I have an older model Epson, the Perfection 3170, which has the capability of scanning negatives and slides. I bought it directly from Epson (refurbished) at a very good price. I still have not scanned the negatives and slides I bought it for, and now the latest drivers available are for Windows 7. I did find out that it can be installed in "compatibility mode" on Windows 8. I've been waffling about a new computer and finally had myself convinced to go ahead with Windows 8. Now, I'm not so sure of what to do. I should have done this job several years ago, and life is getting away from me. I'm sure I'll leave this life with lots of unfinished projects. Can someone explain whether "compatibility mode" would limit any functions of the scanner if installed on Windows 8? I've read some rumors of Windows 9 making an appearance by Christmas time this year. Anyone with any knowledge of this? This just adds to my confusion. Here are the specs of the computer I'm considering: ⢠Windows 8.1 64 ⢠4th generation Intelî Core⢠i7-4770 processor quad-core[3.4GHz,8MB Shared Cache] ⢠Intel HD Graphics [DVI-I, DVI-D] ⢠12GB DDR3-1600MHz [2 DIMM ] ⢠2TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive ⢠No Secondary HDD ⢠Microsoft Office Trial ⢠Security software trial ⢠SuperMulti DVD Burner ⢠15-in-1 Multi-slot Media Card Reader, 4 USB Ports (Front/Top), Audio [Front 2USB2.0, Top 2USB3.0] ⢠No TV Tuner Card ⢠Integrated Sound, Envy Audio; Beats Audio ⢠HP USB keyboard and optical mouse with volume control ⢠Wireless-N LAN card and Bluetoothî(1x1) ⢠460W Power supply Apologize for hijacking this thread. However, I think Epson makes some great peripherals.

Scanning, but keeping BACKUPS of the scanned papers somewhere safer than on your hard drive. OCR is far better than it used to be, and searchible is usually OK when you scan. it's more an issue of the software than the scanner, except for the automatic feeder part - the commands to run the scanner are simple and will be part of any You can probably download and test various software for free with your existing scanner. When you find one that works the way you like, buy the auto-feed scanner for it.

I am so sorry to hear about your mother . Here's what I had to do for mom's funeral . I was traveling to Louisiana pulling the rv when I got a call from my sister that the funeral home needed the pictures emailed to them immediately so they could create the video and the memory books and the framed picture . I had all of my pictures . I sat in my passenger seat in the truck going down the road and took pictures of the pictures on my phone ! I then emailed all of those to the funeral home . I was so afraid it would be terrible but honestly they were fine no one knew they were pictures of pictures . So you could do that too and a much better job sitting still at a table ! They can be emailed or you can send them to a photo place for printing , Walmart , CVS , all sorts of places can do it . So thinking out side of the box might be the best option .

Okay, a completely different approach that I should have thought of before.... Have you ever used the free software Team Viewer? It allows remote access to a PC and works as if the person in the remote location were sitting in front of the PC in another location being operated. Think of the old Client/Server model. The server portion of Team Viewer is installed on the PC to be manipulated remotely - call it the Mac. Client software is installed on the PC where the user is seated - call it the Windows machine. When the server software is first installed, there's a code presented. When the client software starts up on the Win PC, by entering the Mac's pass code, a connection is made from the Win PC to the Mac over the network or over the internet and the person at the Win PC can use the Mac as if they were in the same room. End the session and the connection is broken. It may be hard under the circumstances (you're not where the Mac is) to get this set up the first time if you think you need to be there but it's certainly possible. Get it set up next time you're home so that if another time when you're gone, should other issues befall the Mac or the Mac user, you could connect and try to fix them from wherever you are.