D-380 file naming question

[Gene]

I just bought a D-380 after reading reviews here.

This is a nice low-budget camera, and very easy to use; but I do have one annoying problem --

I cannot seem to keep the images names sequentially across a format/erase.

Simply put, if I shoot 4 pics on an empty card, they will be named P6140001 to P6140004; now if I delete P6140004, then the next will again be P6140004 instead of P6140005. This gets in the way when I download pics and then clear the card, because it now starts from 0001 again!

The menu system on this camera is brief; unlike some ohter models there isn't a separate setting for file naming. the only thing that might be related to this is the "RESET ALL" option which I set to "OFF". Needless to say, this did not help this.

I called Olympus support, the support lady put me on hold for 20 minutes while she searched her database, but could not find an answer.

In Steve's review, however, it is said

"One of the many improvements over the D-370 was the D-380 allows sequential numbering of images even after re-formatting the card."

So I believe there should be a way (or maybe my camera is defective). Besides, all the cameras I have/had can do this.

Could someone in the know enlighten me on this? Do I have a bad unit?

Thanks a bunch!

Gene