By Rob Pegoraro
Sunday, August 31, 2008

Q The software for my camera, a Canon PowerShot SD750, seems incompatible with Windows Vista. When I plug the camera into the computer, nothing happens.

AThe mistake here was to install any driver software at all -- not just for this camera, but for pretty much any other model. Modern operating systems don't need that help: I haven't had to load camera drivers in years, whether I've been using Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.

Installing whatever drivers come on a camera's CD may merely gunk up a Windows XP system. But Vista employs a different framework for drivers, so older ones will either fail to install or break afterward. You can check for these conflicts by running Device Manager (type that name into the search box in Vista's Start menu) and looking for any yellow warning triangles in its list of installed components.

The fix here was to use Device Manager to uninstall the driver: double-click it, then click the "Driver" tab and click "Uninstall."

I have a Sony alarm clock with a TV tuner that lets it play the audio of local broadcasts. Next year's change to digital transmission will eliminate this capability. Do you have any ideas about what to do about that?

Correct, this clock radio will stop receiving local TV stations on Feb. 17, 2009, when almost all of them will end analog broadcasts. And there's nothing you can do to fix that.

The crazy thing is, you can still find "AM/FM/TV" radios on sale, even when analog TV has less than six months left to live. And in some cases -- for instance, a Sony alarm clock listed for $49.97 at Sears' Web site -- customers don't even get a warning that a radio's TV feature will stop working next year. What are these manufacturers and retailers thinking?

Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 orrobp@washpost.com. Turn to Thursday's Business section or visit washingtonpost.com anytime for his Fast Forward column.