Windows 7 and Windows Live Photo Gallery make importing photos from your camera very quick and easy. Here is how to set up your system and how import photos quickly.
Setup camera on Windows 7
Connect your camera to your computer using a USB cable. Turn on the camera. If this is the first time that the camera is connected to the computer you will see something like this near the right end of the Taskbar.
Windows 7 will install the needed driver software as soon as it sees the camera. This will take but a few moments.
The camera device window will open, it is show below. (If it doesn’t open automatically, click the camera icon on the Taskbar.
The window will show a variety of information. The illustration is for a Nikon D60 camera, for another camera the information will be similar. Of concern here is the 
option labeled “Import pictures and videos”. Click on “Change program”.
A dialog windows opens like the illustration on the left. The default option is “Import pictures … using Windows. For much better control and more options use Windows Live Photo Gallery to import the photos. So click on “Import pictures and videos using Windows Live Photo Gallery”. Then click OK.
Next click “Change general settings”. In the next dialog, click on the option bar that says “Take no action”.
Click on “Import pictures and videos”, then click OK.
Windows is now set up. Turn off your camera. The camera icon will disappear from the Taskbar. Next set up options in Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Set import options in Windows Live Photo Gallery
Open Live Photo Gallery and click the blue “File” tab (upper left). Click Options. In the next dialog click the Import tab.
Here a number of options can be set. Since you are setting up importing from your camera, leave the setting for “Cameras” and keep the import destination of “Pictures”. Your Pictures folder is the proper place to keep photos.
As photos are imported new folders can be created for the photos. There are a number of naming conventions you can select from. I like “Date Taken + Name”, this is illustrated here.
You can also choose the file name format. My preference is to keep the file names that the camera has assigned to them.
The dialog window contains an example to show how the folder names and file names will appear according to the settings you select.
There are three other options. Check what should happen. Then click OK.
This completes the setup of your computer for importing photos. So let’s try it out. Close Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Importing photos from the Camera
Connect the camera with a USB cable to the computer. Turn on the camera.
Windows will recognize the camera and start carrying out the option that you have set 
up. Momentarily you will see a window telling you that Windows is “looking for photos and videos…”.
As soon as it has finished analyzing the photo files on the camera, an new dialog window with more options opens up.
This may look like the one illustrated here. It will show the number of photos on the camera and display two options. I like, and recommend, the “review” option. There are additional choices that can be made using that approach.
Make your selection and click Next.
If you chose the review option you get something like this:
Photos will be grouped by date. You can change the grouping with the slider control on the bottom. You can enter a names for the folders that will be created for each group. You can also specify tags that will be common to all the photos in a group. This can really help you get your organizing of the photos underway. Click on “Enter a name” to enter the folder name (or the name part of the folder name). Click on Add tags to get this started.
Separate different tags with semicolons. Here is an example with information filled in:
Note that you can inspect the photos in each group – click “View all … items”, and can even check or uncheck the individual photos to be imported.
To proceed, click Import.
Windows Live Photo Gallery now imports your selected photos, creates folders named in accordance with your settings, and places the grouped photos into the folders. If you have set the “Open … Photo Gallery after importing…” option, Windows Live Photo Gallery will open once the photos have been imported showing the photos.
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I am unable to reload my pictures from my camera to the computer. Computer tells me there are no new pictures. Is it possible to reload these?
Thank you for asking, Mary. I have posted an answer to your question here: Can I re-import photos when the computer says no new photos were found? If that does not answer your question, please send me a message (there is a link at Cafe Ludwig).
Many thanks for your great explanation, do you know how to prevent windows 7 from creating date and time sub folders after the destination has been selected? Many thanks JO
To import your photos to just one folder, and not make a sub-folder for each group, change your import options. Click the File (blue) tab > Options > Import tab. Click the Folder name bar and click the (None) selection (the bottom option). Click OK. After this Live Photo Gallery will import your photos to the specified folder without making sub-folders. I will explain this with illustrations in a post. Thank you for asking!
how do I import just certain pictures from my camera to my computers
This is a great question, Diane. I will answer it in a more detailed post shortly. You can select the photos to import in the Photo Gallery import dialog, I will show how.
Pingback: How do I import just certain photos from my camera to my computer? | Ask Ludwig
Why is this so blasted complicated. I am not a computer guru, there are waaaay too many steps to complete that I am not sure about. I was just given a new laptop at work with Windows 7. I much prefere the 6 version. All I had to do was pull up the “Pictures” file, plug in my camera memory card, select “View pictures using Windows” then select the pictures I wanted to import to a particular “Pictures” file. DONE! This BS.
Earl, you can use the same procedure in Windows 7 that you used before. This post shows how to make it easier, more consistent, and quicker. If this procedure is not for you, there is no reason to use derogatory language. I strive to help.
My comments were not aimed at you personally. But rather out of frustration of what had been a simple task before becoming so complicated to do now.
Thank you for responding. Yes, we all get frustrated at times. Do try the procedure that I outlined. Once set up, you’ll love the ease and speed.
Two questions, if I may:
- Can Windows Live Photo Gallery be configured to automatically/silently import the photos without requiring user input? I just want to plug in my camera and for the photos to be immediately uploaded as soon as connected.
- Does it keep track of photos previously uploaded and not reload them, even if they have been moved from the upload folder? My intent is to immediately upload the photos to a static folder upon connection of the camera, then in slower time I will manually move/sort them to other folders. I don’t want Windows Live Photo Gallery to reload older photos to the upload folder each time I connect.
If Windows Live Photo Gallery does not support this, can you suggest any other programs?
Thaanks in advance.
Sorry, one more question: does this work for camera video files (MP4) too?
Marty, I don’t know the answer to this.
Thank you for asking, Marty,
To my knowledge there is no “silent” import feature. My Autoplay is set to launch the Photo Gallery importer. It does require a couple of clicks to get the process going. By default photos already imported, even if they have been moved, will not be checked in the “Select the groups …” dialog. So only the not previously imported photos will be checked and imported. I usually use this two-click procedure. The first, to click Next after the import dialog shows how many photos there are on the camera that have not yet been imported, then to click Import. I do not allow the importer to erase the photos on my camera, so they stay there. This does make the initial search by the importer a bit lengthy (maybe up to ten seconds when my card has over 1000 photos on it).
I don’t know of any other program for “silent” – unattended – import.
Thanks Ludwig.
When I import picturs to windows using my camera card, al of a sudden the import box will not close when it is done.. nor will it cancel? Any suggestions on what I can do. The only way I can get rid of it (or close it) is to shut down the computer.
Sorry, Joan, I do not have a ready answer for that problem. If it is still happening, please send me a message and I gladly will work with you one-on-one to find a solution.
I have imported pictures from my camera card and now I cant find them (granny)
If you used the default settings of Windows / Photo Gallery you pictures are in one or more folders in you “My Pictures” folder. If you can’t find them there, please send me a message (see upper right of blog).