I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!) I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students. Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!)
I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students.
Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop >> (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of >> DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Only when I bought my first iMac, and had to go all USB. I bought Vuescan over 20 years ago, and itrCOs still good now on the same licence. He really does mean rCylifetimerCO licence. I think itrCOs probably worth owning a copy. I
think it also had a trial as well.
Might be worth trying OCLP to reinstall the OS, you can install the correct OS with it, or try an unsupported one. It can work ok.
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!) I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students. Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - u70/u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
On 22 Mar 2026 at 8:27:03rC>pm GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Only when I bought my first iMac, and had to go all USB. I bought Vuescan
over 20 years ago, and itrCOs still good now on the same licence. He really >> does mean rCylifetimerCO licence. I think itrCOs probably worth owning a copy. I
think it also had a trial as well.
Might be worth trying OCLP to reinstall the OS, you can install the correct >> OS with it, or try an unsupported one. It can work ok.
OCLP to install Mavericks? I should have clarified that it's the Canon drivers
for the 4400f that only work on Mavericks (lastest OS).
You're right though,
VueScan may be a good investment. I'm surprised no one else has produced any scanner software.
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!) I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students. Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!)
I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students.
Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop >> (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of >> DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
I have an ancient Canoscan and Vuescan. They work well together
but these days I would scan in Preview on my iPhone or iPad. Once
you've scanned, you can deskew and adjust the image.
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
On 22 Mar 2026 at 8:27:03rC>pm GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Only when I bought my first iMac, and had to go all USB. I bought Vuescan >>> over 20 years ago, and itrCOs still good now on the same licence. He really
does mean rCylifetimerCO licence. I think itrCOs probably worth owning a copy. I
think it also had a trial as well.
Might be worth trying OCLP to reinstall the OS, you can install the correct >>> OS with it, or try an unsupported one. It can work ok.
OCLP to install Mavericks? I should have clarified that it's the Canon drivers
for the 4400f that only work on Mavericks (lastest OS).
ItrCOs just a wild thought for sure, although I donrCOt see what the exact model of MacBook you have. How have you been trying to create the
installers? I recently did this for my old 2017 MacBook Pro, and
downloading the installer app, and using the Apple Terminal command (as
shown in their KB page) to create an installer on a USB stick was the only way I could get it to work. I too was having trouble reinstalling, but from the internet recovery option.
OCLP was just a suggestion because, for me, itrCOs never had an issue installing anything. It might just have been a workaround.
You're right though,
VueScan may be a good investment. I'm surprised no one else has produced any >> scanner software.
There were one or two others around back in the day, but I think Vuescan
has proven to be a reliable and cost effective way to get almost any
scanner to work. Of course if you buy a newer scanner, it should just work.
I have a HP all-in-one here now, on the Instant Ink subscription, and can
use Image Capture, Preview, Vuescan or the HP software. That even works
from our iPhones and iPads.
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
On 22 Mar 2026 at 20:07:37 GMT, "Mark" <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!)
I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students.
Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop >> (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of >> DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
I think that if I was faced with the choice of VueScan at -u68 or a scanner st
-u75 I would opt for the hardware.
On 23 Mar 2026 at 7:36:35rC>am GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and >>>>>> stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a >> little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
I've been thinking about Linux on one of the MBAs...
On 23 Mar 2026 at 7:36:35rC>am GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and >>>>>> stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a >> little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
I've been thinking about Linux on one of the MBAs...
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!) I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students. Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
On 23 Mar 2026 at 10:51:05 GMT, "Mark" <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
On 23 Mar 2026 at 7:36:35rC>am GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and >>>>>>> stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a >>> little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
I've been thinking about Linux on one of the MBAs...
My Intel Mac runs Linux very well on a separate partition or on an external SSD. I've tried the various flavours of Ubuntu and other distros such as Fedora and Alpine. All seem to work very well. The only minor issue with a laptop is having to manually install the Broadcom wireless drivers but it's easily overcome.
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a Canooscan 4400f flatbed scanner (had it for more than 15 years now!)
I use it to scan random book chapters to PDFs to hand out to students.
Unfortunately the software ended with Mavericks, so I use an old Win7 laptop >> (I have tried installing Mavericks on an old Macbook, but the last couple of >> DMGs I've downlaoded have failed to build the boot USB).
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and
stuttering. Therefore my options are:
- Try again with the Mavericks instal (free)
- Buy VueScan (-u68)
- Buy a new flatbed scanner (Canoscan LiDE 400 looks ok - -u70/-u75)
Anyone had a similar situation?
Another freebie option would be to install a recent Linux (eg on the old Macbook) and use the 4400f from there. Appears it works with SANE (the standard Linux scanning subsystem).
Although it seems it's not the best designed and has a tendency to blow its internal fuse, which is under-rated for some uses: https://gitlab.com/sane-project/backends/-/issues/436
Theo
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
On 23 Mar 2026 at 7:36:35rC>am GMT, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and >>>>>>> stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a >>> little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
I've been thinking about Linux on one of the MBAs...
Certainly could be an option, might be better than the Win7 laptop perhaps?
I did install Mint onto an old HP 255 we had, but it was a little fiddly to get working right - particularly with the Wi-Fi controller, I had to
replace that with one with a different chipset. Although Linux can be installed on laptops, it seems that it is really designed to work on
desktops as a priority.
You might actually have better luck with the MacBooks, they have known hardware configurations so fewer variables to deal with . You should also
be able to dual boot it, so you still have the choice.
ThererCOs also the option of a VM too, like VirtualBox. It might get you past the issue that way (as long as you can install the OS), albeit a bit more slowly.
On 23/03/2026 07:36, Andy H wrote:
Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
Mark <captain.black@gmail.com> wrote:
[..]
The Win7 laptop is very much showing its age - lots of wheezing and >>>>>> stuttering. Therefore my options are:
Another wild out there thought. What about bunging Linux on the Win7
laptop? One of the rCyliterCO versions might work, and might just squeeze a >> little performance out of it. Again, only a thought.
Maybe even just re-install Windows 7 to "de-cruftify" it? Or XP if the scanner works that far back.
<https://archive.org/details/win-7-black> if you no longer have the
install disks, plus the black edition removes a lot of cruft no longer
needed as it is out of support.
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