WANTED - Drivers for photo scanner.

[axtyr]

G’day all.



I am after drivers for this very old photo scanner. This particular one was made for Target here in Australia, but there are a lot of this style and all manufactured in the same factory but with different names for the brand that wanted them. This type of scanner does film, slides and photos. If you own one similar to this that will be fine, so long as it is the same shape.

I am only after the drivers to get it to work. This one is brand new and came with everything except the CD containing the drivers. So that is all I am after, the CD, or a copy of it. The scanner was released with Windows XP drivers. I have tried installing it on Windows XP, 7, 10 and 11 to no avail. The best I got was another company’s name after hooking it up to a Windows 11 PC, OMNIVISION.

I have downloaded several versions of drivers off the internet but they all do the same thing. They install the device but fail to start it. It just doesn’t work with downloaded drivers.

Hopefully someone out there might still have this scanner and the original CD and I can get it working. UNLESS someone who has used this scanner informs me that the scan result is less than desirable and not to waste my time.

Thank you all, Axtyr.

 

[grubstake]

Hopefully someone out there might still have this scanner and the original CD and I can get it working. UNLESS someone who has used this scanner informs me that the scan result is less than desirable and not to waste my time.

Does the box have some specs printed on it? Given its obvious age, it may be capable of only VGA output (640x480, from memory), in which case it's not worth bothering with.

 

[axtyr]

No specs, just what it can scan (slides, negatives, photos) and which operating systems it is compatible with, XP and Vista. Unfortunately I don't have Vista. Vista might have the drivers embedded in the operating system.

The unit is a PS900, but any identical unit will use the same drivers. I'm not really expecting perfection but I am hopeful.

Regards Axtyr.

 

[Dean Mortimer]

Did you try compatibility tab on the programs short cut (right click, choose properties, then compatibility tab, choose emulation of Windows eg vista) to force the program when opened to run on that operating system.

 

[user 4485]

Did a quick search & there are issues with this scanner not having updated drivers going back over 10 years (Otek PS900).
It would appear that it won't work, even with the CD, on anything from Windows 8 on.

 

[HarryHoudini]

Did a quick search & there are issues with this scanner not having updated drivers going back over 10 years (Otek PS900).
It would appear that it won't work, even with the CD, on anything from Windows 8 on.

Many old printers and peripheral drivers were written specifically for an operating system and not supported by current os. The other issue is many device manufacturers have not survived. Photo scanners do not cost a lot of money and scan at a higher resolution and speed.
cheers

 

[axtyr]

Dare I say it is a load of crap. Just hoping someone may have had the original CD.

Anyway, I got out an old HP Scanjet 4570C which I tried many years ago to scan negatives but got terrible results. I don't think I set it up properly. This time I am scanning the photos and using the photo holder from the PS900. At least it came in handy for something. I hope the scanner holds out until I have scanned 1000+ photos. It too only has drivers for Win 2000 and XP but it does work in all OS up to Win11. It's the software that is the problem. I have it working perfectly on one computer, but if I rebuild or reimage the computer then it may not work exactly the same. I've had tab symbols missing. Enough of my problems, get out there and find some gold.

Thanks for all your replies.

Regards Axtyr.

 

[axtyr]

G’day everyone.

Thank you to everyone that responded.

I don’t hold out much hope of getting the drivers for this thing, so I got out an old HP Scanjet 4570C and the quality of the photo scanning is really good. I am more than happy with the results of the photo scans. Only about another 1100 photos to go, and that’s just for that trip in 2003. I got my digital camera in 2010 so have all photos before 2003 and up until Christmas Day 2010 to scan.

Scanning the negatives is another matter. Only one strip of the negatives (4 photos) and at 2400 resolution it takes almost 12 minutes to scan. The quality has left a lot to be desired and I am going to be flat out adjusting them in Photoshop to get them looking the same as the original photos. Maybe I will scan the negatives and leave them and adjust them when required.

I should have done this during Covid. Bird flu has broken out so you never know what will happen.

Regards Axtyr.

 

[Dean Mortimer]

I was able to source the cd drivers of the target device ps900 (a friend of mine has same device and cd, and i made an iso file of his cd.) Maybe you no longer need it.

Its a 98mb iso (dunno if i can put it on here)

 

[axtyr]

Dean, PM me. Thanks Axtyr.

 

[axtyr]

Thanks to Dean, the drivers have landed.

Regards Axtyr.

 

[axtyr]

And the results are:

Photos: Don't bother. The scanned photo comes out too dark.

Negatives: Much better but they come out with a coloured tinge all over the scan. Probably need to be at least marginally proficient with Photoshop or other editing program.

Slides: Probably the best of the lot. Much better output.

Overall, if you only have the negative then scanning that will be a better option than not having the photo at all. I don't know how good the professional scanning is.


I also had the same problem with the HP Scanjet 4570C with negatives. All the scanned negatives had a brown tinge to them.

Thank you for your effort Dean.

Regards Axtyr.

 

[Dean Mortimer]

And the results are:

Photos: Don't bother. The scanned photo comes out too dark. Negatives: Much better but they come out with a coloured tinge all over the scan.

Well this could be the result of parts inside the unit particularly the lamp bulb unit. Which can cause film and photos to colour shift, become to dark or lack contrast. It could be something simple like a minor build up of dust particles stuck to the lamp bulb. Or worn out rubber seals in the unit can create light leaks resulting in colour shifts or bursts of colour on images.

On hp scanjet clean glass carefully dont apply to much pressure, if glass is good try inspect film or photo for dust particles.

I had a similar experience trying to scan my grandmothers negative film years ago. It was a result of dust particles i couldn't even see with my eyes lightly over the film. Someone later on told me to view the film under magnification and then i saw the ultra fine dust particles.

 

[axtyr]

Thanks Dean.