I Googled "Compaq Presario V4240US" and the first link took me to the product page. Click on "Software & Driver Downloads." Select Windows XP. Then click on "Driver - Storage".

If you look in Device Manager do you see any little yellow exclamation points anywhere?

Have you rebooted the machine?

Have you tried another SD card

mike_kaiser And genes,

Thank you so very much for responding.
Sorry about my delay with a response but I was waiting for my actual laptop to get back. Was on another computer yesterday while my son had my laptop for work (he dropped his) but wanted the actual laptop with the problem in case there was someting else suggested here to try.

I went to the product page as you suggested, mike_kaiser, but the driver listed is exactly the same one that is listed in my Device Manager so I didn't bother with that.
No exclamations on any of the things in device manager---I even clicked each one to open each one all the way to see what was inside each main title.

Yes, I rebooted several times.
I even raised my virtual memory because I had received a message that it was too low while I was scrolling around Ebay. I rebooted after raising the virtual memory but still the little slot won't acknowledge the SD card.
The little light on the slot does flicker. I guess that means it's working?

genes,
No, I haven't tried another SD card. But yesterday my neighbor took my SD card and loaded the photos on her computer. She said she is coming over today with a little mini flash drive (?) that I can stick in my laptop and download the photos to this laptop that way. This means the SD card itself isn't broken, right?

Again, Thanks to both of you for responding!

Have you looked in myComputer to see if the SD card shows there as a removable drive & is accessable ?

the sd card slots go bad and it happens frequently, I would try picking up one of the usb plug in card readers (make sure it is for usb 2.0 and your type of card), I have several of them, I picked up a few at Big Lots for $6 each.
That way even if you have a computer with no sd slot you can use the portable usb plug in reader for any pc and still use your Sd cards in them. Always remember when plugging things into your usb ports to use the safely remove icon before removing them.

Hi there Mikie,

Yes, when I click on it in My Computers it shows
'Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated Flash Media Controller' and when I click the Action up above it has a drop-down list to delete, uninstall, etc.
I didn't want to do anything until I came back here but I was in and out of the house so many times yesterday that I knew I wouldn't have time to follow any instructions if any had been posted.
So to answer your question, yes, the Controller can be removed but I was just at the Compaq site and they have the same one listed for this laptop so I'm assuming I have the latest, right?

Hiyas Ravencajun!
Thanks to you I am the new owner of a USB 2.0 CAMERA DATA CABLE for my Kodak at $3.36! OK, well, I don't actually have it in my hand but the seller on Ebay has 100% Feedback and over 1600 sales so I'm sure I'll get it soon.

I would still like to try and diagnose the SD slot problem. We used it, turned off the laptop, put it in it's case and it went back in the nightstand drawer for weeks.
Maybe gremlins got to the laptop slot while it was put away/not in use. lol
I'll keep looking around the web, see if I can find anything out. If I do I will be back to report, just in case anyone else comes here with the same problem.

Thanks so much to you both!!!

It is possible that the slot as simply failed. No way to be sure of that unless you would replace it with a know good one.

Another option is to go into device manager and delete the controller entry. Reboot the computer. Windows will re-discover the device and re-install the drivers. That may (or may not) fix your problem. You don't have anything to loose by trying.

Could an update be the cause. A few days ago my computer would not recognize my SD card, but it did an external hard drive. Nothing I tried rebooting, two system restores worked. All of a sudden it the drives were back and my SD card was accepted.

I would get one of the usb memory card readers also that way you can use it for any type of memory card and not have to use the specific cable for your camera, as long as the actual sd card is working which it sounds like yours is.

I suspect it is a failed sd card slot, it is one of the first things to go on a lot of computers, not sure why but they do fail often. You can get it replaced not sure what the cost would be never done one, I prefer having the flexibility of the usb card reader that I can move between all my machines.

USB 2.0 Mini All-in-One Memory Card Reader
there are some to see what they look like. You can get them most anywhere from walmart to best buy.