I am new to VMware and this is the first time I have tried using a virtual machine.
I have an old laptop running XP Pro that I can use with my (equally old) Artec ViewStation AS6E flatbed scanner. This I use in association with Paint Shop Pro 7 to scan in images. Because the laptop is becoming rather decrepit and because W 8.1 (which I have on my desktop) does not support such an old scanner, I had the idea of running XP in VMware Player on my desktop. The first time I installed XP, everything went fine and I was able to scan and save images that I could later print using W8.1. Unfortunately, for other reasons, I had to uninstall and reinstall VMware player and although I have XP and PSP7 up and running, the scanner will not work. I get a 4-part error message when I try to acquire an image:
1. Please check whether scanner connects to the computer (it does via a parallel port that I added);
2. Make sure that the scanner connects to the power and that the LED is on (!!!);
3. Please set the BIOS Parallel Mode to EPP Mode or Normal Mode (I recall changing the BIOS on the laptop a few years ago but I have no idea what to do now if only because presumably that would mean changing the BIOS of my desktop and it seems to very difficult to access the BIOS with W8.1 installed);
4. Please remove the printer port pass-through device (I have no idea what this means).
This is more of a learning exercise than anything vital. I think that it really is time that I bought a new, W8.1 printer/scanner but, as a Scot, it pains me to dispose of something that is in perfect working order.
Any assistance would be gratefully appreciated.