Elderly Scanner Advice?
July 14, 2022 5:00 PM Subscribe
Can a Canoscan 8400F meant to operate with Windows XP be used with W10? I have a pile of family photographs that need to be scanned and shared with family. This is a one-time project that is not worth the cost of a W10 capable scanner equivalent to the 8400F.
I have read that the Canoscan Windows 7 driver will let this scanner be used with W10? Have any of you done this?
Best answer: Plus one for Vuescan. The ui isn’t much to look at but I have been using it for many years (albeit on Mac) with some old and weird scanners and it always works great.
posted by primethyme at 5:30 PM on July 14, 2022
posted by primethyme at 5:30 PM on July 14, 2022
Best answer: VueScan supports that model of scanner (scroll to the bottom of the page) on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It'll work regardless of whether you've installed the Canon drivers or not.
I'm a longtime VueScan user and highly recommend it whenever questions like this come up. Aside from the nearly universal support for any scanner made over the last couple of decades, it also has multiple modes you can work in depending on your level of expertise and desire to get into the weeds of various settings.
posted by theory at 5:56 PM on July 14, 2022
I'm a longtime VueScan user and highly recommend it whenever questions like this come up. Aside from the nearly universal support for any scanner made over the last couple of decades, it also has multiple modes you can work in depending on your level of expertise and desire to get into the weeds of various settings.
posted by theory at 5:56 PM on July 14, 2022
This is probably a little more complicated than you want but that said....
There's a free program called xsane that runs under Linux. I have a "canoscan lide 30" that I've used under windows by first using virtualbox to run linux (ubuntu), and then installing xsane on that virtual machine.
Xsane appears to support your scanner : http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-CANON
If you decide to go this route and run into trouble, let me know. I believe I have some notes that might be useful.
posted by metadave at 6:06 PM on July 14, 2022
There's a free program called xsane that runs under Linux. I have a "canoscan lide 30" that I've used under windows by first using virtualbox to run linux (ubuntu), and then installing xsane on that virtual machine.
Xsane appears to support your scanner : http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-CANON
If you decide to go this route and run into trouble, let me know. I believe I have some notes that might be useful.
posted by metadave at 6:06 PM on July 14, 2022
I've used old Win7 (and earlier!) drivers to make old hardware run on W10. Won't really hurt to download and try the Windows 7 x64 driver. I would download and save it to an easy to find location (folder on your Desktop, perhaps.) It downloads as an EXE, but it's just a self-extracting ZIP archive. Inside is "SetupSG.exe", another self-extracting ZIP archive. Unpack that to a new folder, and you get the goods. The installer exe probably won't run under W10, but once you've got it fully unpacked, go ahead and connect your scanner to power, and then connect the USB cable to your computer. You should hear the "USB device connected" noise from Windows, and then a new hardware found popup, and then probably a prompt for drivers. At this point, you can direct it to where you unpacked those files. Probably the CNQ8400.INF file is where I'd start, and see if it correctly identifies it from there.
posted by xedrik at 6:28 PM on July 14, 2022
posted by xedrik at 6:28 PM on July 14, 2022
Windows is pretty good about backwards compatibility. If you ran a device or program under an older version, Win10 will more than likely be able to run it too. But you may need to use the "compatibility troubleshooter", which leads you thru a series of dialogs asking questions like, "Which version of Windows did you previously use this with?"
This has worked for everything I've tried it with. It's one reason I vastly prefer Windows to Mac. Apple is quite aggressive about planned obsolescence.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 7:25 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
This has worked for everything I've tried it with. It's one reason I vastly prefer Windows to Mac. Apple is quite aggressive about planned obsolescence.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 7:25 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Can a Canoscan 8400F meant to operate with Windows XP be used with W10?
Signs point to yes
posted by flabdablet at 10:20 PM on July 14, 2022
Signs point to yes
posted by flabdablet at 10:20 PM on July 14, 2022
Driver and software versions mentioned in that forum posting can be had from the Canon USA support site at https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/scanners/support-scanners-canoscan-series/canoscan-8400f/canoscan-8400f?subtab=downloads-drivers by choosing "Windows 7 (x64)" from the "Select Operating System" dropdown menu.
No, I have not personally installed this particular Canon scanner driver on a Windows 10 box, but I have used a process very similar to that outlined in the linked forum posting to install an even older Canon scanner and it worked without issue. Canon printer and scanner drivers, in stark contrast to their HP counterparts, are generally pretty well-behaved.
posted by flabdablet at 10:29 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
No, I have not personally installed this particular Canon scanner driver on a Windows 10 box, but I have used a process very similar to that outlined in the linked forum posting to install an even older Canon scanner and it worked without issue. Canon printer and scanner drivers, in stark contrast to their HP counterparts, are generally pretty well-behaved.
posted by flabdablet at 10:29 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: VueScan was the way to go. It recognized the scanner and installed a system that is way better than the original CanoScan system.
Thank you all.
posted by Raybun at 4:41 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thank you all.
posted by Raybun at 4:41 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by fake at 5:11 PM on July 14, 2022 [4 favorites]