HP Scanjet 7450C

We have been using an HP Scanjet 7450C scanner with the HP PrecisionScan Pro scanning software and Paperport. This combination of hardware and software worked very well for us allowing us high productivity, excellent control over the scanned images, and a very good and usable electronic filing system. All this changed immediately after installing Windows 7.

Under Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit versions), PrecisionScan Pro (using a TWAIN driver) will no longer "initialize" our Scanjet 7450C, even though the scanner is properly installed as shown by the Device manager. WIA applications such as VueScan work fine but none begin to be as useful as PrecisionScan Pro.

I tried a number of possible solutions and finally found a workaround that works but not very satisfactorily. Under a 32 bit (but not 64 bit) instance of virtual XP, PrecisionScan Pro will finally play nice with the scanner. The major downside results from Paperport (both versions 11 and 12) being very sluggish and prone to crashing in the virtual XP environment.

I have another idea I want to try. I am wondering if PrecisionScan Pro might be willing to behave if I use a SCSI connection instead of a USB connection. The existing USB connection functions perfectly because the scanner is properly shown in the Device Manager and WIA (not TWAIN) based apps work fine. Therefore, I am thinking the issue is with the HP PrecisionScan Pro TWAIN driver and how it communicates with the USB port under Windows 7. Maybe the HP TWAIN driver will behave better if it is only asked to talk to a SCSI connection.

Using a SCSI connection requires buying a new SCSI card, costing almost $200.00. I do not mind spending the money if I had some reasonable assurance it will work so I am looking for opinions. I can always return the card to Newegg less shipping but I would rather be fair and not risk cycling Newegg unless I have some reasonable assurance the SCSI card will resolve the problem.

It really would be nice to fix this problem and avoid all the inconvenience, crashes, and SSD overhead used by Virtual XP. It also would mean I can revert back to the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and take needed advantage of all of the new 4GB of memory we just purchased.