HP Scanner and WinxP...no worky

[sandorski]

Ok, my bro has this HP scanner(will get model info if necessary) and for the last year(ever since installing WinXP) his scanner won't work. It's not hardware related though, it's the software that comes with the scanner that is the problem, it won't freakin install in WinXP. HP has released patches, nada, I've followedall their suggestions, no dice.

Anyway, I've farghin given up on the HP software. So my question is: Are there any third party apps/utils that will work with an HP(or other)scanners in WinXP?

Btw, using another OS ***is not an option***.

 

[Maki]

Is xp seeing your usb ports correctly? Do different ports do anything different? Check if you have any yellow !'s or ?'s in your device manager.

 

[bassoprofundo]

XP has a built-in TWAIN driver for just about any HP scanner that works just fine. It even comes with a scan wizard in case you aren't capturing into another imaging program. Just plug the scanner in (it should recognize and install a driver), go to the Scanners and Cameras control panel, find your scanner, and double-click it. It should launch a wizard that will walk you through scanning your document. If you get sick of the wizard, any TWAIN-compliant imaging program will work as well. Good luck

Basso

P.S.- In the event that a driver isn't included in WinXP for some reason, and if HP tells you there are no plans for one, you're screwed. My Scanjet 5p is as old as dirt by technology standards, though, and it works great under XP without any additional software.

 

[sandorski]

Thanks for the replies guys, but the problem isn't hardware or driver related. The software to capture scans won't work, so I need a heads up on what other apps/utils I can use to capture scans with.

 

[Maki]

What are you trying to do with it? If you just want to capture images and whatnot you can do that in Xp (I believe) or you can get an app like photoshop elements or paint shop pro. If you want OCR you'll probably want to buy Omnipage or pagis or something like that. Tho I'm not sure pagis has been updated recently.

In fact I think all that OCR software consolodated down to a single company.

And at the price of omnipage I'd probably just buy a new scanner and use whatever software it comes with. Give the old one to goodwill and deduct it.

 

[Chucko]

In my past experience with HP scanners the OS upgrade patches only worked if you had the HP precision scanning software loaded in your old os and then upgraded. Many scanners as noted above feature built in but limited support in the camera and scanner wizard. Check the control panel for camera and scanners. Otherwise you may have to download or order a driver cd from hp, they usually cost about 10 bucks shipped through the post office. Some software is on the website, and other require ordering. HP IMHO did a good job with XP and scanner by providing built in support until they released their own HP software and drivers. Companies like UMAX charged customers for new software, and Visioneer in some cases just told you to use your old drivers and cross your fingers.

Good luck a model number would be helpful.

 

[LintMan]

Is XP finding your scanner at all? I mean, if you look in your hardware system info, does it list the scanner? It should be listed as a USB device or an imaging device. XP doesn't need a driver to find the scanner, and I know from experience the HP Precision Pro scanner app works in XP. But if XP isn't spotting the scanner hardware, the scanner app can't talk to the scanner.

I had an HP 6200c scanner, and it had this bad habit of getting wonky and not showing up as a USB device when I booted up sometimes. When that happened, it was as if it wasn't connected, and I would get no response from the scanner when I pressed its scan button.

The fix I discovered was to
1) unplug USB cable from scanner
2) unplug power cord from scanner
3) reboot PC
4) plug scanner power cord in
5) plug USB cord into scanner. (Your PC should autodetect the scanner now, and if it doesn't, try reseating the cables.).

It had to be done pretty much in that exact order, with all the steps. Other combinations just didn't fix it.

Damn, that was a $400 piece of cr*p scanner. Its other problem was its platen had an uncleanable slight haze on the inside side of the glass, right from the factory, and it steadily got worse over time so that I was forced to avoid certain areas of the glass to get a clear scan. Bah - no more HP products for me.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: LintMan
Is XP finding your scanner at all? I mean, if you look in your hardware system info, does it list the scanner? It should be listed as a USB device or an imaging device. XP doesn't need a driver to find the scanner, and I know from experience the HP Precision Pro scanner app works in XP. But if XP isn't spotting the scanner hardware, the scanner app can't talk to the scanner.

I had an HP 6200c scanner, and it had this bad habit of getting wonky and not showing up as a USB device when I booted up sometimes. When that happened, it was as if it wasn't connected, and I would get no response from the scanner when I pressed its scan button.

The fix I discovered was to
1) unplug USB cable from scanner
2) unplug power cord from scanner
3) reboot PC
4) plug scanner power cord in
5) plug USB cord into scanner. (Your PC should autodetect the scanner now, and if it doesn't, try reseating the cables.).

It had to be done pretty much in that exact order, with all the steps. Other combinations just didn't fix it.

Damn, that was a $400 piece of cr*p scanner. Its other problem was its platen had an uncleanable slight haze on the inside side of the glass, right from the factory, and it steadily got worse over time so that I was forced to avoid certain areas of the glass to get a clear scan. Bah - no more HP products for me.

As far as WinXP is concerned the scanner is working fine, it's the capture software that HP includes(also the updated XP version) that is the problem. Haven't tried PaintShop Pro yet, I'm hoping that it will work.

 

[ojai00]

You can go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Scanner and Camera Wizard. If you have Office XP installed, there's also a Document Scanner in there (you might have to add it from the CD). That's what I've been using to do my scans, since the software for my HP scanner won't work in XP either. Hope this helps.

 

[Toxic]

I think it really depends on the model. My wife has a HP 4300 scanner, and I had to actually order a driver CD from HP to get it working correctly in XP. You might can download the files now, but at the time, it was *only* available from HP for a minimal charge.

Your mileage may vary