I'm trying to install a scanner by IP the same way you would install a printer by IP. I don't want to install the horrible HP Solution Center software but I don't know how to install a network scanner without the software.
I'm having a hard time googling this because when I search for things like "install network scanner" or "install scanner by IP" all the results are for things like Angry IP Scanner which is clearly different than what I'm trying to get.
Thanks in advance.
This is for Windows Vista, but Windows 7 instructions will do.
8 Answers
Printers work because there are standard ways of talking to a printer by IP, but there isn't a (common, Windows supported) standard for talking to a scanner by IP. You either need software which will do it installed on every computer, or you need a device which supports scanning to email, or scanning to a fileshare.
Does your device have something like this?
3Install just the scanner drivers (if the producer provides them outside the full solution) and then use irfan. Works like a charm.
iview427_setup.exe
irfanview_plugins_427_setup.exe
File menu->Select TWAIN source->your scanner (if the scan drivers were correctly installed it should show here)
Then File menu->Acquire/Batch scanning
5The majority of scanners aren't usable over the network unless they're specifically made for it, and in that case they have instructions on how to do so.
Even multifunction printer/scanner combos I've seen allow perhaps network printing, but not network scanning.
You'd first have to verify that your printer would support such a configuration. My bet is that it doesn't.
2I'm assuming you're talking about a multifunction printer (MFP) that has print and scan capability. If that's the case then the network scanner function of the software package is just a driver and interface for the functionallity that exists in the MFP that allows you to configure it and use it from a computer. That being said, you ought to be able to configure the scan to network settings from the control panel of the MFP itself.
You can then install just the printer driver on the computer to facilitate printing from the computer.
What I'm saying may sound confusing (it does to me a little bit) but basically what I'm saying is this:
I can walk up to the MFP and configure it from the control panel to scan to the network without ever having to install the software on my computer. I can then scan documents directly from the scanner to the network. That won't allow me to do anything from my computer but I can at the very least install only the driver on my computer and have printing functionallity.
If the scanner is on your network try hitting it via a web browser. My scanner presents a web page that lets you start a scan and use the browser's "Save Image As" to download the scanned image.
To see what IP address it has been given, check the WiFi status page of your router.
If the scanner supports networked TWAIN, then a networked TWAIN driver/software (versus USB) may work. Typically it is bundled by the manufacturer for their specific product, but it should be interchangeable.
If it is an HP N6350 you can modify the installers to only install the driver and required applications to make it work. It may work for other HP network scanners as well but I know the list of apps and the order in which they must be install for the N6350 to work.
I have found that a user without elevated admin privileges in Windows 7 cannot install either so you need admin rights to install it.
It is often possible to download just the TWAIN (scanner) driver for your version of Windows (usually packaged for several versions of Windows). You may then be able to unzip the driver package.
There may be a setup.exe file within the package that you can run, or there may be one or more .inf files. Often, you can right-click on a .inf file and choose install, and the twain driver will install itself as a minimal installation.
You can then use Catalin Simion's Irfanview test to request a page scan.
This method does not always work, however. I arrived at this SO question after attempting this method with a Samsung M288x series AIO under Windows 7, and this method did not work. There was a setup.exe in the scanner-only package, and using that resulted in a larger installation than I wanted, but smaller than the full print/scan/fax/wash_dishes driver software package.
