Hi, Lou.
"Free system resources" is a term that pops up often in Win9x/ME, but you
should seldom if ever see that phrase in WinXP. WinXP handles hardware so
much differently from Win9x/ME that any driver written for one system almost
certainly will not work with the other.
Are you sure the drivers you are trying to use for that scanner are
WinXP-compatible? Have you checked at the scanner maker's website to be
sure you have the current WinXP drivers?
What is the make and model of the scanner?
RC