# Sony HDR-SR12 Handycam recognition problems



## sitting_rabbit (Apr 14, 2008)

Operating System: XP Pro
Computer Model #: Sony Vaio VGN-AR170P
Camcorder Model #: Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 (120 GB) 1080i
My laptop is a little less than 2 years old, with Service Pack 2 installed.

Hi,

I'm new to this forum so bear with me. I purchased a Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 (it has an internal 120 GB HD) a few days ago and took some really nice 1080i videos with it. 

I attempted to install the installation CD that came with it (Picture Motion Browser 3.0.00) and I followed the directions to the tee. It said to turn the camera on (I did), then it said to plug the mini USB into the camera and then the other end of the USB into the computer USB port (and I did). The camera then asked me what I want to do, and I told it to "USB connect" and it then said, "Preparing..." on it's screen. 

A "Found New Hardware Utility" pop up window then came up. In the past, when the "Found New Hardware Utility" has come up, it meant that it's not going to work right. I clicked "next" then "next" again in the "Found New Hardware Utility" pop up window, and then it said "Cannot Install". I then clicked "Cancel" and tried to proceed with the installation.

When I clicked on "Continue" inside of the "Picture Motion Browser" installation, a message came up that said, "CANNOT CONFIRM A CONNECTION WITH A CAMERA. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THE CONNECTED CAMERA IS THE ONE THAT CAME WITH THIS INSTALLER CD, AND CONNECT THE CAMERA AGAIN.". 

I read in a forum that you have to go to Device Manager and find my camera (HDR-SR12), right click on it, then uninstall it and try it again. I did that, but to no avail. While in Device Manager, I noticed that beside my camera was a yellow question mark. What does this mean?

I searched and searched pretty much all last night and most of today to try to find an answer to this conundrum of mine, and I even went online with Sony's tech support "live chat" as well as on the phone with them, but they couldn't help me. 

I then told my girlfriend to bring her laptop over so that I could try the installation on her computer, and it installed perfectly. "Found New Hardware" never came up on her computer, and when I clicked on "USB Connect" on the cameras screen, the "Preparing..." turned into "Connected". 

I should be able to just plug my Camcorder into my computer and the computer should recognize it as a portable HD, but it never shows up in "My Computer". 

Anyone else have this problem? Any solutions would greatly be appreciated. I may end up just formating my HD on my laptop (I have it backed up on another portable HD) and seeing if that works. Thanks for any feedback or help!


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

try this, with the camera plugged in the computer, right click my computer, click on manage, under storage, click on disk management, does your camera show up in the right window if there, highlight and assign a drive letter to it. It should show up as removable drive.


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## sitting_rabbit (Apr 14, 2008)

Nope. It doesn't show up there. Does this mean that my computer is not recognizing my camera as an external HD? Could there be a USB driver conflict or needing of an update? Could there be other programs that are conflicting with it? 

I'm getting to the point where I just may format my computer and install Picture Motion Browser as one of the first things I install. I've tried doing a System Restore back to a past date (and it backdated my computer), but it still didn't resolve this issue. 

Thanks again for the replies!


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## jdestremps (Jul 28, 2008)

Did you ever figure this out? I'm having the same problem with an HP with Windows XP Pro SP2 and a sony HDR-SR11


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## sitting_rabbit (Apr 14, 2008)

Nope. But I am having a ton of problems with other things as well now. My computer won't recognize any new portable HD's or other devices. I don't think it's installing the drivers right. I'm going to be taking my computer in to a local computer store to see if they can figure out what's wrong with it. Ever since I tried connecting my HDR-SR12, it's been doing the same old "Found New Hardware". One way or another, I"ll get to the bottom of it. If you figure out what was wrong with yours first, let me know, otherwise, when I get my computer back from the techs, I'll post the solution on here.


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## zenzakarta (Aug 29, 2008)

Hey, Do this and it worked for me go to my computer and insert the CD

Then Click on SonyPictuil or ur (CD Drive)

Then go to USBdriver

and click Setup

And then itll ask u to restart ur computer.. restart it and then it should work


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## justinf (Sep 19, 2008)

Hi

I'm in the same boat with a Sony DCR-SR35 and a Dell laptop. Tried all the tips in this forum, and at this useful site
http://veilside2ride.blogspot.com/2008/06/error-cannot-confirm-connection-with.html

and still hitting the same brick wall. I haven't got the Sony stuff installed, so the last post about going into USB Settings doesn't apply (I think).

Thanks in advance

- J


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## ritzart (Sep 29, 2009)

I had the same problem:4-dontkno . When I first purchased the HDR-SR12 and installed the Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software I had no problem. Couple days ago I reformatted my PC and when I tried installing the PMB the installer couldn`t detect the camcorder to proceed. Windows would detect the new hardware but wasn`t able to find the driver for it. The camcorder screen only displayed "Preparing" and nothing would happen so while my camcorder was still plugged into the USB port and turned on I restarted my pc. As soon as the PC shut down and fired up the camcorder connected ray: . I navigated to my cd drive and installed the PMB with no problem. The dreaded Windows new hardware message still came up but that did not stop the PMB to install. When I opened up the PMB and tried opening the camcorder utilities it said that the camcorder was not connected. So I exited the USB screen on the camcorder, shut it off and turned it on again with the USB cable still connected the PMB detected the camcorder and all the video and picture files in it :grin: . I was able to import the files into the PC.ray: Hope this helps.:wave:


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