unable to comm with scanner

[robebcan]

I recently followed your Malware/Virus removal steps and then installed Zonealarm (the free one) as my firewall.

I have an all-in-one printer/copier/scanner Canon Pixma  MP130. When I try to run a scan, I get an error stating that the computer cannot communicate with the scanner, that it is either turned off, or the cable is disconnected. However, the printer works fine ! I have rebooted the MP130, and re-inserted the USB in different ports, with no success. I have also shutdown the ZA completely, but I get the same error.

It works fine on my notebook, for which I have not run the security software process that I ran on this desktop.

I'm using ZA 9.1.007.002 and Avast 5.0.462 on WinXP Home 2002. Also, I recently ran Advanced System Care 3.5.0

Are there some security settings that are incorrect ?

[EEVIAC]

If the printer is working, but the scanner is not, then I doubt this is due to a firewall issue.

Are you using the latest driver for the All IN ONE device?

[robebcan]

Yes. The last driver posted was 2007.

Also note that the unit works fine with my notebook computer, using WinXP Pro but without Zonealarm or Avast (uses AVG). Also, it seems strange that only the scanner is ex-communicado while the printer is fine. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions about security software, but the coincidence of changing to ZA, Avast, and running Advanced System Care seems strong to me.

[EEVIAC]

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions about security software, but the coincidence of changing to ZA, Avast, and running Advanced System Care seems strong to me.

For now, uninstall Zone Alarm and Avast and see what you get...

Make sure Windows Firewall is enabled, however..

[robebcan]

Same result after uninstalling Zone Alarm and Avast. Also noteworthy is that the computer does not "see" a Nikon camera connected via USB either, but the same USB works fine for another camera or any other device. If I run Belarc advisor, it identifies the Nikon camera. So there is something fishy in the USB ports.

[EEVIAC]

System files might have been corrupted when your computer was infected.   A system restore may help, but it also might bring some of those nasties back...  Do a system restore back to before you got the viruses.  If you're unsure when that was, do the best you can...

[robebcan]

I can't find a restore point for that criteria, because I don't know when the viruses arrived, and the scanner problem only occurred very recently, after the restore points that I've already reverted to (in my own attempts to undo recent changes).

[EEVIAC]

When was the last time you reinstalled the operating system ?   Maybe it's time to start over. Generally that would be considered overkill, but if a system's been infected, had various programs installed, and you have odd problem's like this, it's not a bad idea.

[EEVIAC]

Hold off on reinstalling for a little while..  I just did an installation onto a computer with windows XP and I'm having the exact problem you're having with the scanner..  I've turned the computer inside out and cannot find the culprit.  The only thing that seems to work, is by going through the software that Windows provides, to use the scanner, pretty much by passing interface software that comes with the 3 in 1 device.

Click Start, Control Panel, Scanners and Faxes, (or whatever category has the scanner), right click on the scanner and look for some kind of option to scan on that menu.  Windows seems to do a good job scanning.  Just pay attention to what directory windows wants to store the scanned picture in...

All I can see at this point, is that Windows XP seems to have problems with after market software for some scanners.   I had to uninstall Service Pack 3 in order to even be able to access the Interface software for the scanner.  Before, when double clicking on the scanner software to run a scan, nothing would happen.  It just sat there, doing nothing.  After uninstalling service pack 3, I can at least access the scanner software, but I'm getting the same error message that you are describing, and have not found a fix for it yet.. I'll keep you posted...

[EEVIAC]

As a possible fix:

Click Start, right-click "my computer", click "properties", on the hardware tab click on "device manager"...  Click on the "+" sign next to "Universal Serial Bus Controller", on the sub menu, right click on USB Composite Device, click "uninstall"...Disconnect the USB All in One device for about 10 seconds and then reconnect it.  Wait another ten seconds and try using the scanner...


If this doesn't work, as a work around:  Click Start, Control Panel, Scanners and Cameras.. Right Click on the All in One device and try scanning using one of the options in that menu...

best of luck

[robebcan]

Thanks for the suggestions. Here's the status:

I uninstalled and reinstalled the 3-in-one device. After installing, I got the balloon "A problem occurred during installation. Your device may not work properly."

I uninstalled the USB Composite Device, waited 10 secs, and reconnected. I got the same result.

Before taking these actions, I checked the Hardware Device Manager and saw that the Imaging Devices_Canon MP130 had a yellow exclamation mark. It's properties said:
"Windows cannot start this device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)"

This same condition returned after each Uninstall/Reinstall.

If the problem is in the Registry, then maybe one of the Registry Cleaners I used (CCleaner and Advanced System Care) damaged the scanner file. But I can't understand why a clean install of the device won't rectify that problem.

[EEVIAC]

Which service pack do you have installed.. ?

I learned recently that the problem I had, involved service pack 2 and above.

Apparently the computer I worked on, originally had service pack 1 installed, and someone (not me) upgraded it to service pack 2, and that when the problem started..

[robebcan]

WinXP SP 3......I keep it updated. I've had SP3 installed for many months, but the comm problem started only recently. Also, my notebook has WinXP SP3 and has not seen this problem at all.....

[EEVIAC]

Ok, let's have the make/model of the computer...  time to get down and dirty

[robebcan]

home built....ASUS board Celeron E1200 1.60 MHz 2 GB