. . . now all I gotta do is get it to work!
I picked up a clean used 4990 that came with the film holders, but without software. Well, being familiar with Epson's site (I have two other Epson products, a 3170 scanner and a Workforce 600 all-in-one), I knew I could d/l the basic Epson Scan utility and drivers, so I wasn't worried.
Until I got a popup after setting everything up telling me that Epson Scan could not start. I went through the troubleshooter. Device Manager said it couldn't start the scanner because another driver was already in memory.
I rebooted. I uninstalled the scanner in Device Manager. Then tried reinstalling it. Then rebooted. Then, because I have two other versions of Epson Scan installed on that machine, I uninstalled everything that had the word "Epson" associated with it. Then tried re-installing the software for the 4990. Still no joy. I'm out of options at this point.
But since this is a used item that I bought through the mail, sight unseen, I felt I had to determine if the scanner itself was in any way part of this problem. I was able to scrounge up another computer, install the software on it, and hook up the scanner. The software booted, the scanner scanned, and all was sweetness and light. Except it was on the wrong machine.
I suspect something's fouled up in the system registry. If so, I haven't a clue how to correct the problem. I need this computer to be able to function normally with both the 4990 and the W600, though. The 3170 is actually no longer hooked up to the computer, and its software will not be reinstalled.
Before I started uninstalling stuff, I tried Epson Scan to see if it worked with the 3170 and the W600. One good thing about ES is that, if there is more than one device installed that uses ES, a popup is generated when the icon is clicked on, and the popup allows the user to select which device is to be used, thus that particular flavor of ES is the one booted. Or so it should work in theory. But in actuality? I dunno. I can report that, after installing the ES/drivers for the 4990, the W600's version booted normally. I wasn't able to test the 3170's version since the scanner was no longer hooked up to the machine, although the software for it was still installed. And that is part of the problem, now that I think about it. When using the add/romove programs function, only one Epson Scan is shown. So, if I want to remove the v2.65 for my 3170, it's gonna remove the v3.04 for my 4990 and the v3.40 for my W600 as well.
So, I'm just wondering if anyone here has run into a similar problem, and might have any ideas to share. If so, I look forward to reading your response(s).
Best,
Michael