A question was asked during our March 2009 presentation in regard to an older scanner that has stopped working. In general, most scanners (and digital cameras for that matter) will include TWAIN and WIA drivers; or both. When this issue occurred on my own machine, I found that the WIA driver would still work. However, the limitations of this type of driver with its low resolution scans was not satisfactory. In tests with my own scanners, the highest resolution setting I could get was 150dpi. Such a setting would work when making a low-resolution copy of a document or a form you planned to complete and then print or fax. When scanning a photo, I much prefer using the TWAIN driver as I can use a resolution setting of 300dpi or higher. If I were to scan a negative or slide, for example, I would want to use a setting much higher.
Microsoft mentions some of these issues in their knowledge base article on the SP3 patch for Office released in May 2004. This is when the interface for importing directly from a scanner inside Word™ was altered. From there, you can download a patch for Office that will correct its ability to use properly installed TWAIN drivers. This does not address the issues with the actual TWAIN drivers themselves.
Another important point to keep in mind is that most scanners in use today are connected via a USB port. What this means is that having the drivers installed for the device prior to connecting it usually gives the best results. Depending on the device, there may be a need to reset the machine a few times also to get the system to notice changes. In rare instances, I have found turning the device on and off, or even unplugging and replugging it in to help too.
With that said, here's a summary of the steps I used to get the TWAIN drivers for my HP Scanject 4600 working again:
Start by going to the company who has made your scanner (or other device) and download the latest drivers.
While there, look for patches they may have issued after that driver's release date. As names given to patches are so cryptic, and the order they must be installed in could be important, I save each one to its own folder. The name I give to that folder often includes the date of release so I can tell when each should be installed.
Remove the old drivers from inside XP, and unplug the scanner from the computer. (So it won't try reinstalling bad drivers.)
Restart the computer and install the replacement drivers. Plug the scanner back in.
Depending on the device, you may need to restart the computer a few times and/or re-install the drivers again.
Install any patches to the drivers in the order they were released. Patches may require the machine to be reset, so do so as needed.
Final note, I did find HP was offering alternative TWAIN drivers along with numerous patches. I was able to get my own issues resolved by following these steps and applying only 2 patches. These being the one for XP patch dated April 2004 and then the one for 2007. While I did downloaded all of the other offered patches and those other patches, I decided - this time - to test the function of the scanner after installing each patch. I found my system worked better, in other words, by ignoring those other patches and the use of those alternative TWAIN drivers.
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