Windows 7 - No scanner driver for 64 bit; workarounds?

So I have a fairly old scanner (Canon CanoScan 3000f) that doesn't have any 64 bit drivers.
So I tried a program called VueScan but it doesn't work with my scanner, and neither does another thing called SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy).
Pestering Canon for a 64 bit driver failed

So anyway, the only solution I can think of is installing a virtual machine with 32 bit, but it's too troublesome to have to start up a virtual machine just to scan something, and then go through all the trouble of transferring the file from the virtual PC's hard disk to the host HDD.
Is there any easier solution? Maybe a universal scanner driver for 64 bit Windows?

Hi there
something like vuescan used to work but it's PAID FOR software.
VueScan Scanner Software for Windows 7, Mac OS X Lion, Linux, iPhone, iPad, iPod


Sorry -- I see you've already tried vuescan -- so the only alternative is the VM approach.

The Virtual Machine solution really is easy -- just mount one of the Host drives as a Network shared drive or use the "Unity" / Integration feature of the appropriate virtual machine software.

Set the VM to "Host only Networking" so only your host will be able to see the VM and mount the Host drive you want the scanner output to go to as a Network drive.

Actually a very small XP virtual machine will power on in seconds -- IMO still the best way of doing this. You don't need to install any applications other than your scanner -- probably a 512KB VM will work fine -- this will power on very quickly indeed and consume almost zero resources..

No reason to junk a perfectly good scanner.

I always tend to look for a FREE solution rather than paying for stuff I might only use once in a while.

Things like Photoshop which I use daily are different --especially as there is no reasonable alternatitive so I don't mind paying for this type of stuff -- however since more and more of the stuff I used to scan (timesheets, invoices, utility bills etc) are now done online I don't use my scanner very often at all now.

Cheers
jimbo

Cheers I'll try that out, how much memory should I set the VM to?

Get the newest driver you can find for your Canon CanoScan 3000f from the Canon website. Vista or XP (32 or 64bit)

Then try installing in Compatabilty Mode. Tutorial> Compatibility Mode
Use Option One.

Well I don't see any option for 32-bit compatibility mode... I tried running it in Windows XP compatability mode but it still gives me the error "This driver is for 32 bit only"
There's no 64 bit driver on the Canon website

This is what I did when I had an old scanner. Install a virtual pc on your computer, like Virtualbox or VMWare Player. Install Win XP or Linux (if your scanner has drivers for it) on the virtual pc, and scan away.

**EDIT** sorry Jimbo, didn't see you mentioned VM at first.