syncing photos FROM iphone TO windows xp

Per the terms of use for these discussions you were provided and had to agree to when registering here, this is a user to user help forum ONLY. Apple does not provide direct support here so you aren't addressing anything to Apple.

Apparently you haven't checked the iPhone user guide either.

Photos captured by your iPhone - photos in your iPhone's Camera Roll are not synced. Photos in your iPhone's Camera Roll can be imported by your computer as with any other digital camera. Have you ever imported photos from a digital camera with your computer? If so, what did you use for this?

With Windoze, you can use the Windoze Scanner and Camera wizard.

You are not addressing Apple here.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/iPhone_UserGuide.pdf

Pics in the camera roll are imported to your computer, just as they would be with any digital camera. The manual explains this.

Use your photo management software for this (iphoto, photoshop, camera and scanner wizard, etc).

in fact, if i remember correctly, it even worked in itunes, which no longer even has a photo tab.

Your memory is incorrect. iTunes has never handled the importing of photos from the iPhone's Camera Roll. The Photos tab for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes is for transferring selected photos from your computer to your iPhone via the iTunes sync/transfer process ONLY.

(and btw thanks, if i could find the answer in the manual, i wouldn't have posted).

You're welcome. If you couldn't find this in the user guide, you didn't look very well or you spent very little time looking.

what does that even mean? is there a way to manipulate images from the camera roll to somewhere else?

It means exactly as I provided, which I can't provide any clearer.

Photos captured by your iPhone - photos in your iPhone's Camera Roll are not synced. *_Photos in your iPhone's Camera Roll can be imported by your computer as with any other digital camera._*