Scanner Driver system hog

[Spider1964]

I have a Plustek 9636T scanner with the latest drivers available installed. When the scanner driver is actively scanning it commandeers almost 100% of the system resources. It is driving me nuts because I am unable to do anything else but watch the scanner progress bar! A friend has a Canon scanner with a much lesser CPU and quantities of ram and is able to multi-task while scanning.
My system is Athlon 900 with 256MB ram running WIN ME. My previous system was a Celeron 400, 256MB ram running WIN 98SE and it suffered from the same difficulties.
Any suggestions considered.

[NDC]

Well, there isn't a whole lot you can do about that.....certain scanners just hogs the whole CPU where you can't do anything while the scan is being done. If it has parallel port interface, the best thing I can think of is to use it with EPP setting in the BIOS enabled to make the scanning a bit faster. As for the CPU utilization, there's nothing you can do about it.

From my past experience using many scanners, Mustek has the lowest CPU utilization where you won't even know that the scanner is scanning regardless of interface, parallel, SCSI or USB! As for HP, Epson, UMax, etc... it has an effect on multi-tasking when you scan an image.

If you just bought the scanner and you can exchange it for a different one, definetly take my word for it and exchange it for a Mustek scanner.

[Spider1964]

With thanks for your prompt reply NDC. I have been living with this problem for some time now and thought it would be somewhat reduced with the upgrading of my system - alas to no avail. I was curious to know if there is a generic scanner utility available. Something made by a second party. If anyone has heard of such a thing I would be interested.

[BFlurie]

Depending on how often you use the scanner, you could set another "Hardware profile" from Device Manager that has the scanner disabled. I've never done this, tho.

[NDC]

No, an upgrade won't take care of that problem and I doubt a 3rd-party scanner software would either. It's purley scanner related. I bought a Umax 1200 series once because the price on it was so low. I later ended up returning for a cash refund because of the heavy CPU utilization that just wouldn't let me multi-task while the scanning was being done. I have a dual P3 900 with 1GB RAM and SCSI 10,000rpm so certainly didn't have anything to do with the specs of my computer. I've also had the same problem with an HP and Epson scanner, just not as severe as the UMax..... Mustek just seems to have an amazingly low CPU utilization!

[Jeff7]

Heck, my Plustek FBIVP completely locks up the system - I mean completely - no mouse activity, no keyboard activity (except the Escape Key), until it finishes the scan. But it does the job, so I live with it.

[RobRich]

I'm with NDC regarding Epson, Umax, and even some of the HP's. An Epson actually brought my P4 1500 w/256MB PC-800 memory to a crawl during operation! Poor software coding on their part, but even poorer of them actually releasing such a product. Needless to say, it went out the door quick enough.

Later,
Robert Richmond

[nunyadam]

take ndc's advice and buy a mustec
http://www.mustekdirect.com/bearpaw.html

i bought my wife one for xmas on his advice.
suffice it to say she loves it !!

thank's again NDC

nunya

[Imperion1]

Yea, Mustek scanners are great. I have the Mustek 1200LS (SCSI). The only problem I have with it is that it is not supported for Win 2k. And there are no Win 2k drivers for it, plus Mustek won't create new drivers.
But the newer Mustek scanners are supported. I've been thinking about buying a new scanner (USB) anyway.

[Spider1964]

Thanks to all who have confirmed my worst fears and that is I have purchased a dud! Am I being to harsh? I guess it works. I will continue using said scanner until I can afford to replace it. I guess you live and learn. I am unsure if the Mustek brand is available here in Australia but I will do a search for them at a later date when I am ready to replace. Thanks again for the advice.