Can I use a scanner in XP Mode

[daniellouwrens]

Hi

I have 7 Professional 64, my scanner is not supported, can I run it in XP mode using Windows Virtual PC?

Thanks

Daniel

 

[Mikeb1947]

Outdated scanner on Virtual XP

I have windows 7 Professional. I have an HP ScanJet 4300c running on
Virtual XP with no Problems. Using USB interface. Just remember to go to the usb tab at the top of the screen and attach the scanner.

 

[daniellouwrens]

Hi

thanks for the info, I will give it a go.

cheers

Daniel

 

[RhoXS]

For about a year now I have been forced to use Virtual XP mode because the Twain drivers associated with HP's Precision Scan Pro and the associated HP 7450C scanner do not work under Windows 7. You might be interested in these observations.

-Even though I have a respectable amount of horsepower (dual core 3.8 Ghz), there is a noticeable performance hit when using Virtual XP. There is also an annoying delay waiting for Virtual XP to load.
-The HP scanner and associated software works fine under Virtual XP whereas the HP software does not even see the the scanner under Windows 7. This is strange because the Device Manager shows it properly installed but the software just won't work under W7.
-I use the scanner with a program call PaperPort. Paperport version 11 loads and runs but has a tendency to be unstable and crash. It also will access the the virtual C: drive without a problem but it does not like accessing the real PC drives, where my data is stored. Paperport 11 is usable but just barely so. Paperport 12 (the latest version) installs OK but is not usable under Virtual XP because it crashes almost immediately after starting it.

In other words, Virtual XP works but it is a resource hog, slows the machine down, and worse, some software does not behave well under it. After a year of fighting to keep my expensive perfectly good HP scanner usable, I am ready to throw in the towel and buy a new W7 compatible Epson GT-2500 and uninstall Virtual XP.

 

[daniellouwrens]

Hi

for some reason my followup reply is not here, my scanner is working in XP mode and it is great, I have no speed issues and XP Mode loads quicker than a normal boot, so I have no issues there.

Cheers

Daniel

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
As I've said MANY MANY times on these forums Windows XP mode is a great idea but poorly implemented.

You are MUCH MUCH better off using a PROPER virtualising software solution such as VMARE SERVER / VBOX / VMWARE player (all FREE) or Vmware workststion - commercial paid for software.

The improvement in perfor,mance will be DRAMATIC -- in your case just to use a scanner you'll ger near NATIVE speeds.

The disadvantage is that you will need to have a proper XP disc to install your Virtual Machine --but remember you can even install this type of software on ANY version of Windows --even W7 starter edition.

If you have a proper install XP disk go for vmware or vbox. Forget XP mode.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[RhoXS]

Jimbo45, I took your advice and installed VMware player, Windows XP, the HP PrecisionScan scanning software, and the latest version of PaperPort (Ver 12). As you suggested, it is all a huge improvement over Virtual XP Mode. However, there is one major show stopping problem.

Even though Internet Explorer has good internet connectivity, I cannot access anything other than the virtual C: drive. This is a problem because I cannot access the hard drive the PaperPort data resides in. There is no local network connectivity at all. Also, I cannot see the drives on the PC (name-PC) as I can under Virtual XP.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I was given what I think is a good suggestion to access the PaperPort folder via the network however I can see no network now.

 

[daniellouwrens]

Hi there
As I've said MANY MANY times on these forums Windows XP mode is a great idea but poorly implemented.

You are MUCH MUCH better off using a PROPER virtualising software solution such as VMARE SERVER / VBOX / VMWARE player (all FREE) or Vmware workststion - commercial paid for software.

The improvement in perfor,mance will be DRAMATIC -- in your case just to use a scanner you'll ger near NATIVE speeds.

The disadvantage is that you will need to have a proper XP disc to install your Virtual Machine --but remember you can even install this type of software on ANY version of Windows --even W7 starter edition.

If you have a proper install XP disk go for vmware or vbox. Forget XP mode.

Cheers
jimbo

I used Virtual Box for a couple of years and it was a pain, I had to coax it to see the Scanner and sometimes I had to reboot more than once.
Since using XP Mode I have not had a single problem.

Cheers

Daniel

 

[jimbo45]

Jimbo45, I took your advice and installed VMware player, Windows XP, the HP PrecisionScan scanning software, and the latest version of PaperPort (Ver 12). As you suggested, it is all a huge improvement over Virtual XP Mode. However, there is one major show stopping problem.

Even though Internet Explorer has good internet connectivity, I cannot access anything other than the virtual C: drive. This is a problem because I cannot access the hard drive the PaperPort data resides in. There is no local network connectivity at all. Also, I cannot see the drives on the PC (name-PC) as I can under Virtual XP.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I was given what I think is a good suggestion to access the PaperPort folder via the network however I can see no network now.

Hi there
I have paperport too

I think you need to set the networking option in your Virtual Machine to either Bridged or NAT to access the Internet.

If you just want to connect to drives on your HOST system then use HOST ONLY networking in the Virtual Machine settings. In this case the Virtual Machine won't have Internet access but can still access drives on your HOST machine.

Remember the Virtual Machine acts as a SEPARATE machine so to connect disk drives from the HOST system you will have to mount them as NETWORK DRIVES.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[RhoXS]

I hope this is not redundant but I want to emphasize the huge improvement in usability and stability after switching from the W7 Virtual XP environment to VMware (the free VMware Player).

I am forced into a virtual XP environment because my HP 7450C scanner software (specifically the Twain driver) is not willing to play with W7, rendering this perfectly good expensive scanner useless. I extensively use the scanner to file/store a relatively large number of documents using Paperport. Paperport works without any major issue under W7 but without scanner support it is useless. Therefore, Paperport must work under a virtual XP environment too since that is the only place the scanner can be used.

Ironically, under Windows Virtual XP, the HP PercisionScan Pro software worked fine but Paperport 12 now became unusable as it would crash 100% of the time immediately after starting it. It was necessary to use the older ver 11. Although ver 11 "worked", it still had a strong tendency to crash, some features behaved strangely, and it became very slow and kludgy. Each time it crashed it required restarting the computer to recover. In addition, the Virtual XP environment itself took much too long to start and I had to manually attach the scanner every time I started it.

The improvement using VMware is incredible. Using Paperport 12 is indistinguishable from using it under the native Windows 7 operating system. It is 100% stable and, except for one minor issue, using it in the VMware virtual XP environment is indistinguishable from using it in a normal W7 environment. What a refreshing improvement! The HP software also works without any issues. It is not at all different from the XP Pro computer I used before upgrading to W7.

Why does mighty Microsoft, with all their resources, include software that is so incredibly inferior to this free after market product (VMware Player)? Although W7 is excellent, and Virtual XP is just an "extra", I think it is a reasonable expectation that it should work to the same high standards that the product it came with does. I think MS would be better off not including it all rather than provide something that is so marginally usable.

I do have a local networking problem I have been unable to resolve. Under the VMware virtual XP environment, I have excellent access both my local network and the internet. In fact, I am storing the Paperport data on a DLink network RAID 0 drive. I can also, via the network, see the drives installed in the computer I am using but (and here is the problem) I cannot access these drives. This is proving frustrating as I have assured both drives (C: & D have sharing for each drive enabled and all permissions are given. I have been unable to solve this problem and it is really pissing me off because I have a major issues being told by my computer I cannot access my own drives.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
did you mount these drives as NETWORK drives on your VM system.
Normally it works fine -- define say the share "D" as "shared_ D" on the HOST system -- also ensure that your user id and pasword is the same on BOTH systems.

Now you can mount the network drive either as \\host-name\shared_D or \\hosti-ipaddr\shared_d>

Ensure your firewalls allow "Network Discovery" (W7 host system) and on the XP system enable file / printer sharing.

Then it should all work fine.

Remember in the vmware environment the Virtual Machine has properties just like anothe PHYSICAL machine attached to the network.

Cheers
jimbo