Downloading Pictures, Video, and Other Files from LG Xenon GR500 (or any LG Mobile Phone)
By Romian1
Introduction
Have a lot of files in your LG GR500 mobile phone and would like to download them to a computer? Are some of the files too large to e-mail? This article will show you how to extract those pesky files stuck in your phone.
For this particular cell phone, the LG Xenon GR500 does not require any special software or driver to communicate with a personal computer. However, it does require a micro SD card and USB data cable.
This cell phone is suppose to detect the phone's internal memory if there is no micro SD card. However, the results are unpredictable. With a micro SD card and USB cable, the phone should always act like a hard drive.
Transfering Files From the LG Xenon GR500 cell phone
In this article, the LG GR500 will be connected to a computer running with Windows XP. You will need a USB cable that fits with the LG Xenon. This cable can be found in your cell phone carrier’s store or website. It just so happens that one of the 4 USB cables in the “Data Kit For Samsung Phones” by DataPilot. Unfortunately, the LG Xenon users manual does not describe the name of the cable but it appears to be a micro B USB plug. A picture of the micro B USB can be found in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MicroB_USB_Plug.jpg
The other piece that is needed to transfer data between LG GR500 phone and computer is a micro SD card shown below as compared to a SD card. An SD card is about the size of a stamp.
You must insert the micro SD card in the slot on the right of the LG Xenon phone (if you are looking at the front of the phone). Note: If you removing the tiny micro SD card can be a pain. If you have small kids or people in the house with small fingers, they will have better success at removing the card. The fingers just need to push the card down and the card should pop up half way for you to remove the card.
You must unplug the USB cable from the phone in order to select the mass storage option.
The LG phone must be set up to act like a mass storage device (like a hard drive) for the computer. To do this, a number of menu selections must be pressed.
First, go to the main menu on the LG GR500 phone shown below. You can make all your menu selections by pressing the icon on the phone screen with your fingers.
Select the Settings option. The icon looks like gears.
Click on More.
Pick Connection on the More list.
Choose USB Connection.
Lastly, select Mass Storage.
From here, insert the micro SD card and then plug in the USB cable to the phone.
The phone will display a message that it is acting like a mass storage device (hard drive).
Windows XP should detect the LG Xenon GR500 phone and popup a list of programs to use for exchanging data between PC or laptop. The most straightforward program is windows explorer. With explorer, you can simply copy, cut, move, and paste files from the LG phone as if the phone was a hard disk drive.
Comments
Try turning off the phone and removing the micro SD card. Turn on the phone and insert the card. It's like starting from a clean slate. That may do the trick.
this article was a godsend. my screen broke but i was able to establish a connection using your pictures as a guide. THANK YOU.
I'm glad it help. Thanks for the comments.
my phone keeps saying it cant download any pictures to my computer
I'm going to have to retest this when I have the chance. I worked hard to make sure the instructions are plain enough that it would work for everybody.
Hi Romian1,
Thank you for this hub. Well written. I tried to retrieve my text messages this way with no success.
Windows Vista Home Premium finds the Mass storage device, shows some files but there is no file with Text messages. Only pictures and videos from my phone. Is there a way to transfer my text messages from my cell phone to my PC?
VivBounty, thanks for the compliments. I've never tried saving text messages. It is all disposable information for me. I will see if saving text is possible with the Xenon.
Dropped my phone in the toilet lol, is it possible to get my contacts off my phone or are they lost for good?
Let the phone dry out completely before you turn it on. If it doesn't work, get a new cell phone. It is possible that the SIM card will be intact. These memory modules can be used on different cell phones because of its standardization. Let the cell phone rep open it up for you to try it out on a cell phone first.
Serena 16 months ago
This use to work for me, i don't know what has changed. It is still set as USB mass storage, and it has a micro SD card, however, when I plug the USB into my computer and connect it to my Xenon, it shows up as Removable Disk F yet it will not open. It says "Please insert disk into Removable Disk F'.
I have no idea whats going on, can anyone help?