Scanner headaches

[melek]

Moved to Windows 8 last year and then to Windows 8 64-bit. My trusty Epson Expression 1600 scanner was no longer supported. This scanner has been a major workhorse. I've scanned hundreds, maybe thousands of photos with the Epson.

So I did an WinXP installation with a WMware virtual machine. The Epson worked fine, as did an older HP S20 PhotoSmart scanner (an underrated print, 35mm negative and slide scanner).

A month ago, the Epson stopped working. Worked one day. Then Epson Scan crashed every time.

I tried to reinstall Epson Scan. Then tried it on a Win7 laptop with the VMware/WinXP installation. Same result.

Then I forgot about compatibility mode for the ".exe" file. Swtiched it to "Windows 98/ME" compatibility mode.

Bingo! Epson Scan runs again.

Short version: If your scanner software stops working under Win 7/8/XP, try compatibility mode.

[Martolod]

'Compatibility Mode' is one of the few Microsoft things i really,really like.it does solve quite a few headaches

[Julio1fer]

My Epson V600 has always worked with Windows 7 in my desktop. Today, it did not want to start, giving a message that it cannot start. Compatibility mode did not help either.

The scanner is seen as OK in the Devices and Printers screen, it is reported by W7 as working well. I have no other application to test the twain but

I am suspecting an automatic update of Windows 7 has put the software out of order. Anything else I should take a look at?

I was thinking of reinstalling all of the scanner software. The driver is reported as well updated by Windows, in any case I am downloading the latest version from the Epson support site.

Any ideas or comments would be most welcome.

[Martolod]

Ok ...clean up the registry.
Uninstall all drives associated with scanner
Connect scanner and let win7 find it then let win 7 search and selfinstall appropriate driver.
Should work.....

[Julio1fer]

OK. Will try it, thanks.

[P C Headland]

Another thing to try, just to make sure that the scanner hardware is all fine, is to install Vuescan (the trial version will be fine). If that works, the problem is definitely the Epson software. IIRC, Epson have some instructions on their site on how to fully remove the software.

[OpenWater]

I've used Vuescan for a number of years with Macs (don't want to start THAT debate) and have found it works very well with different scanners. There is a learning curve, however, and some find the interface peculiar. I'll second giving it a try. Nikon no longer supports my scanner, but with Vuescan it still works great.

[Julio1fer]

Thanks for the help.

I installed a drivers and utilities packages, downloaded from Epson America site, in a laptop and the scanner worked wonderfully. So at least I have proved that there is only a software problem in my desktop.

Uninstalled software in my desktop (including the Epson Scan and Epson Event Manager), installed the same drivers and utilities packages, now got a message from Windows 7 explaining that the controller is not correct. This is good progress.

Back to Epson America site, downloaded a recommended driver for my Windows 7 (different from the one in the drivers and utilities packages used before). Installing it now. Sounds of drums in the background for suspense.

[Julio1fer]

In the end I had to do a complete reinstallation of Windows 7. After the reinstallation, the scanner controller and Epson software installed without a glitch. The scanner is working again.

Good exercise but I am left with little lust to try new operating systems from MS.

[LarryD]

Well I can tell you that Linux is not much different when it comes to these problems. As for Mac I have a feeling that I will be installing it on a Windows machine soon.