I have a 5 year old computer, win98, 32 megs of ram. I don't know what the processer is. No USB support. I don't see any available port to connect a scanner. Is there a way to hook up a scanner to this computer, if so what kind of scanner do you recommend, and do I need a scuzzy card? Hope someone can help me, Thanks....
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How do I add a scanner on an older system??
- Thread starter joseee
- Start date
You could add a scanner using the parallel port on the pc (and if you've got a printer, that then connects to the scanner creating a chain). I've got a Mustek scanner attached to my pc in this fashion and all is hunky dory. Obviously expect it to be slow with the amount of RAM you have and when buying the scanner, check its system requirements. Upgrading the RAM would be best to ensure success on this.
Hopes this helps,
Carty
A tiger? In Africa?
Hopes this helps,
Carty
A tiger? In Africa?
Agree on the parallel port scanner. That would be my first choice.
You could add a card , isa to usb, and gain usb capabilities. But since I've never tried it I can't comment further than that.
You could go SCSI. But all the scanners I've seen recently for SCSI have been expensive. Like over $400.00. And since the parallel port scanners are street priced $40.00 to $60.00 anything more than that is probably wasted.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
You could add a card , isa to usb, and gain usb capabilities. But since I've never tried it I can't comment further than that.
You could go SCSI. But all the scanners I've seen recently for SCSI have been expensive. Like over $400.00. And since the parallel port scanners are street priced $40.00 to $60.00 anything more than that is probably wasted.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
I would NOT recommend a parallel scanner. On an older machine with little RAM, it will drag it to a crawl, if it doesn't crash.
A SCSI would be my choice. You can purchase good scanners that come with ISA or PCI scsi cards about the same price as a parallel one, and the scsi interface will be (at least) twice as fast as a parallel.
I'd think about buying more RAM before I bought a scanner though. Get both if you can.
FYI, our local "big box" store has SCSI scanners (with card) for $179 CDN, that's only about $125 US, built by Mustek (with some no-name on them), but a reasonably good (DTC) scsi card.
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Current moderator at
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A SCSI would be my choice. You can purchase good scanners that come with ISA or PCI scsi cards about the same price as a parallel one, and the scsi interface will be (at least) twice as fast as a parallel.
I'd think about buying more RAM before I bought a scanner though. Get both if you can.
FYI, our local "big box" store has SCSI scanners (with card) for $179 CDN, that's only about $125 US, built by Mustek (with some no-name on them), but a reasonably good (DTC) scsi card.
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Current moderator at
Staff contributor/moderator at
Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
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