Windows 7 - Generic free scanner driver for 64-bit?

Okay, first, this has been asked here before, and second, I'm being incredibly cheap, as you'll see here.

I have an Acer 320U scanner. Purchased in 2000. For (not making it up) $20 after rebate. So I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it as I used it on Windows 98, 2000, and XP systems.

Today I tried to use it for the first time on my Windows 7 64-bit installation and got the "driver not found" message when I plugged it in.

Searching these forums and google, I found Vuescan and Sliverfast recommended for people in my predicament.

Downloaded and installed Vuescan, and it worked! Not as elegantly as the scanner had with XP, but I could scan.

But unless I purchase Vuescan, it leaves ugly watermarks on my scanned documents.

I know the "right" thing to do would be to go and buy a scanner for the first time in 11 years. But I use the scanner so rarely that it doesn't seem worth the effort.

Wondering if there is a source out there for free "generic" scanner drivers, for products like mine that are not supported for Windows 7.

Hello there, have you tried to add a device in "Printers and Devices"?

Connect your Scanner, go to Printers and Devices, click on Add Device, Windows will try to recognize your device, if Windows can't identify it, it'll give you a list for you to choose, i'm sure there should be Scanners there, try to find the one that match (Acer 320U or similar) and install the driver, it worked for me with an OLD ribbon printer (Citizen)

It recognizes the device by name, but can't find a driver for it, on the machine or web. From my googling, looks like the OEM does not make a Windows 7 driver for this product.

You could use a Vista or window XP Professional 64 bit driver in compatibility mode Compatibility Mode

Also if you'd please take the time to fiil out your full system specs it would help us tremendously by only having to click on the My Systen Specs in the lower left hand corener of any of your posts. You can fill them in here



You can also download speccy to help you find them if you don't already know Download Speccy 1.08.218 - FileHippo.com
Thanks. Fabe

Thanks.

First, I apologize for not having my specs. Now I do.

Regarding the compatibility mode, I'd thought of that as a solution. I know how to run programs in compatibility mode, but not drivers - and the tutorial referenced didn't help me.

Could you "spoon feed" me how to do it? FWIW, I have the driver installer for XP 32, that had worked on my previous XP hardware. Do I just run the installation in compatibility mode?

Thanks.

IF you could find any Vista 64-bit driver for your Scanner, that'd be AWESOME, you just run the installer in Compatibility Mode for Windows Vista SP2 and that's it, i've done it before.

The problem with the 32-bit driver is that is not compatible with 64-bit.

Here's what i found on another forum:

So i guess that narrows the options try to install the driver you have in compatibility mode and see how it works out!

Right click the installer, and then "Run in Compatibility Mode", Windows will try to find the soluti9ons and it will try to install the driver, hopefully it'll work.

Report back, please

Looks like it's a no-go. I have run the installer standalone, and compatibility mode for each version back to 98, and Windows continues to be unable to find the scanner.

I may just plug the scanner into one of the XP laptops I have in the house and it could run from there.

Vuescan isn't perfect or free, but at $40, it's cheaper than any scanners I saw out there. And I don't scan that often.

Sorry to bring the bad news

Yeah, that's an option, if that software works for your scanner without any hiccups, it's cheaper than a new scanner and you don't scan too often, then i guess that'd be the most reliable solution

Cheers, mate.

Sorry for bumping this but I had to do so because I found/extracted working drivers for the various abandoned Acer/BenQ scanners!

x86: x86.zip
x64: x64.zip

I forgot where I got the x86 drivers from, maybe an XP installation. I extracted the x64 ones from a drivers.cab acquired from a 64-bit XP installation disc. Both x86 and x64 drivers are tested working in my system (with the Acer 320U, at least.)

Thanks ynnad179!

Now I hate to be ignorant, but what do I then do, with what you've provided, to use my scanner on my 64-bit Windows 7 machine?