Nikon V ED Diagnosis Needed

[Bike Tourist]

I've had my Cool Scan V ED for, I don't know, many years. I usually scan at 4000dpi regardless of eventual use. I use Nikon Scan. My platform is an HP D4100E powered with an AMD Athlon 64 x 2 running Windows XP SP3.

I can usually scan about a half dozen frames before the progress meter stops or the screen freezes. I have to get out of Nikon Scan, turn off the Cool Scan, then start over again. Then it behaves perfectly fine until it stops again from 6 to 10 frames down the line.

I wonder if my 2 gigs of RAM are just insufficient?

 

[Ronald_H]

Don't think so. My set-up is quite a bit older and has 'only' 1Gb. No freezes.

If I use memory hungry programs together my PC gets really slow and my hard disk sounds like its grinding coffee... but no crashes.

 

[jarski]

never had such problems with MacBook and V ED, but that ofcourse does not help OP much.

key in Ctrl + Left Shift + Esc, and XP resource utilization console pops up. monitor memory consumption while using the scanner, perhaps this helps decide if its memory related problem ?

edit: console has few tabs, and one of them shows CPU and Memory utilization diagrams.

 

[Bike Tourist]

Thanks for the new ideas. I'll try them.

 

[ChrisN]

I have the same scanner, and get the same problems with my desktop PC. No problems with the previous desktop PC, and no problems currently using my (low-spec) laptop. Both running Windows XP Home. I figure it's some sort of software conflict with the current desktop PC, so I just use the laptop when scanning.

If this problem has only recently started, have you recently installed any software?

Edit: I have the software configured to save each scan immediately after scanning - I think that minimises the memory utilisation.

 

[Steve M.]

Try uninstalling the software and reinstalling it.

 

[Bike Tourist]

All good suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Arjay]

Sounds like a memory management problem - the software doesn't release memory it once had occupied.

I recall that Nikon Capture (the version before NX) had similar problems, and AFAIK, Nikon Scan is a direct derivative of this software. I know that Nikon has recently released an updated version of Nikon Scan. Maybe it's worth the trouble to update to the latest version.

 

[shimokita]

Hi Dick,
I have the same scanner and also use the provided software on a desktop PC with XP Professional 2002 SP2 / 1GB of RAM / 2 x 150GB disk.

I tend to save (and close the images) after every 2-3 scans. Funny I did notice an improvement in preformance recently when I cleaned up my hard disk (about 1/2 free capacity on the target drive). Like everything else, it could be totally unrelated or imagined ;-).

Normally I scan six frames in batch (cut film) and only one roll per setting (total of 36-38) shots per scanning session. If I wait to save until after six scans, it takes too long to bring up each image, hence I save more often...

Nikon Scan version 4.0.2

Casey

 

[Bike Tourist]

Sounds like a memory management problem - the software doesn't release memory it once had occupied.

I recall that Nikon Capture (the version before NX) had similar problems, and AFAIK, Nikon Scan is a direct derivative of this software. I know that Nikon has recently released an updated version of Nikon Scan. Maybe it's worth the trouble to update to the latest version.

Thanks, but I already run ver. 4.02. The more recent version is for Vista only.

 

[Bike Tourist]

Hi Dick,
I have the same scanner and also use the provided software on a desktop PC with XP Professional 2002 SP2 / 1GB of RAM / 2 x 150GB disk.

I tend to save (and close the images) after every 2-3 scans. Funny I did notice an improvement in preformance recently when I cleaned up my hard disk (about 1/2 free capacity on the target drive). Like everything else, it could be totally unrelated or imagined ;-).

Normally I scan six frames in batch (cut film) and only one roll per setting (total of 36-38) shots per scanning session. If I wait to save until after six scans, it takes too long to bring up each image, hence I save more often...

Nikon Scan version 4.0.2

Casey

Interesting, since I save after every scan. Maybe some of you are not scanning at 4000 dpi? That might have a bearing on it, too.

 

[hacknet]

hi,


ive had this same problem with a coolscan VI and i've traced it to some part of the electronics overheating. I remedied it easily by taking the outer shell off. it allows the electronics to cool faster and the problem has completely gone away.

have a try..

Cheers
JT

 

[icemanh]

I've the same problem with my LS4000.

Reinstalled software, connected to another computer, the problem still exists. Sent it back to Nikon, they claimed it doesn't have any problem after charging labour cost. I have to give up and restart it periodically.

I agree with hacknet, it is overheat problem, taking off the outer shell doesn't help in my case.

 

[Arjay]

Thanks, but I already run ver. 4.02. The more recent version is for Vista only.

How much RAM does your computer have? I had serious performance problems under Windows XP with the old Nikon Capture software. Problems got a little less severe when I upgraded my computer's RAM from 1 to 2 GB of memory. Still didn't turn the computer into a rocket, but at least it became usable.