P
PTravel
I have a couple of workhorse HP scanners -- an old 6100 and an ancient IIcx.
Both are SCSI interface, only, and no longer support by HP.
Getting them to work under Vista involved a two-step.
First, I got Vuescan software and installed the Vuescan drivers for these
scanners. That was the easy part.
The harder part was getting a functional SCSI port running that the scanners
would recognize. I found two ways, though the second, I think, is superior
to the first. For either one, you may have to find some SCSI gender
changers or format changers. SCSI cables come in many "flavors" but
adapters exist to go from one to the other.
Method 1: Adaptec makes a Cardbus SCSI card, the 1480B, that is
Vista-compatible. This worked reasonably well with the Vuescan software,
less well with third-party software (Acrobat, Word, etc.) which would choke
on multi-page scans using the Automatic Document Feeder. Of course, this
also required inserting the Adaptec Cardbus card each time I started it up
the computer (it travels from the office to home and back each day). For
occassional scanning, this works fine. I found a 1480B card on eBay for
under $30.
Method 2: I had searched in vain for years for a decent USB to SCSI adapter
for my old XP laptop. The most common one, Microtech, simply didn't work
reliably (and, apparently, the company is no longer around) and wouldn't
even install under Vista. Last week, however, I came across a USB to SCSI
interface manufactured by Ratoc. Unlike the Microtech, this isn't a cheap,
kludgy adapter. Ratoc, a Japanese company, manufacturers a range of
higher-end SCSI and similar adapters. The USB to SCSI one was around $100
and, best of all, Ratoc has written Vista drivers for it. You can see it
here: http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/U2SCX.html. It installed
without a hitch (note: it takes its power from the SCSI device, so you'll
have to have the scanner plugged in to the adapter and turned on when you
install it). I still relied on the scanner drivers installed by Vuescan
rather than HP's original Win2000 drivers, and, not surprisingly, Vuescan
works fine. Best of all, however, is that third-party software works fine
now and even HP's useful DeskCopy tool works perfectly. Because it's a USB
device, I just have it plugged in to a USB hub which, in turn, connects to
my laptop's docking station -- no more putting in and removing the Cardbus
card. I just set my laptop in the docking station and I'm good to go.
Incidently, I have no connection with Ratoc, other than I bought an adapter
from them. They impressed me, though -- at one point I had to call their
tech support line and it was answered immediately by someone who was
completely competent to address any technical issues. This is a rare thing,
these days.
The scanners were the last pieces of legacy hardware that I couldn't get
going properly in Vista. Now that they're working, I have complete
compatibility with Vista and all of my legacy hardware and software.
Both are SCSI interface, only, and no longer support by HP.
Getting them to work under Vista involved a two-step.
First, I got Vuescan software and installed the Vuescan drivers for these
scanners. That was the easy part.
The harder part was getting a functional SCSI port running that the scanners
would recognize. I found two ways, though the second, I think, is superior
to the first. For either one, you may have to find some SCSI gender
changers or format changers. SCSI cables come in many "flavors" but
adapters exist to go from one to the other.
Method 1: Adaptec makes a Cardbus SCSI card, the 1480B, that is
Vista-compatible. This worked reasonably well with the Vuescan software,
less well with third-party software (Acrobat, Word, etc.) which would choke
on multi-page scans using the Automatic Document Feeder. Of course, this
also required inserting the Adaptec Cardbus card each time I started it up
the computer (it travels from the office to home and back each day). For
occassional scanning, this works fine. I found a 1480B card on eBay for
under $30.
Method 2: I had searched in vain for years for a decent USB to SCSI adapter
for my old XP laptop. The most common one, Microtech, simply didn't work
reliably (and, apparently, the company is no longer around) and wouldn't
even install under Vista. Last week, however, I came across a USB to SCSI
interface manufactured by Ratoc. Unlike the Microtech, this isn't a cheap,
kludgy adapter. Ratoc, a Japanese company, manufacturers a range of
higher-end SCSI and similar adapters. The USB to SCSI one was around $100
and, best of all, Ratoc has written Vista drivers for it. You can see it
here: http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/U2SCX.html. It installed
without a hitch (note: it takes its power from the SCSI device, so you'll
have to have the scanner plugged in to the adapter and turned on when you
install it). I still relied on the scanner drivers installed by Vuescan
rather than HP's original Win2000 drivers, and, not surprisingly, Vuescan
works fine. Best of all, however, is that third-party software works fine
now and even HP's useful DeskCopy tool works perfectly. Because it's a USB
device, I just have it plugged in to a USB hub which, in turn, connects to
my laptop's docking station -- no more putting in and removing the Cardbus
card. I just set my laptop in the docking station and I'm good to go.
Incidently, I have no connection with Ratoc, other than I bought an adapter
from them. They impressed me, though -- at one point I had to call their
tech support line and it was answered immediately by someone who was
completely competent to address any technical issues. This is a rare thing,
these days.
The scanners were the last pieces of legacy hardware that I couldn't get
going properly in Vista. Now that they're working, I have complete
compatibility with Vista and all of my legacy hardware and software.