In the past, when a digital camera was connected to a computer, it would automatically export photos and generate folder names based on date. Why did this not work later?

To export image files from a cable-tethered camera to your computer, follow these steps:

Connect your digital camera to your computer's USB port.

If your digital camera supports the Plug and Play function, the computer will start the Scanner and Camera Wizard program. And if your digital camera does not support the Plug and Play feature, then please click Start, Control Panel, Printers and Other Hardware, and Scanners and Cameras (scanners and digital cameras). Right-click the digital camera from which you want to export photos, and click the appropriate device-related option on the shortcut menu that pops up.

Follow the on-screen instructions to export the image.

If you need to use a memory card reader to export images to your computer, please follow these steps:

First, make sure that the digital camera has written all photos to the memory card. Then, turn off the digital camera.

Remove the memory card from the digital camera.

Insert the memory card into the memory card reader. If the memory card is not inserted smoothly, please confirm whether the insertion direction is correct. Regardless of the memory card you use, memory card readers are designed to accept only one-way insertion.

If the Scanner and Camera Wizard program starts executing, your computer has been configured correctly and you can continue to step 5. If you are asked for an action, select Always do the selected action, highlight Copy pictures to a folder, and click OK.

When the Scanner and Camera Wizard appears, click Next.

Next, you will be asked to specify the digital photos you want to export. By default, all photos on the memory card are selected. If you need to modify the options, click Clear All and select the photos you want to export one by one, then click Next.

Specify the image storage location. Enter a file name for the photos you will export (for more information on naming conventions, see File Naming and Folder Organization). By default, the wizard saves image files to the My Pictures folder unless you specify another location for them. Next, click Next.

When the export operation is complete, select the next task to perform, and then click Next.

If you selected Nothing in step 8, click Finish. The folder containing the newly exported photos will open.

At this point, your photos have been safely copied to your computer device. Before you proceed with other operations using your image editing software, including flipping, cropping, and removing "red-eye" effects, it's important to properly protect the original image file you just exported.