Windows 8 can't find files on iphone

More than likely a driver issue. Are you unlocking the phone before connecting? If so, then go to Device Manager and see if there is a USB driver error when the phone is connected.

yes I am unlocking. No errors present at all in device manager 😠

Then I suggest removing iTunes using the instructions contained in this support document http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1923. Make sure you follow all of the steps exactly. Then reinstall iTunes, and after that, connect the phone.

You truly are thecomputergenius. Respect.

It works!!! Vizionblind, I got the same message for two days, then I disconnected the cord from Iphone and when I plugged it in again, it started to import the pics. Thank you computergenius!

Thanks thecomputergenius. It is the simple things in life that make it happen.

It surprises me that companies the size of apple don't watch their own support forums. A chime in by "apple support" early in this thread would build a lot of goodwill, instead you have to search and wait for community minded people to come to your aid. To be cynical one could say apple's view is "we will charge you bucket loads for our products, let the community support it and pocket the profits". The true exploitation of crowd sourcing.

Thanks Hoges in Oz

It always surprises me that people join sites like this and never read the Terms of Use. Then they would know this is a user-to-user technical support site and no Apple technicians are here to post at the start of the thread.

Yes, I agree this is user-to-user, but six months had elapsed before a simple solution was posted. The point I was making is from a marketing point of view is what great opportunities to build goodwill with your user base. A hard look at their diminishing market share and apple might stop taking their users for granted.

Thanks (last reply on this thread, thanks for listening)

For some reason i can only see the Camera Roll folder. I'm sure I used to be able to see more than one subfolder. For example, a Folder I synch'ed to the iPhone from the PC in an attempt to transfer pictures into my Camera Roll - which proved impossible. They stay in a separate Album and you can't move them, only edit and re-save them.

The Camera Roll is all you will ever see. You cannot see anything else there, and you cannot transfer anything into the Camera Roll from the computer. Photos that are synced to the computer and done via iTunes and are in separate folders in the Photo Library that cannot be accessed via Explorer.

Great response, thecomputergenius - thanks - it worked for me (only after I tried the Pictures Tile -> Import approach)

wow. this really helped. i did everything: unlock it, turned off password and autolock, even deleted the Previous Acquired file, restarted, tried different USB ports, plugging in and unplugging, everything. nothing worked.

After reading this, i unplugged the cord at the PHONE and replugged it into the phone, instead of unplugging and re-plugging the cord at the USB ports like I have been doing, and it worked. I am baffled that there would be a difference in that, electrically speaking. but hey, it worked! THANK YOU!!!! I was going nuts.

We think of these cables containing just copper wires, but some of these apple cables have little chips in them. Your iphone noticed the local cable disconnect as opposed to a remote disconnect.

I'll have to keep this in the back of my mind for the future.

Robert

A quick workaround I found in windows 8.1 is to unlock iphone, connect it to USB, click on trust device when prompted and then manually type the following patch in windows explorer; This PC\Apple iPhone\Internal Storage\DCIM

various cable plug/unplug produced inconsistent behavior from W8.1 machine (and aftermarket cable was a complete fail - only Apple OEM cable got any results at all). File Explorer -> DCIM showed "empty folder" And "picture" app showed "camera roll" as "zero files) but I went ahead and created a new folder on desktop by R clicking w pointer on empty area of desktop (everybody probably knows this move but I like to include all steps). Then Held L mouse button and dragged "DCIM" onto new folder icon thereby copying (the reportedly "empty") DCIM contents into new folder. All pix from iPhone were there in spite of the "empty"-ness of DCIM as perceived by W8.1 File Explorer.

ITunes had failed to import

windows pix app / importer had failed to ever even start

Hope this alternative workaround helps