based device or non-volume based device. This is because most digital cameras use memory cards to store their photos (such as Secure Digital or CompactFlash cards). When you connect a digital camera to the computer often the camera simply functions as a memory card reader, allowing Windows to directly access the files located on the memory card. In such cases, you will notice a new drive appears within My Computer which represents the memory card within the digital camera. You can use this drive just like any other drive ? files can be copied to and from the drive (memory card within the camera). In fact, you could even use this as a method of portable storage to transfer files between computers, although this is not recommended since this may make your digital camera awfully confused if it attempts to read non-image files.

Therefore, to determine whether the digital camera is considered a volume-based or non-volume based storage device, connect the digital camera to the computer. Don’t worry if Picasa2 loads and commences to download photos from the camera ? let this go through the motions of downloading. Once it has finished, open Windows Explorer or My Computer and check whether a new drive has appeared. If so, select the drive and check the contents. You should see several folders and sub-folders. Search throughout these folders and eventually you should find a folder which contains all your photos (if any photos are on the camera).

If the digital camera does appear as a drive within Windows Explorer or My Computer, it is being considered a volume-based storage device by Windows. In this case to change the default action, right-click on the drive and select “Properties”. In the properties window that appears, click the “AutoPlay” tab. Go through the content type drop-down box and check the “Actions” for each of the content types. You should find that one of the content types relating to digital photos (for example, “Photo files”) will have the default action configured to open Picasa2. For this content type either select to use ZoomBrowser EX as the default action (if this is listed), or enable “Prompt me each time to choose an action”. This will provide you with the opportunity to select an action when the device is connected. Click OK to save and close. Eject the device from the computer, disconnect the device and then re-connect the device. If you selected ZoomBrowser EX as the default action this software should automatically load. Alternatively, if you set Windows to prompt to choose an action, then a Window should appear with the various actions that can be taken on the device. In theory, ZoomBrowser EX should be an option. As such, select ZoomBrowser EX and tick the box to make this the default action. Click OK to save the settings and perform the default action.

In the event that the digital camera does not appear as a drive within Windows Explorer or My Computer, it seems that the camera is a non volume-based device. In this case, when you connect the camera to your computer there should be a little icon in the system tray (next to the system clock, in the Start menu task bar at the bottom of the screen) which represents the device. This icon may look like a little camera. Double-click on this icon to produce the AutoPlay properties. Then, change the default action for this device to be ZoomBrowser EX or another action. Once this has been done, eject and disconnect the device, then re-connect the device and the new default action should be performed.