Umax driver for Vista - Cannot use the scanner since I had a new laptop.

Go to the website for umax and you should be able to download the driver you need.

Hi,

I don't know about Windows 7, but I'm using my Astra 4600 on Windows Vista.

Umax said on its website that the Astra series of scanners are not supported for Windows Vista/7. I suppose this is to get us to buy new scanners...

I searched all around the internet for my driver, but couldn't get one. Finally I tried one more time using the CD that came with my scanner. Of course it doesn't work if you run Setup.exe from the CD --- it will just tell you that the OS is not supported. So I went to Device Manager and deleted the scanner under the "unknown USB device" section, and unplugged the scanner.

When I replugged the scanner, I let Vista install the driver automatically. Of course it couldn't, as Microsoft doesn't support it either. Then the install wizard asked me to put in the CD that came with the scanner. And that did the job! Vista was able to ignore the fact that the driver wasn't written specifically for Vista, and the scanner is working!

I hope you have the same luck with yours.

Happy new year.

The problem: Umax does not support their older scanners under Vista. Their web site only offers drivers for XP and earlier operating systems. Example: Umax Astra 2100U [USB model]. Vista drivers for this model (and many other Umax models) are not available on their website, nor from any other site on the web (that I can find).
[Note: one solution I hoped would work, VueScan (which is not free), only supports the SCSI model of the above Umax scanner.]
The solution: VirtualBox software from Oracle (formerly, Sun), and an old copy of XP. VirtualBox is available as a free download, XP is not. The solution is long winded, but it works (I've done it successfully twice, on two different PC's, one desktop and one laptop).
First install VirtualBox under Windows Vista. Run VirtualBox, and create a virtual machine for Windows XP, and install Windows XP in that virtual machine (it will take about 5 Gb of disk space, and requires a copy of Windows XP). Then, when you have XP running, look under the Devices tab at the top of the VirtualBox window (above the top of the XP window), for "USB Devices". It should have an entry that reads something like "Unknown device 1606:0130 (0100)". This is the Umax scanner: 1606 is the vendor ID for Umax, 0130 is the device ID for the Astra 2100U, and 0100 is the revision number for the device. Click on this "Unknown device...." line, and the scanner should be 'attached' to XP, allowing XP to recognize it and install the driver for it. Once that is done, you should be able to install and use your favorite scanning software to 'Select Source' then 'Acquire' the scanner.
This is not a perfect solution, but does illustrate that these older scanners (at least, the Umax Astra 2100U) *can* run under Vista. It is only lack of support by Umax (and by Microsoft) that prevents it.