How to use the USB cable to transfer photos from the Samsung Galaxy S II to Windows XP

I recently posted a very unhappy article about my Samsung Galaxy S II phone, and how I could not use the USB cable to upload photos from the phone to my pc. Well… now I know how to do it and I thought I’d share.  😀

Before I begin, I’d like to extend a huge thank you to the girl at Virgin Mobile who took my call, and walked me through the process with understanding and patience. It took a while so… thank you!

Now, the very first thing you have to do is make sure the Galaxy S II’s USB cord is NOT connected to your pc. If it is, none of the following steps, or screenshots will make any sense. More importantly, the process will not work because there is a strict sequence of events that must happen before you plug in the USB cable. I’m serious. UNPLUG IT!

Step 1. Turn on your Galaxy SII and swipe the screen to unlock it. [I did warn you this would be basic].

Step 2. Tap the ‘Applications’ icon on the main screen

Step 3. Inside the ‘Applications’ menu, tap the ‘Settings’ icon

Step 4. You should now be looking at the Settings menu. Right at the top there should be a category called ‘Wireless and Network’. I have circled it in yellow.

For some reason known only to Samsung, the name of the category is in very small type and easy to miss.

Under ‘Wireless and Network’ you will see options starting with ‘Wi-Fi’, and ending with ‘More’.  I have circled this in red. Tap ‘More’.

Step 5. Under the  ‘More’ menu you will see a new set of options, including ‘USB utilities’. Tap ‘USB utilities’.

Step 6. Under ‘USB utilities’ you will see just one option – ‘USB mass storage’.

Beneath that you will see an icon telling you to ‘Connect Storage to pc’.

Tap the ‘Connect Storage to pc’ icon as shown below.

Step 7. Finally, you will see ‘USB utilities – Connect USB cable to use mass storage’.

At last you can CONNECT THE CABLE!!!!

Once you connect the USB cable from the phone to the pc,  you will hear your pc make a noise to alert you to the fact you have connected a new device.

On the phone, you will see a new screen.

Step 8. Tap the ‘Turn on USB storage’ icon and then tap the ‘OK’ icon as shown below.

Step 9. From this point onwards, you will have to follow the Windows Wizard to transfer the photos to the folder of your choice.  These should be fairly easy to follow, however if anyone needs help I can send you the screenshots by email.

Step 10. When you have finished transferring your photos, you will see the following screen on your phone.

To unmount [or eject] your phone from the pc, look on the taskbar of your pc for the ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ icon [as shown in the following screenshot].

Step 11. Right click the icon and follow the Windows prompts.

When you see the following Windows message you are ready to go back to the phone for the last step.

Step 12. On your phone you can now tap the ‘Turn OFF USB storage’ icon as shown in the first graphic under Step 10. And finally, disconnect the USB cable.

Phew. We’re done. The whole process is a bit convoluted but once you get used to it it’s bearable. Just.

cheers

Meeks