Scanjet G4050 compatibility with win10Pro (new versions)

[Bogaras]

Scanjet G4050 does not seem to be compatible with MS win10 Pro (i5-8500, 32 GB memory) after the last win updates, using the newest driver on the HP page any more. Is that true and final or is there any work-out? Error codes: 8, [4,0,-2147417856)] and 4, [(3,2,0)]. Where is the file size limit for the software? Scan doctor does not help at all.

Any idea, please?

[Fullerbrushman]

I'd been in a battle with my old Scanjet G4050 for several days.  Saw others in forum having similar problems.

My 4050 was built in 2006, started using it in 2007 (Windows Vista, as I recall).  With updates, it survived through W7, W8, then it went into the closet for a couple of years, due to lack of project need.  When I brought it back out in mid-2019, I was now running W10 on my old 32-bit computer.  The scanner still managed to do regular photo scanning and B/W negative scanning.  I think I noticed the buttons on the scanner were no longer effective, but I usually used the on-screen controls anyway.

 My last computer (the W10-32bit) was really struggling to do video editing (Pinnacle Studio 23), so I upgraded to a W10-64bit system.  That solved the video editing quite nicely.  Then I hooked up the 4050 to digest about 180 35mm color slides.  Went to HP website to see if updated drivers were still available.  I was encouraged that the website auto-recognized my new W10-64bit system and downloaded the 4050 software.

Initial attempts were frustrated by apparent long pauses in processing time.  After MUCH trial and error, the 4050 is finally working just well enough that I can deal with the diminished ease-of-use (many folks may not have the same patience!).  The controlling dialog boxes are familiar from past experience, but are occasionally interrupted by what I now believe are mostly meaningless error messages. Meaningless or not, they do interrupt and necessitate a re-start of the software. 

THE MAIN WORK-AROUND that seems to work for me, is unplugging power to the 4050 in between batches of slides, or whenever the error messages start appearing.  With 16 slides loaded in the plastic slide holder, the 4050 sometimes gives up after various numbers of slides are scanned.  Sometimes 3 or 7 or 8.  Once in a while,  it would make it through all 16.  When it stops, I click on the "cancel", "quit", "save", "exit", or whatever button is available, then close and re-start the software (and unplug/re-plug scanner power).  Almost without fail, the completed scans seemed to show up in my destination folder (might have to "refresh" it), then I go back to re-scan the ones that didn't make the first cut.

Something else I think might make a difference is using scan settings that ask very little of the software.  For the slides, I settled for 300 dpi, jpeg output.  My scanning is almost entirely for family history stuff, so professional-grade photo-finishing is not necessary for my purposes.

Look also for the 4050 software's photo-editing features and turn them off ("sharpen" seems to be a default box that is checked).  I like to do image enhancements on my pictures after they have successfully arrived at their destination folder.

In the course of trouble-shooting I saw several discouraging and negative comments here and in some YouTube videos re the 4050.  I think it is still a great scanner.  The images are very good, and I've not seen another product with the capacity to handle 16 slides at a time.  The way it recognizes each slide and automatically saves each one to a separate file is a big plus.  As distractive therapy during this ordeal, I re-learned how to open up and clean the under-side of the glass in both the base and the TMA lid.  There are belts and gears in both places, which do generate specks of dust over time.

My opinion is that HP was very ambitious with the number of features built into the 4050 software and hardware.  I don't think anything is wrong with the scanning hardware.  There is definitely a learning curve with the software, and it worked perfectly in the early years, and is still quite useful.  These software gymnastics that I have reluctantly accepted, look like they could be fixed.  Don't know how to tell the higher-ups at HP, but maybe somebody up there will at least read this.  I know, I know . . . lotsa luck with that!

[Navyman46]

Fullerbrushman, I feel your pain. When I bought my G4050 some years ago I was using it quite a lot and loved all of the features plus the high resolution and quality of the scans of all types. After going from  Windows XP to Windows 7 (I skipped Vista) I am now using Windows 10. When I was using Windows 7 everything seemed to be working fine but to be honest I had not used it for a couple of years. Just recently I hooked it up to my  desktop Windows 10 and tried to use it. The program opens and everything looks as if it is running fine, but every time I scan it comes up with a completely black scan. I have searched HP sites and googled questions about black scans, etc. but cannot seem to find anyone who has solved this. I even tried it on my Laptop, uninstalled and reinstalled the latest software from HP and still no solution. I finally found the original program disks for Windows XP and since I still have an old desktop with XP installed I loaded the software and hoped it would run properly. Again no luck, same black scan. I have taken the thing apart and checked all the connections for breaks or loose wires and the hardware seems ok. I wish someone at HP would care enough about their customers to do something to fix this problem. HP doesn't even make a current generation flatbed scanner with even half the features and resolutions of this one and I am very disappointed . I really feel let down by this company. Such a shame to design a great product and then not tweak the software so that it continues to perform for the consumer.  I don't want to have to buy a new scanner since I cannot find one with all of the similar features. And who's to say that Epson or some other producer won't treat us the same way?

[Fullerbrushman]

To Navyman46.  Did you get the black scans even with regular opaque (non-transparency) scanning?

[Navyman46]

Yes, I have not needed the transparency function recently. I like to scan old family photos for genealogy purposes, so opaque scans (image to Jpeg file) are what i have been trying. BTW, does anyone from HP ever read these posts, to your knowledge?

[Fullerbrushman]

Appreciated hearing of your similar experiences.  I, too, am trying to boil down my bins full of old pictures, documents, etc. for family history.  Next time I have an hour to kill, I may try to pry some help out of HP customer support . . .  another puzzle to solve.  Like you and everybody, I'd rather not buy new hardware, especially when there doesn't seem to be much out there with the same capabilities.  One would think that as the tech evolves, the machines would have MORE features, not less!