Solved it now - my desktop computer is running Windows 8.1 and doesn't recognise the phone when i plug in the USB connector but my wife's laptop (still running Vista) does!

oh my goodness I have same problem and cannot work out how to upload my photos from my phone please advise with more detail

Thanks, but I've tried that. It just comes up with setup files from the phone but no photos :(

Connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable. Your phone's memory card will appear as a removable drive in 'My Computer'. You can now move//copy files between the two devices.