New age technical dilemmas

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Dear TPH,
When I connect my digital camera to my computer using the USB port connector, I get an error that says: "Stimon has caused an error in Kernel32. DLL." I tried clearing my registry using a registry cleaner but that didn't fix the problem. Do you know what else I can try to solve the problem?
P.M.

Dear P.M.,
Only last week, I was fighting all the angels of heaven to transfer some photographs I had taken, to my computer. You are lucky that you at least had the USB cable to connect your camera – whereas my problem was finding the cable inside the war-zone like mess that my usually habitable room had become!

I had a friend who liked to show off his mastery of computers by telling others how they can fix all the problems in Windows through the registry. Personally, I never warmed up to the idea because it is just too complicated for my little brain and I already knew a myriad other ways of destroying all the data in my computer without having to open up the registry editor.

This error is likely the result of a corruption of your software drivers for your camera or a damaged stimon.exe file. I am guessing that you are still using Windows 98 or ME as stimon.exe is the Still Image Monitor used by these earlier versions of Windows to allow your system to talk with a USB device like a scanner or camera.

To fix this problem, remove the stimon.exe file, edit your registry at "HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run" to remove the entry and then reinstall your camera device drivers. Before you open your registry editor however (go to Start>Run, type regedit and press 'Enter' to open the registry editor), make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. You can find details of this process at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/

If you are still using Windows ME or 98, copying pictures from your digital camera is bound to be the least of your problems. As you access the Internet regularly on your computer and install new software, you will find the Operating System deteriorates rapidly and your blood-pressure rising. I mean, it's up to you to decide whether you want to invest in a new computer (at least a compatible new OS) or a blood-pressure monitor instead, but either way the long-term solution will cost you some dough. If you are really cash-strapped as I am and just can't afford either, I would highly recommend that you take up meditation, yoga or Tai Chi. The last time I was forced to upgrade my computer but couldn't afford it, I learn the art of Vipassana meditation instead, but I have stretched my patience to the limit already and next time I plan to do Kundalini Yoga as well. I am just hoping that might stave off the need to purchase a new computer, at least for a short time.
– TP