Update: I have written a new guide to using Bluetooth and Windows 7 to get files off of your cell phone. If your computer has a bluetooth connection as well as Windows 7 follow these instructions here: Connecting your phone to Windows 7 Bluetooth

So you have a camera / video phone, and you’ve taken a ton of pictures and videos, but now what? How do you get them from your phone to your computer?
In this how-to guide I’ll detail the steps to getting files / images / videos off of your LG env2 cell phone with pictures for each step. Keep in mind that the steps for this particular phone are very similar to other Verizon cell phones, and a lot of other LG phones will have identical steps.

Did your phone come with a data cable? Mine sure didn’t, but it is necessary to have one to quickly and easily get files off of your phone this way. Don’t try getting one from your local cell phone store, they charge anywhere from $20 – $30 just for the cable, which is outrageous! I bought mine from Amazon.com (yes i really did) for an incredibly cheap price. Amazon.com has data cables for pretty much every cell phone out there for great prices (click here to see).

Steps To Getting Photos / Images and Videos off of your cell phone (using an LG Env2 in this example)

Step 1: Open the main menu on your phone and select “settings and tools”. On other phones, this may just be called settings, or it may just be called tools.

LG Env2 Main menu - Step 1

Step 2: Select the “tools” option

LG Env2 Settings and Tools - Step 2

Step 3: Scroll Down and select “USB Mass Storage“. This will put your phone into “data” mode and disable calls / texts until you exit the mode. Your phone needs to be plugged into your computer with the data cable in order to activate USB Mass Storage mode. When this mode is activated, you will hear that “bum bum” noise that windows makes when a USB device is attached, and your phone will show up as a disk drive on your computer.

LG Env2 USB Mass Storage - Step 3

Warning: disconnecting your phone from the computer while data is being transferred could result in data corruption, destroying your images or videos (or whichever one was being transferred when the connection was terminated). Be sure to exit USB Mass Storage mode by selecting “exit” before disconnecting your cell phone’s data cable.

LG Env2 USB Mass Storage Transfer

Step 4: Open the storage device from your computer. Most people will have a window open asking them what they would like to do with the attached device. Select “open folder to view files”, or go into “my computer” from the start menu, and select the last storage drive (It is most likely to be the last storage drive) and open it.

LG Env2 Image / Video Transfer

Inside you will find folders for your images called “my_pix” and videos called “my_flix”. Open these folders and you can copy and save all of your images and videos at really fast speeds.

Other Methods:

• Memory Card – If your phone has a removable memory card, some memory card readers will be able to read the cards if you are using an adapter. Make sure your phone is set to save its images and videos to its memory card though
• Blue-tooth – There is a complex way of wireless transferring data using a program called “bitpim” if your computer and phone both support blue tooth connections, but it is pretty complicated and varies widely as not all phones support blue-tooth file transfer, so I will not get into that here. Blue-tooth transfer speeds are also painfully slow.
• E-Mail / Web Transfer – If your phone has a data package, or if you do not mind waiting long periods of time and paying money for each transfer, then this is another method. You can email your photos or use your phone carrier’s wireless transfer service. It takes longer and IMO the data cable method is a much better choice.

So was that easy enough? Let me know how things went for you! Good Luck and enjoy all of those photos and videos that have been stuck on your phone!