Why SO many random DCIM Folders? I want ONE!

I'm very appreciative of feedback with all forums I use, including this one. I am not telling anyone in this forum to fix the problem (I thought that was obvious), I am merely saying that Apple SHOULD be looking at these forums, considering how much direct feedback they can easily get.

But I will take your advice and send my concerns directly to the link you've provided.

can128 wrote:

CORRECTION: The asterisk "fix" (*) does not allow me to drag my photos to a folder on my computer. So in other words, this "fix" is not much of a fix at all.

GET ON THIS APPLE.

Well, the asterisk search was more of a work-around than a fix. Just something to make using Windows Explorer a little more manageable. If you use the asterisk search, but it won't let you copy the photos from the iPhone to your PC, then you'll have to right click on the most recent photo and choose "Open file location" from the menu. That will take you to the DCIM sub-folder containing all photos taken within that month. If you're searching for photos from a previous month, you'll have to search using the asterisk and find a photo from that month, then right click and again choose Open file location. The sub-folders are divided according to the month the photos were taken. I assume this came about when Apple updated the Photos App to give us the "Moment's" view instead of the Camera Roll view.

What is odd is that two of my computers act differently. If I use my desktop (Windows 7), I search using the asterisk, but can only copy one photo at a time unless I use the Open file location option. But when I use my laptop (Windows 8), I search using the asterisk and can copy multiple photos directly from there.

Don't forget, copying photos to your PC through Windows Explorer will not copy any photos that have been edited using the Photos App. It will only copy the original unedited photo. You'll have to use the Windows import tool or a third part tool in order to successfully copy edited photos over.

And by the way, I like the feedback you sent them. I don't think we'll every get back the full functionality of using Windows Explorer that we once had, but I'd settle for some better organization to locate photos within the DCIM by date.

can128 wrote:

CORRECTION: The asterisk "fix" (*) does not allow me to drag my photos to a folder on my computer. So in other words, this "fix" is not much of a fix at all.

GET ON THIS APPLE.

I DONT WANT IT "FIXED' TRY TELLING APPLE.

I'm going to tell a story from the 1960's. At first glance it has nothing to do with the subject of this thread. But a little thought will reveal the connection.

Henry Barnes was traffic commissioner in New York City from 1962 until his death on the job in 1968. He did many things to revolutionize traffic flow in the city, and really made a difference. He installed the first automated traffic light system that adjusted for traffic flow based on time of day and traffic density, the idea being to make the lights turn green most of the time for vehicles traveling in the direction of heaviest traffic. Overall it was a success. But one day he received a call from a friend, who complained that the new system almost doubled his commute. So Barnes asked him his route, and sure enough, it was clear that the new system was causing his friend's problems. So Barnes presented the problem to his traffic engineers, who came up with a different route for the friend that would not only restore the time of the previous route, but would actually get the friend where he was going faster than he ever had. Barnes presented the route to his friend, who said; "but that's not what I want. I want MY route to work; I don't want to have to go some other way."

- taken from a radio interview in the mid-1960's

punimitsu wrote:

hmmmmmmmmmmmm TJBUSMC1973 don't like your tone, or your unhelpful comments

So?

What is your tech support question, or are you just wasting our time by ranting on about other posters?

Thanks Lawrence!

Great to see someone actually being *helpful* in this so-called community 😉

I didn't manage to read the 15 pages of comments, so this is a really useful summary...

I got to page 2, and was rather shocked by the nasty, unhelpful comments from TKBUSMC1973, Csound1 et al...

not sure why these people even bother engaging in a Support community!!!

Anyway - I use iCloud folder on my home PC - and backup via iTunes once in a while.... no problems with all that.

It's more about when I've just taken a few pics and want to get *just those* onto a laptop (e.g. work laptop, or a friend's) quickly and easily.

I think a few people were saying similar things...

AirDrop does the trick beautifully for Macs, but there's a bit of a gap for PCs...

Yes, great summary Lawrence!

Now, if no-one else posts another word then Lawrence's post will be right there for everyone to easily see! (Ahem, this post will self-destruct and be deleted in a short period of time! We can delete posts, right?)

(Just to add, you can also "search" the folders (for example, *.jpg) - in Windows Explorer - to get an ordered, flat list of files. - This has also been mentioned previously.)

punimitsu wrote:

Thanks Lawrence!

Great to see someone actually being *helpful* in this so-called community 😉

I didn't manage to read the 15 pages of comments, so this is a really useful summary...

I got to page 2, and was rather shocked by the nasty, unhelpful comments from TKBUSMC1973, Csound1 et al...

not sure why these people even bother engaging in a Support community!!!

Since you only made it to page 2, you're unaware of who has actually caused more trouble in this thread. The one you're thanking is the same one who basically said, and I'm paraphrasing, he's glad the fools stick to this thread so we don't ruin the rest of the community forums. He and another user you mentioned keep returning here to insult everyone, then report our comments for deletion when we defend ourselves. I just had a second comment deleted that in no way contained "inappropriate statements or comments," as the deletion notice claimed. The things these forum trolls have said have been much worse. We simply do not have enough points to report them.

I've commended the one you're thanking on multiple occasions for offering alternate methods to transfer photos, but usually his "help" is in addition to insulting everyone who uses Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer is still a good tool to view photos on our phones and, to a certain extent, transfer them. While it's good to learn of new ways to view/transfer photos to a computer, I think it's important to address the Windows Explorer issue because, for one, it worked flawlessly for years. And because MANY iPhone owners will continue to use it. That may be because it's what they are used to or because they're not very tech savvy, etc. Whatever the reason, we're not fools for using it, as some here imply. We'd just like to see it regain the usefulness it had before.

There will; always be people, like the users you quoted, who can't stand anything bad being said about Apple, no matter how true - strange, it's almost like they were employed by Apple. Classic example just above my post 😉

I appreciate the nice summary from Lawrence, but it still worked better previously 🙂

tab1075 wrote:

punimitsu wrote:

Thanks Lawrence!

Great to see someone actually being *helpful* in this so-called community 😉

I didn't manage to read the 15 pages of comments, so this is a really useful summary...

I got to page 2, and was rather shocked by the nasty, unhelpful comments from TKBUSMC1973, Csound1 et al...

not sure why these people even bother engaging in a Support community!!!

Since you only made it to page 2, you're unaware of who has actually caused more trouble in this thread. The one you're thanking is the same one who basically said, and I'm paraphrasing, he's glad the fools stick to this thread so we don't ruin the rest of the community forums. He and another user you mentioned keep returning here to insult everyone, then report our comments for deletion when we defend ourselves. I just had a second comment deleted that in no way contained "inappropriate statements or comments," as the deletion notice claimed.

Your opinion and the moderators opinion differ, are you saying the moderators are wrong about your (now excised) post?

Either way, it is the moderators decision.

Criticism and differing opinions are fine as long as they actually contribute to the subject and have accurate information. Some people need to vent their frustration with Apple on this issue, and that's okay too. Further, telling them "it's not a bug, it's a feature" may be unhelpful in my opinion, but at least it's addressing the general topic.

Can we just let the other stuff go? Previous summaries like mine and Lawrence's are getting lost in the off-topic rants.

I don't understand why you're even bothering with the folders. I use PhotoStream as temporary storage for transfer to/from my Mac. When I use my iPhone to take a photo, it's automatically duplicated in PhotoStream. When convenient for me, I go to my computer and copy from PhotoStream to my hard drive (iPhoto). Then I delete them from PhotoStream. If I have photos on my computer that have been obtained elsewhere, I manually copy them to PhotoStream and then go to the iPhone and copy them. Again, when finished I delete from PhotoStream. Nu fuss, no bother.

See, in my situation, I use more than one computer. My personal computer at my house is set up with PhotoStream, and it works half decently (sometimes takes a while for pictures to load). On my computer at my office, I would much rather prefer to simply plug my phone in, extract whichever photos I have taken earlier that day, place them in the folders I need them in, delete them off my phone, and carry on with my day...

I hope no one misinterprets my response as anything negative... Hesitant to reply to anything at this point. 😕

can128 wrote:

See, in my situation, I use more than one computer. My personal computer at my house is set up with PhotoStream, and it works half decently (sometimes takes a while for pictures to load). On my computer at my office, I would much rather prefer to simply plug my phone in, extract whichever photos I have taken earlier that day, place them in the folders I need them in, delete them off my phone, and carry on with my day...

I hope no one misinterprets my response as anything negative... Hesitant to reply to anything at this point. 😕

Your unacceptable load time is likely caused by your Internet data rate, especially if you're using it at a popular time and competing with your neighbors for bandwidth.

Why not do the iPhone deletions while you're home (after you copy them, of course) and take one additional step - upload the latest pics to Dropbox or something similar? After you retrieve the pics at work, you can delete from Dropbox to keep your usage low (and free).

can128 wrote:

I hope no one misinterprets my response as anything negative... Hesitant to reply to anything at this point. 😕

I know the feeling. It's a shame we have to feel like that when all we want to do is come here for help, come here to help, and as drume mentioned, vent our frustrations on occasion.

You offer a great example of why it's important to many users to have Windows Explorer function as it once did. Sure, we can use alternate means, but Explorer was as readily available and about as simple of a tool as it got, and for many, that's all they care about. The advancements in the Photo App (editing capabilities and the Years/Collections/Moments view) are what "broke" Windows Explorer functionality, so we may never get all of it back, but better organization of the DCIM folders would be great.