Windows 7: Getting your Nikon Coolscan to work on W7 x64

For those wishing to get their Nikon Coolscan film scanners working under either Vista or Windows 7 64-bit editions here’s a solution. Do pay attention to notes and warnings….

Warning: Scanners must have the latest Nikon firmware installed for these procedures to work. Currently the only OS capable of updating the scanner’s firmware is Windows XP or Mac OS 10.2.x - 10.4.11. This means you cannot update the firmware without access to either of these OS’s! Also note that even Vuescan may not work under Windows 7 if the latest firmware isn’t installed. In short, if your scanner isn’t working when trying these or Vuescan, check your check the firmware.

Note: This fix applies to the 4000, 5000, 8000, and 9000 series scanners. I can't guarantee older scanners will work but it's worth a try. If not, check this post for help or tips on older scanners. And credit Steel Chn for the inf file. I'm just providing a modified file that includes the Nikon 5000. Now...

Before you get started: Remove Vuescan if installed. You can re-install it after these procedures.

1- Download this file Nikon Scan 4.0.3 from Nikon's site drivers for Windows Vista 32-bit. Yes, Vista 32-bit.

2- Then go my website and download this zip file - scanners.zip (includes 5000 fix) - EDIT: Since my site is currently down here's the file - scanners.zip

3- Extract and save the scanners.inf file to a location or folder of your choosing...

Example: I created a folder called Nikon Files. After I install the Nikon Scan software, I'll then place the Nikon Files folder inside the NKScan4 folder located at...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4 - Thus the NKScan4 folder now contains the Nikon Files folder and will look like this... C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4\Nikon Files

4- Now install the Nikon Scan software you downloaded and after the installation, go to....

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Nikon\Driver\Scan1394 (see note) and copy this file NKScnUSD.dll to the same folder (Example: Nikon Files) that the scanners.inf file is in.

Thus the Nikon Files folder should now contain these two files... NKScnUSD.dll and scanners.inf

NOTE: If your scanner is USB than the folder will be ScanUSB instead of Scan1394.

Once that’s done….

5- Power up the scanner and make sure the Firewire or USB cable is connected to the computer.

6- Cancel any dialogue boxes looking for drivers if they appear.

7- Go to Device Manager – Control Panel, Device Manager and look for the "Unknown Device" (your scanner) with the yellow triangle.

8- Right click on it and choose "Update Driver Software" then choose "Browse my computer for driver software"

9- Click "Browse" and find the location or folder where you put the scanners.inf file. Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4\Nikon Files and click "Next" This will/should install the driver (scanners.inf) you extracted from the zip file for your scanner.

10- That’s it – Your Nikon Scan software should now be fully functional.


Good luck

I've followed your fix to the letter (three times now) and Windows 7 stubbornly shows the scanner as "Unknown USB Device" (two of them actually) and either says there is no appropriate driver or says that it has the latest driver when I point the Update Driver dialog at the right folder.

Any ideas?

Win 7 Ultimate, Asus P7P55D

What "Nikon" scanner do you have? If you have the 5000, there's a mod that needs to be done to the inf file.

Let me know.

Thanks

Thanks for your quick reply.

It's a Coolscan 4000ED which was running on a Mac so it only has a Firewire connection (I imagine that PC versions came with a USB port). I had it running on an XP machine yesterday so I know the scanner works OK.

I tried loading XP Virtual Machine yesterday to see if I could get the device recognised but no luck there either.

I have the 4000 as well, and it is Firewire only, so if you have the same thing, it should work per instructions under Windows.

Also PC's do have Firewire connections as well. And "if" the PC didn't have a Firewire connection, the scanner did ship with a Firewire card, mine did.

So, what exactly is the issue?

Thanks

The PC has a FW connection but is only a few days old so it did cross my mind that showing up as a USB device might be unusual in some way.

The problem is that despite following your instructions to the letter, the fix doesn't work (see my first post) and I was hoping you might shed some light on the issue. I've tried uninstalling everything (the scanner, Vuescan, Nikon Scan) but the result's the same and I can't understand what I could be doing wrong.

I get the theory of the driver fix but the system just says no.

OK, your Scanner should show up under Firewire, not USB. It is a Firewire scanner; if that isn't the case, well...???

I've attached a zip of the inf file. After you download the file make sure you do this...

1- Save the file (inf) to a location (folder) of your choosing...

Example: I created a folder called "Nikon Files" and placed it inside inside the "NKScan4" folder located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4 - Thus the folder now looks like this...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4\Nikon Files

2- "After" you install the Nikon Scan software go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Nikon\Driver\Scan1394 and copy this file "NKScnUSD.dll" to the same folder (Nikon Files) that the inf file is in.

The Nikon Files folder should now contain these two files... NKScnUSD.dll and the Scanners.inf


C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4\Nikon Files

After that....

6- Go to Device Manager – Control Panel, Device Manager and look for the "Unknown Device" (your scanner) with the yellow triangle.
7- Right click on it and choose "Update Driver Software" and choose "Browse my computer for driver software"
8- Click "Browse" and find the folder/location where you put your created inf file, EX: C:\Program Files (x86)\Nikon\NkScan4\Nikon Files and click "Next" this will install the inf driver for the scanner.
9- That’s it – Your Nikon Scan software should now be fully functional.

Once that's done your device manager should look something like this...



Let me know if this worked.

I'm trying to get my coolscan 5000 to work on Windows 7 and haven't been able to get it to work. You said earlier there is a slight modification that needs to be made. What else do I need to do? I've done the entire instructions word for word, but it still lists that it is unable to find or install a driver when I click on the folder with the appropriate files. Let me know what you can so that I can fix this problem and get this scanner up and running on my computer. Thanks so much!

Yeah, the 5000 is USB and won't work with the current inf file here. I'll upload a fixed one in my next post which will be in about an hour or so.

Peace.

PM me for your answer.