Epson Smart Panel scanning stopped functioning

Hi folks,

Smart Panel 2.0 has recently stopped working on my Epson Perfection 1250 for no apparent reason. I have uninstalled it and deleted all Epson files and reinstalled software and drivers several times. I've followed the advice of the Epson helpdesk and tried installing a later version of Epson Twain but all that does is stop Windows recognising my scanner each time I start up so I've gone back to Twain 5.5.

Another member of the helpdesk team suggested going to newsoft.com for help but I was unable to find a fix there, nor any similar instances of this problem.

Smart Panel Copier works, and I can acquire scans through independent scanning software VueScan but not through Scan to File, Scan to Web, etc in Smart Panel. Selecting one of these options does cause the scanner to make some scan-type sounds, but no image appears on screen. Alt-tabbing does show me the Epson Twain icon as though a preview had popped up, but nothing is actually there.

Another suggestion from the helpdesk was that I may have installed a piece of software that blocks pop-ups. Smart Panel is meant to show a scan preview in a pop up window, so this sounds plausable. I just can't think what piece of software I'd have installed over recent weeks that would stop popups.

Specs are Win XP SP2, 1024 mb ram, three partitions with 3.5, 53 and 1.2 gig free respectively.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help me resolve this issue.

Jo

 

Thanks for your reply Pete. I'm a Mozilla gal so rarely use IE but just in case, I clicked the "disable" option in IE and tried a scan, but no, it didn't help.

Jo