UMAX Astra 2200 Scanner

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(Edited by bigaldoc on 29-Jan-04 08:13. )

I’m putting this question here, although it’s about my scanner, because it’s really a software issue. I have had this scanner in service for 3 or 4 years, on a Win98SE machine and even updated the UMAX “drivers” to a version 3.53 a couple of years ago. That machine has been taken out of service, so I’ve moved the scanner (USB) to this WinXP Pro machine. As we are taught by the Great Gurus In The Sky, I checked the UMAX site for drivers and can you believe this? They have version 3.55 listed but NOT downloadable – they want $15 for a copy on CD. Well, , they’re not really even drivers in the true sense of the word. The primary purpose of the UMAX software is the User Interface for scanning which has a COPY to printer function that I occasionally use.

After connecting the scanner, XP recognizes the scanner and reports no problems in Device Manager and it scans just fine in Paint Shop Pro! But, since I really wanted that copy function, I tried the 3.53 software anyway. With it installed, it says it can’t find the scanner! Just for the heck of it, I went to DriverGuide.Com where I often look for drivers and they do have the 3.55 available. In spite of my nervousness of not wanting to do anything illegal, I downloaded and installed (after un-installing 3.53). Same story – can’t find the scanner. Un-installed, back to WinXP’s native drivers, which DO find and use the scanner. I haven’t written to UMAX and probably won’t since I saw a few Google hits from people griping about getting this device to work in XP. When I bought it, the scanner was less than $100 US and even had a $20 or $30 rebate at the time. I’ll junk it if need be.

Just thought I’d get this off my chest. Now, I’m gonna SEARCH The Lounge (Hooray!) to see if I can find a thread for “scanner to printer” software freebies or shareware.

Edited to add: Found the January 2004 thread here.

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Hi BigAl

I haven’t tried this, but it gets some pretty good reviews:

SimpleCopier 3.2
File size : 3891KB
Language : English,French,etc.
License : Freeware
Price : $0
OS : Win95, 98, ME, NT 4.x, 2000, XP
Requirements : Scanner, Printer

Alan

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(Edited by bigaldoc on 29-Jan-04 08:48. )

Thanx, Alan. Downloading it now for a tryout. I’ve also downloaded ICARBON (formerly ICOPY) which was mentioned in the referenced thread. I’m hoping that Viking will check in here and complete his thoughts on which program he settled on.

Editing again: I also forgot to mention in the first post that one of the “gripes” I found turns out to be true. One guy said you have to UNPLUG the short cable that runs from the back of the scanner up to the cover. I think it’s supposed to be for transparencies. Scanner doesn’t work with that cable connected.

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(Edited by bigaldoc on 29-Jan-04 08:48. )

Thanx, Alan. Downloading it now for a tryout. I’ve also downloaded ICARBON (formerly ICOPY) which was mentioned in the referenced thread. I’m hoping that Viking will check in here and complete his thoughts on which program he settled on.

Editing again: I also forgot to mention in the first post that one of the “gripes” I found turns out to be true. One guy said you have to UNPLUG the short cable that runs from the back of the scanner up to the cover. I think it’s supposed to be for transparencies. Scanner doesn’t work with that cable connected.

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Hi BigAl

I haven’t tried this, but it gets some pretty good reviews:

SimpleCopier 3.2
File size : 3891KB
Language : English,French,etc.
License : Freeware
Price : $0
OS : Win95, 98, ME, NT 4.x, 2000, XP
Requirements : Scanner, Printer

Alan

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Hi Al,

This sounds EXACTLY like the problem I had with my Umax3400 scanner. I even had a thread going looking for a replacement copy prog for a while but really couldn’t get the quality scan from them , that I got from the Umax Copy utility.

What I had to do was to go into device manager>Imaging devices>Umax Astra 3400 ( assume you will have 2200 there ) click update driver>bullet-install from list or specific location>bullet-don’t search, I’ll choose.
Two choices there.
1.Umax etc. -digitally signed.
2.USB Scanner- NOT digitally signed.
Use the Not digitally signed driver. OK out
If you use the Umax tester to find the scanner, try it and voila….There is the scanner, test OK.

It worked for me FINE, In fact that advice came from Umax itself, but was buried somewhere in it’s FAQ’s I think.
My Umax Copy Utility works like a charm now.

BTW, I have version 3.75 now, should also be for the 2200.

Bob

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[indent]

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1.Umax etc. -digitally signed.
2.USB Scanner- NOT digitally signed.

---

[/indent] No luck there, Bob. I don’t get any choices like that.

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Al,

I would have sworn that that is the problem, because it describes the EXACT same trouble with the Copy Utility that Umax describes. And it was how I got back to having it work properly.
The only thing I MAY not have mentioned is that on the last page where it shows the USB Scanner option, you might have to UNcheck the show compatible devices box in order to see the Unsigned choice.
Then disregard the warning about it being unsigned and use it.

Bob

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Not sure if this help, but here you go :

UMAX Astra 3450 under WinXP:
1. Unplug the scanner and go to http://www.umax.de/support/drivers.htm%5B/url%5D and select “Astra 3400/3450” and “Windows XP” then click the “search driver” button.

2. Upon page load up, go to the bottom of the page and download the XP drivers and updates (clicking the links marked “Program File” and “VistaScan 3.82 Updater”) into a separate directory.

3. Once the download of both files is complete, go into the download directory and run “vs357u”. This should create a bunch of new folders in the directory.

4. Of the new folders created, go into the one called “disk1” and run “vssetup”. Follow the necessary prompts to complete the install. Upon completion of install restart the computer.

5. Now that the computer is rebooted, go back into the download directory and run “vs375u_382upd”. Follow the prompts to complete the install. Reboot once install is complete.

6. When the computer reboots, plug in the scanner and let it find the right drivers. Now right-click on “My computer” and go to “properties”. Click the tab at the top labelled “hardware” then click on “Device manager”.

7. In the list that appears locate “Imaging Devices” and click the “+” next to it. You should see “Umax Astra 3400”. Right click this and select “Update Driver”.

8. Click “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)” then click the “next” button. In the new screen click “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install” and click “next”.

9. The new screen should have “UMAX Astra 3400” and “USB Scanner”. Click the “USB Scanner” and click “next”. In the prompt click “Continue Anyway”. Click “finish”. Close all windows and reboot.

10. Upon reboot, the vistascan icon in the taskbar will now no longer be crossed out. Right-click this and go to “Vistascan”. Click the “advanced” tab and un-tick “auto adjustment”. The install is complete. Every time you need to scan, make sure “auto adjustment” is un-ticked or the preview will disappear as soon as it is done.

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Thanks for the time and effort, Dave. You and Bob have similar models, but unfortunately the drivers for UMAX scanners are model-specific and the versions you and Bob used are not applicable to the 2200. I think, except for the fact that yours seems to have two executables, you and Bob and I have followed the same steps. When I get to the point where you two found a “signed” and an “un-signed” driver, I don’t see that.

As I said in an earlier post, I hope this is not illegal, but I went back to Driver.Com and did a little more thorough looking around. I found a more recent entry that I had missed earlier. It has an ISO image for version 3.55 so I downloaded it. I have to burn it to a CD now and then I will try the steps that you and Bob outlined one more time. Before I do that, I plan to go back to Driver.Com and “read the fine print” so to speak, regarding the legal implications of them distributing drivers. More later…..

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I found this link also, it may help just in case you don’t resolve with your burn:

http://www.scanner-drivers.com/drivers/39/39184.htm%5B/url%5D

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I found this link also, it may help just in case you don’t resolve with your burn:

http://www.scanner-drivers.com/drivers/39/39184.htm%5B/url%5D

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Hey, that’s interesting Dave! The version listed there is 3.52 and indicates compatibility with Win2K. I have version 3.53 which doesn’t show that. I guess I better try the 3.55 first. Thanks! Right now, the DriverGuide.Com main site is not responding, so I’ll go there later.

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Hey, that’s interesting Dave! The version listed there is 3.52 and indicates compatibility with Win2K. I have version 3.53 which doesn’t show that. I guess I better try the 3.55 first. Thanks! Right now, the DriverGuide.Com main site is not responding, so I’ll go there later.

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No luck again! I’ve made the CD with version 3.55 and re-attempted this three times and gotten nowhere. Except for the fact that I don’t have two executables, I followed your steps to the letter. I even removed (uninstalled) the UMAX software, powered down the PC rather than just re-start and disconnected or reconnected the scanner while powered off. I just cannot get the “crossed out” icon to clear up and when I do a scanner test it fails. Funny thing though, the 3.55 software is recognized, even by Paint Shop Pro if I select the TWAIN “choose source” entry. It shows both the 3.55 UMAX and the installed MS entry. If I choose the TWAIN source for MS driver, the scanner operates but the UMAX can’t find the scanner. I even thought it might be that transparency cable that connects to the cover, so I tried with and without that cable connected. I think I’ve got my hands on a piece of crappy UMAX software. It’s also funny that the Readme file with the 3.55 version mentions only Win95 and Win98 under the USB section. It has NO installation guidance at all and only a couple of pointers for SCSI users. Crud.

I’m gonna make one last trip to the UMAX site to see what I can find and if nothing, I give up. Since the scanner is operable with the MS driver, I’ll just continue to use it. It’s not as desirable, since it won’t stay on 300 DPI resolution and I have to select 300 DPI for EVERY scan I make.

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Al – This may be a drastic step:

Remove – Uninstall all the umax software.
Look in Program files or Any where you see a Umax related folder and delete them.
Go to device manager and remove the scanner from hardware.
Do not plug the scanner in.
Follow the instructions again.

Good Luck

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Dave, you’re a prince for hangin’ in there with me on this. I did that too, but, read on…

Mea Culpa, UMAX! Another case of RTFM for which Big Al apologizes! Right there, in plain sight, on the UMAX driver pages for my model was a WinXP PATCH that had to be downloaded and installed after installing 3.55 drivers. Did that, rebooted, and guess what? Well, you know the answer I bet. Thanks to you and Bob for your help, Dave!

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Glad you sorted it Al, not a problem hangin here, I’ve been helped out loads, thats what makes it a great forum.

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Glad you sorted it Al, not a problem hangin here, I’ve been helped out loads, thats what makes it a great forum.

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Hi Al,

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.
I too, forgot about the patch because I think I was blinded by the fact that I use Version 3.75/382 for the Umax 3400.
The Umax site isn’t very clear or user friendly to use either. As I said, I only found that work around for non digitally signed drivers, by really digging in the FAQ sheets and reading the fine print. Umax “claims” that the copy utility doesn’t work for versions 3.55 or later, yet there is the work around to use it.

I will have to think twice before getting an “el cheapo” Umax scanner again.

Bob

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[indent]

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…I will have to think twice before getting an “el cheapo” Umax scanner again…

---

[/indent] Boy, you’re right about that. What really irks me is the nerve of charging $15 bucks for updated DRIVERS, of all things. Just can’t believe they’re doing that. After all, it’s not like some piece of application software. You obviously have to have bought and paid for their hardware to even care about their drivers! But, I do plan to followup with DriverGuide.Com about any possible legal issues involved in them distributing DRIVERS that the manufacturer is charging for. There surely must be something (loophole?) somewhere that allows them to keep on keepin’ on…..

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BigAl,
Are you sure that the CD contains JUST the drivers?

There is a lot of hardware out there that the software that came with the hardware will NOT run under XP.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Well, you’re probably partially right, Dave. In the case of something like this scanner, the CD not only installs drivers but a GUI as well, for doing the scanning. They can’t be separated however, at least not to my knowledge.

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My Epson 1640, came with “Epson Smart Panel for Scanner” which provides the interface for a method of scanning to email, to OCR, to Photo Print, to a application and a copy (Copy machine). When I first installed it, it did NOT support HP printers for the copy just Epson printers. I email them and told them I would be taking back their machine and within a hour I received a web address where I could down load a patch.

The software and drivers were for Win 98, Me and 2K. They did NOT work for XP. Before XP was released they (Epson) had the new versions ready and I was able to down load, about 15+ megs. And now it is a newer better product. You will find that the different OEM’s will treat the drivers and software differently, I have found that the bigger boys will provide them for no charge on the some what newer models, but NOT at all for the older models.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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My Epson 1640, came with “Epson Smart Panel for Scanner” which provides the interface for a method of scanning to email, to OCR, to Photo Print, to a application and a copy (Copy machine). When I first installed it, it did NOT support HP printers for the copy just Epson printers. I email them and told them I would be taking back their machine and within a hour I received a web address where I could down load a patch.

The software and drivers were for Win 98, Me and 2K. They did NOT work for XP. Before XP was released they (Epson) had the new versions ready and I was able to down load, about 15+ megs. And now it is a newer better product. You will find that the different OEM’s will treat the drivers and software differently, I have found that the bigger boys will provide them for no charge on the some what newer models, but NOT at all for the older models.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Well, you’re probably partially right, Dave. In the case of something like this scanner, the CD not only installs drivers but a GUI as well, for doing the scanning. They can’t be separated however, at least not to my knowledge.

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BigAl,
Are you sure that the CD contains JUST the drivers?

There is a lot of hardware out there that the software that came with the hardware will NOT run under XP.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

Reply | Quote

[indent]

---

…I will have to think twice before getting an “el cheapo” Umax scanner again…

---

[/indent] Boy, you’re right about that. What really irks me is the nerve of charging $15 bucks for updated DRIVERS, of all things. Just can’t believe they’re doing that. After all, it’s not like some piece of application software. You obviously have to have bought and paid for their hardware to even care about their drivers! But, I do plan to followup with DriverGuide.Com about any possible legal issues involved in them distributing DRIVERS that the manufacturer is charging for. There surely must be something (loophole?) somewhere that allows them to keep on keepin’ on…..

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Hi Al,

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.
I too, forgot about the patch because I think I was blinded by the fact that I use Version 3.75/382 for the Umax 3400.
The Umax site isn’t very clear or user friendly to use either. As I said, I only found that work around for non digitally signed drivers, by really digging in the FAQ sheets and reading the fine print. Umax “claims” that the copy utility doesn’t work for versions 3.55 or later, yet there is the work around to use it.

I will have to think twice before getting an “el cheapo” Umax scanner again.

Bob

Reply | Quote

Dave, you’re a prince for hangin’ in there with me on this. I did that too, but, read on…

Mea Culpa, UMAX! Another case of RTFM for which Big Al apologizes! Right there, in plain sight, on the UMAX driver pages for my model was a WinXP PATCH that had to be downloaded and installed after installing 3.55 drivers. Did that, rebooted, and guess what? Well, you know the answer I bet. Thanks to you and Bob for your help, Dave!

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Al – This may be a drastic step:

Remove – Uninstall all the umax software.
Look in Program files or Any where you see a Umax related folder and delete them.
Go to device manager and remove the scanner from hardware.
Do not plug the scanner in.
Follow the instructions again.

Good Luck

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No luck again! I’ve made the CD with version 3.55 and re-attempted this three times and gotten nowhere. Except for the fact that I don’t have two executables, I followed your steps to the letter. I even removed (uninstalled) the UMAX software, powered down the PC rather than just re-start and disconnected or reconnected the scanner while powered off. I just cannot get the “crossed out” icon to clear up and when I do a scanner test it fails. Funny thing though, the 3.55 software is recognized, even by Paint Shop Pro if I select the TWAIN “choose source” entry. It shows both the 3.55 UMAX and the installed MS entry. If I choose the TWAIN source for MS driver, the scanner operates but the UMAX can’t find the scanner. I even thought it might be that transparency cable that connects to the cover, so I tried with and without that cable connected. I think I’ve got my hands on a piece of crappy UMAX software. It’s also funny that the Readme file with the 3.55 version mentions only Win95 and Win98 under the USB section. It has NO installation guidance at all and only a couple of pointers for SCSI users. Crud.

I’m gonna make one last trip to the UMAX site to see what I can find and if nothing, I give up. Since the scanner is operable with the MS driver, I’ll just continue to use it. It’s not as desirable, since it won’t stay on 300 DPI resolution and I have to select 300 DPI for EVERY scan I make.

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Thanks for the time and effort, Dave. You and Bob have similar models, but unfortunately the drivers for UMAX scanners are model-specific and the versions you and Bob used are not applicable to the 2200. I think, except for the fact that yours seems to have two executables, you and Bob and I have followed the same steps. When I get to the point where you two found a “signed” and an “un-signed” driver, I don’t see that.

As I said in an earlier post, I hope this is not illegal, but I went back to Driver.Com and did a little more thorough looking around. I found a more recent entry that I had missed earlier. It has an ISO image for version 3.55 so I downloaded it. I have to burn it to a CD now and then I will try the steps that you and Bob outlined one more time. Before I do that, I plan to go back to Driver.Com and “read the fine print” so to speak, regarding the legal implications of them distributing drivers. More later…..

Reply | Quote

Not sure if this help, but here you go :

UMAX Astra 3450 under WinXP:
1. Unplug the scanner and go to http://www.umax.de/support/drivers.htm%5B/url%5D and select “Astra 3400/3450” and “Windows XP” then click the “search driver” button.

2. Upon page load up, go to the bottom of the page and download the XP drivers and updates (clicking the links marked “Program File” and “VistaScan 3.82 Updater”) into a separate directory.

3. Once the download of both files is complete, go into the download directory and run “vs357u”. This should create a bunch of new folders in the directory.

4. Of the new folders created, go into the one called “disk1” and run “vssetup”. Follow the necessary prompts to complete the install. Upon completion of install restart the computer.

5. Now that the computer is rebooted, go back into the download directory and run “vs375u_382upd”. Follow the prompts to complete the install. Reboot once install is complete.

6. When the computer reboots, plug in the scanner and let it find the right drivers. Now right-click on “My computer” and go to “properties”. Click the tab at the top labelled “hardware” then click on “Device manager”.

7. In the list that appears locate “Imaging Devices” and click the “+” next to it. You should see “Umax Astra 3400”. Right click this and select “Update Driver”.

8. Click “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)” then click the “next” button. In the new screen click “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install” and click “next”.

9. The new screen should have “UMAX Astra 3400” and “USB Scanner”. Click the “USB Scanner” and click “next”. In the prompt click “Continue Anyway”. Click “finish”. Close all windows and reboot.

10. Upon reboot, the vistascan icon in the taskbar will now no longer be crossed out. Right-click this and go to “Vistascan”. Click the “advanced” tab and un-tick “auto adjustment”. The install is complete. Every time you need to scan, make sure “auto adjustment” is un-ticked or the preview will disappear as soon as it is done.

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Al,

I would have sworn that that is the problem, because it describes the EXACT same trouble with the Copy Utility that Umax describes. And it was how I got back to having it work properly.
The only thing I MAY not have mentioned is that on the last page where it shows the USB Scanner option, you might have to UNcheck the show compatible devices box in order to see the Unsigned choice.
Then disregard the warning about it being unsigned and use it.

Bob

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Hi Al,

This sounds EXACTLY like the problem I had with my Umax3400 scanner. I even had a thread going looking for a replacement copy prog for a while but really couldn’t get the quality scan from them , that I got from the Umax Copy utility.

What I had to do was to go into device manager>Imaging devices>Umax Astra 3400 ( assume you will have 2200 there ) click update driver>bullet-install from list or specific location>bullet-don’t search, I’ll choose.
Two choices there.
1.Umax etc. -digitally signed.
2.USB Scanner- NOT digitally signed.
Use the Not digitally signed driver. OK out
If you use the Umax tester to find the scanner, try it and voila….There is the scanner, test OK.

It worked for me FINE, In fact that advice came from Umax itself, but was buried somewhere in it’s FAQ’s I think.
My Umax Copy Utility works like a charm now.

BTW, I have version 3.75 now, should also be for the 2200.

Bob

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