Some Programs May Not Work with a Scanner or a Camera When You Upgrade to Windows XP

Some programs (that are supplied by hardware manufacturers) that support imaging devices, such as, scanners and cameras, may not work when you upgrade your computer to Windows XP and use Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) drivers.

This problem can occur because the operating systems that existed before Windows XP do not have any signed WIA drivers that are related to still imaging devices. When Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), or Microsoft Windows 2000 is upgraded to Windows XP, the technology without an interesting name (TWAIN) drivers that had been previously installed are removed because WIA drivers are available.

NOTE: The TWAIN drivers are produced by independent hardware vendors (IHVs). TWAIN is an image capture application programming interface (API) that is used by Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems. WIA drivers are signed drivers that enable the automatic detection and installation of still imaging devices.

To work around this problem, remove the WIA driver and reinstall the IHV driver as the WIA drivers can provide less features than the previously installed IHV drivers. To return to the full functionality that is provided by third-party programs that are available when you use IHV drivers you must:

1. Remove the program.
2. Remove the WIA driver by using Device Manager.
3. Install the IHV driver by using Device Manager.
4. Reinstall the program.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

WIA drivers provide more stability than the previous TWAIN and Still Image (STI) drivers, which had been created for the previous Windows operating systems. However, after you upgrade your computer to Windows XP, you may have problems with your imaging devices because the IHV drivers that had been removed (during the upgrade process) had previously enabled you to use the full functionality of the software that came with the imaging device.

WIA data sources use the Scanner And Camera Wizard as the primary tool to obtain and alter images. Only when you use a WIA driver is the Scanner And Camera Wizard able to detect (and use) the data source. Also, some third-party programs have limited functions that are available when they are used with WIA drivers. In most situations, the imaging device is not recognized by the manufacturer-supplied program when you use WIA drivers. The Scanner And Camera Wizard and the MSPaint.exe program are currently the only programs that can natively enable you to obtain pictures from a still imaging device when you use WIA drivers.

NOTE: There are a limited number of devices that have WIA drivers that are automatically available after the installation of Windows XP. Additional signed WIA drivers are going to be produced by hardware manufacturers for Windows XP.

Other information:

• Adobe Photoshop Elements is a TWAIN program that provides a WIA plug-in. This plug-in enables the TWAIN program to obtain images from a WIA data source. WIA plug-ins are going to be the primary source of providing the added functionality of manufacturer-supplied programs with devices that use WIA drivers.
• Office 2002, Picture It! 2001, and other future Microsoft programs are going to support both TWAIN and WIA drivers. You are going to be able to obtain images from a data source by using these programs with either of the preceding types of driver.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.