Apparent Microtek Scanner Problem

[TerryG]

I installed XP SP-2 last week. Today I tried to do 2 Inserts (from
the Microtek Scanmaker 4800)in MS Word. The first time it worked.
The second time it hung. In between the 2 attempts I had done a
project save in Movie Maker. In trying to diagnose the problem I
discovered that everything was slow. I did an Adaware scan and
deleted 15 objects as a result. When I tried to go into My Computer,
the system hung showing the search flash light until I gave up and
shut the application down. I then went into Windows Explorer to see
if Movie Maker have created any large files. It had and I deleted ~ 5
video files, including one that was 299 Meg. I still can't get into
My Computer. I then tried to delete the Microtek software and all
that was listed was the OCR software which I could not delete (got the
following alert: "Setup failed to launch installation engine. No such
interface supported.") When I did a scanner test it tells me the
scanner is not connected (it is). When I tried to reinstall the
Microtek software, nothing happens when I click on the driver install
button.

Does anyone have any idea what I'm running into and how to fix it?

Thanks.

Terry

 

[TerryG]

I ran a defrag last night - didn't expect much/didn't get much. I did
finally get My Computer to come up after several minutes (happens
every time). When I boot, it takes minutes for the first application
to launch. I'm wondering if my registry got hosed somehow but I don't
have any experience with trouble-shooting or fixing it.

I sure could use some help.

Thanks.

Terry

 

[TerryG]

What a simple solution. I unplugged the scanner and booted the PC.
All problems disappeared. When I rebooted the PC with the scanner
reconnected, the problems were still gone. Chalk on up for XP. I've
had problems with this scanner in the past when I was running ME on
this PC. Since switching to XP last Feb., this is the first problem
I've had.