USB, CD's & Digital camera

[abuelita]

When I tried to save pictures in my USB STICK, I got this message "Error copying file or folder. Cannot copy..... The Directory or File cannot be created" I do not know what its wrong because it was working perfectly. My camera is a Fujifilm Finepix F60 fd and the windows version that I have is XP. I called Fuji and they said it was my computer's problem, then I talked to Dell and they said there is a fee involved to fixed but right now my budged is a little short plus I pay for an extension warranty until 2012 which to my surprise do not cover this case. I sure will appreciate your help.

[bigtoe]

Are you able to save the pictures from the camera onto the computer, in the "My Docs" and "My Pictures" folder? Presuming your thumb drive/stick is not corrupted and you are able to normally get files onto and off of it, then it is a matter of plugging in the memory stick onto the USB port.... Open up Windows Explore or double click the "My Docs" icon on your desktop, do a right click on the folder containing the pictures and select "Send to ...." which will give you several options as to where to send those pictures, one being the USB drive with the memory stick/thumb drive .....

Or you can also do a drag and drop operation in a similar fashion.... highlight the folder with the pictures in it, hold down the right mouse and drag that folder over the top of the listed thumb drive/memory stick and release the right mouse button.... that will pop up a window asking whaqt you want to do... "Copy the pictures there" or "Move the pictures there".... If you choose Copy, then the original will stay on the computer hard drive, and if you choose "Move" that will send the folder with the pics onto the usb drive/memory stick....

Does your memory stick have enough free space on it to hold the folder with the pictures? If it is too full you should be getting notices warning you, then you will have to use another one that has enough free space.....

[abuelita]

Thank you Bigtoe, I like how you explain everything which had been helping me always. I will let you know the results I get.

[abuelita]

  Hello bigtoe unfortunately after following the steps you gave me, I could not save my pictures onto my memory stick. The memory stick has plenty free space. I took (the stick) to Best Buy where was check it and they said there is nothing wrong with the stick and yes I can save the pictures onto my computer, but can not move them to the stick. I am afraid that the problem is my PC. Is there anything else I can do, please?

[bigtoe]

Are you trying to save an entire folder over onto the stick, or just individual pictures?.... Do know that some folks have troubles trying to send a folder over to the stick.... You might try to do a drag and drop action of moving individual pictures over to the stick.....

Open up Explore by doing a right mouse click on the Start button and choosing Explore.... that opens up a tree like feature or diagram of your hard drive(s).... you could open your My Docs and My Pictures file, then find the folder that has the pictures in it that you want to copy to the flash drive.... scrolling down on the left side of the list you will also see your flash drive listed as a separate drive (whatever letter your computer assigns to it when you plug it in)....Now, rather than using the left mouse button to drag the pictures down to the flash drive/memory stick, use the right mouse and drag the pictures to the flash drive (hopefully you have already created a folder on the flash drive/memory stick that is going to contain the pictures you copy there).... just hold the right mouse down and drag to the top of that folder on the memory stick, release the right button and you will be asked if you want to move the pictures there or to copy the pictures there (if you move them there, they will no longer be on your hard drive as they will now be on the memory stick)... if you choose to copy them to that folder, then a copy of the pictures will be put into the folder on the memory stick and the "original" pictures will remain on the hard drive in your My Pictures folder....

The reason I suggest using the right mouse button is you have some control and assurance that you are copying or moving files to the correct folder.... many times, when we use the left mouse button held down and drag a file/picture to a spot we sometimes accidentally release the left mouse button too soon and the file is dropped to a folder we may not want it to be in..... by using the right mouse button, you are always asked first what you want to do and you are shown the folder the picture/document file will be copied or moved to so you will know for sure where the file was copied/moved to and don't' have to worry about accidental moves......

[abuelita]

Hello bigtoe, I hope you do not be fed up with me. I am happy because I was able to save the pictures of my granddaughter onto the stick, but when I tried to save flowers pictures onto other stick, I got the same message I got before "Cannot copy.....: the directory or file cannot be created", I do not understand why.

I do not know if the brand of the USB has anything to do with the problem: the one where I save my granddaughter is SanDisk and the other one is Verbatim. 

[bigtoe]

You may have found a reason, or maybe not.... SanDisk has a superb reliability and satisfactory standing with most users (might be slightly more in cost, but results speak for themselves... )..... Key would be if the other files can be saved to the SanDisk stick.... Not really a problem with the computer, just a matter of moving or copying a file (that is all a picture or document is, just a file on the hard drive) from one hard drive (the computer) over onto another hard drive (the mem stick).......... Moving individual files, rather than a folder, should not be any type of problem.... Using Windows Explore (right click on Start and choose Explore to open up the tree branch layout of your file system) it is just a matter to Copy (single left click on a file and highlight it, then right click and choose Copy, then go to the usb drive and left click on it to highlight it and then do the right click and choose Paste).... That is just one of several different ways of doing the Copy/Paste operation..... or as mentioned earlier using the right mouse click, holding down the right button and dragging the file to the usb drive where you release the right mouse button and are given the choice of "Copy here" as well as "Move here"....

Another way with Window Explore open is to right click on the picture file and choose from the drop down menu "send to ..." which will give you several choices of where to send a copy of the file to.... just choose your usb drive by left click on that and a copy of the picture file will be sent to that usb flash drive/memory stick.....

If you can double click on the picture file and open it to see the picture, then there is nothing wrong with the file itself so being able to do a "copy/paste" or a "move to ..." operation to get the file or a copy over on to the usb flash drive is just a matter of carefully taking each step one at a time.....

You could also use programs, free and pay, and make copies of your entire hard drive or backup programs that will automate the backup onto a portable hard drive operation to back up your My Docs folder and all that is in it as well as other folders.... But, the steps outlined above for simple file copying or moving should work as long as the usb stick is recognized by your computer as being functioning..... If you can see things already on the usb stick, then it would appear that it works and computer recognizes it with no problem...

Here is a tutorial that Sandy wrote about cut/copy/paste which may also be of help with the steps:
http://www.compukiss.com/basics/cut-copy-paste.html

[abuelita]

Bigtoe here I am again, after trying all yours and Sandy's instructions, I had not positive results. My computer recognized all the USB memory sticks but only one of the SanDisk  (where I saved the pictures of my granddaughter) finally works following the steps you gave me. When I connect my camera to the computer, the camera said "USB". Now I can not save in any device USB or CD only on the computer. I am very confuse because now I do not know if it is the PC, the camera or the USB. Do you think reloading the computer would help? SOS

[bigtoe]

Out of curiosity, when you are unplugging any usb connected device are you doing so by just unplugging them or do you use the icon in the notification area by the clock... the "safely remove hardware" icon? that should be clicked and select the correct usb slot that has the camera or the memory sticks and click to 'safely remove'...... Most of the time, if just pulling out the usb connected device, and especially if the computer was not done writing to it, you will experience problems like you describe, make them so they can't be read by the computer, or cause some malfunction with the info that is saved on the device......

If that happens, you may not be able to get the information off the device and may not be able to get the computer to recognize the usb device...... usually, a safe way is to have the camera off when you plug it in, then turn it on and let the camera recognize it so you can upload/download pictures, then use the "safely remove device" icon or you can turn off the camera and then unplug the usb cable connector... but using the "safely remove device" icon tells the machine to stop communicating with the device so it can safely be unplugged...

Before doing a reformat and reinstall of your operating system, try the mem sticks on other computers and see if they are recognized.... if not, it may be that they have been made defective by improper removal..... and that would save you having to do all the re-installation and updating of everything like you would need to do if you reinstalled your operating system....

[abuelita]

Yes I do use the "safe remove" icon for memory sticks and for the camera, my computer recognizes both, and I took one of the sticks to Best Buy where they tested it and say there is nothing wrong with the USB, I am in limbo, I can not figure out where the problem is. I will try the memory stick on other computer and see what happens.