XP doesn't like my scanner

A week ago I got a new computer with Windows XP loaded on it. Last night I installed the software for my Visioneer OneTouch 8100 scanner and hooked everything up. The software says it's successfully installed, but Device Manager says "The drivers for this device are not installed (Code 28)."

I suspected out-of-date drivers, so I went to the Visioneer Web site and downloaded their latest driver file (ot8100logo.exe) for my scanner model, and installed it. It says it's successfully loaded, but DM still doesn't recognize it. Checking the Web site further, it seems my model is in the "legacy" category and Visioneer and ScanSoft no longer support it. Wonderful!

I checked Windows' all-purpose drivers file, but nothing seems appropriate. Control Panel's Cameras and Scanners section doesn't list Visioneer as a manufacturer, so I can't access anything that way. Trying Adding New Hardware's "Have Disk" doesn't work, either -- when I enter the folder and driver file, the OK button is grayed out. Am I missing a step somewhere? Anybody know of a work-around?

 

The driver you downloaded,
ftp://support.visioneer.com/ftp/updatesoft/ot8100logo.exe
is supposed to be XP-compatible. I suspect you may have royally messed things up by trying to use a driver from the 9x/ME family, instead of an XP/NT/2000. XP doesn't like vxd's from the 9x family at all.
Try to uninstall all remnants of any Visioneer drivers you may have on your computer. That includes Device Manager, but you may even want to go further and delete all the driver files listed under Driver details in Device Manager.
Once you have gotten rid of all you can, try reinstalling that driver you downloaded.

(Just a question--Have you ever used that scanner with that computer, with an older OS, for example? I'm just anticipating that there may also be a problem with the parallel port settings in the BIOS. Not likely).

 

Abraxas: Thanks for replying. I'll try the uninstall routine you suggest in a minute, but I want to get back first with answers to your questions in case they make a difference.

No, I'd never used the scanner before on the new unit, just on the old (Win98) one, and it worked OK then. And I have it connected via UBS, not the parallel port.

I never did get any Windows drivers for it installed, just the drivers from the original Visioneer CD-ROM, which didn't work. Then I downloaded the newer drivers file, which also didn't work, and later a ScanSoft file that's not really a driver but a file that supposedly makes the scanner read from the computer faster (or something like that).

The driver files all say they were successfully installed, but DM says they aren't. Weird.

 

Results: I first did a Visioneer software uninstall, then did an install of just the new, downloaded drivers file. When it searched for the scanner, it served notice: "Unable to connect with scanner." I tried this same procedure several ways, with the scanner attached but turned off, attached but turned on, and completely disconnected, with an uninstall between each one. No successes. By the way, Device Manager indicated no installed scanner during any of those attempts.

Then I decided to remove the device from DM after I'd again loaded the new drivers. The yellow exclamation mark was there, but my effort produced this notice from DM: "Failed to uninstall the device. The device may be required to boot up the computer. "

So no joy here. Anything else I can try?

 

I'm all out of ideas, Bobbo. If the USB port is working properly, then I'm stumped.

 

Can't add any hope. Just warning that your problem is not unusual with XP. I had the same problem with a video card and modem. The drivers loaded, but XP wouldn't activate them. I suspect your driver isn't designed for XP. I've unsuccessfully tried drivers for 2000, NT, 98 etc - never successful. In the end I purchased new modem and video. Just be 100% sure your driver is specifically designed for XP.

Ross James

 

Ross: The driver file I downloaded from the Visioneer Web site is identified there as:

Latest driver for OneTouch 8100
Supports Win95/98/ME/2000/NT4.0/XP

That's my model and my OS, so it should work. I guess, as you say, the driver is fine but XP just won't recognize it. The site's date for the driver is 11/28/01, which isn't very recent, and as I said in a previous post, they aren't any longer supporting "legacy" devices. The odd thing about all this is that XP recognizes my much older HP LaserJet4 printer but not this newer scanner. Looks like maybe I'll just have to hand my scanner down to either my son or my daughter.

 

FYI

From technet - for others...

Windows XP: List of Scanners That Are Supported by Windows Image Acquisition.

http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q293356

 

ProfGab101: I checked out your link. As you've probably already seen, it leads to a list of scanners but none made by Visioneer. A secondary link goes to the Windows Update site. I'd already gotten all the critical downloads, but a driver (dated 8/28/01) for Visioneer scanners was listed and I downloaded it but then this message appeared: "No updates were installed. The following items failed to install," and it mentioned the above driver.

I'm baffled by why so many seemingly promising leads won't work. The drivers for my scanner are available, and they successfully download, but Windows XP won't let them install. I can understand why the drivers on the CD-ROM that came with the scanner might not work because they weren't designed for Win XP, but why won't the updated drivers that are supposedly XP compatible work?

 

Bobbo,

Looks like you're out of luck. As the driver you downloaded is listed for XP, it should work. I know the hunt for drivers and contacting Microsoft on these issues leads to travelling in ever decreasing circles. In the end, the time and effort is not worth the cost of a new scanner. Frustrating, but you are not alone on this. You will probably have a lucky son or daughter on this one.

Hope someone comes up with an answer for you.

Ross james

 

I feel for ya...

I have a Nikon SCSI scanner - and it isn't supported at all in XP - Worse, it starts an endless loop of 'new hardware found' adding more & more "unsupported device" under my SCSI controller... - I have to pwr off the unit to stop the loop. By that time I have about 12 listed in 'Device manager'.

XP seriously gutted SCSI support, they are shifting towards 1394 and USB2.

All in all, it just proves that I was prudent by using LILO as a boot loader and still having a functional W98 O/S ready, with 512Mb ram in the system it behaves much faster than XP for most things.

 

It appears that I'm stuck. Thanks to all for trying to help.