Problems using Silverfast SE/Epson 4990/XP Pro

[alan]

Hi there,

Firstly hello - here's a sincere hope that someone can help.

Secondly I have read the various posts whereby Silverfast themselves seem to spend more time trying to explain that this is NOT (apparently) a support forum than it seems they do actually solving technical problems. So that being said, I am hoping one you experienced users can 'set me straight' here. I'll try to briefly explain why I'm posting:

I just recently bought an Epson 4990 which came bundled with Silverfast SE. Nothing wrong with the scanner - perfectly fine for my needs. So I went through all the correct steps - heck I even read all the silly bits of the manuals first. Ended up with both the Epson drivers and the Silverfast SE installed and went about doing back to back tests. Wasn't really blown away by either to be honest. Anyway, I registered the software here (warnings of things to come - far too complex, far too annoying and unfriendly to the user) and updated my SE to the lastest version.

But I noticed odd things happening with SE. Like the fact that if I tried to output a TIFF in black and white, although it went through the entire scan process, it would not actually write an image to disk. It would write a jpeg okay - just not the Tiff. Not the end of the world but annoying. But then I noticed that trying to use GANE there was nothing displayed in the preview pane despite refresh, altering input settings etc - the sorts of things we usually try.

So I uninstalled it all - deleted the Lasersoft folders - cleaned the entire machine with registry sweeps etc. Reinstalled - Tiffs okay now but still no GANE. So I tried to download Ai to see if that was any better. OMG - what a mess. Cycling round and round the damned site - keep getting sent back to the 'select product' page. Hopeless - utterly hopeless. I finally found a donwload version of Ai on an external site. Installed it but it didn't fix anything at all. This has by now wasted three or four days of my life.

To top it all - I registered to post on this site back last week. Just to show how completely on the case they are (and why, exactly, is this the only site in the western world that requires a personal review of my registration application?) I FINALLY recieve an email from admin almost five days later - just to say I can now log in!

By now, I've installed v**s**n and given up on the sorry mess. I don't think it's me or my PC - which is up to date and very well maintained. How badly does a good idea (the software) have to be implemented before someone admits that it needs a good shake up? I'm far from the only one to be frustrated and disappointed at the clusmsy and faulty website. I really want to have a copy of Silverfast Ai (just the official demo would be nice) installed so I can FINALLY find out if it a) actually works properly and b) is any good.

So if I haven't bored you all to death by now :0( can someone please suggest how I might obtain, install and troubleshoot this software without being expected to give up another week of my life?

[MikeD56]

Alan,

I must be missing something in the steps you took to download a demo. I did the following steps
1. In the upper right corner I selected downloads
2.On the displayed page, on the right side, I selected test our product (has DEMO in bold at the bottom of the icon)
3. On the displayed page, in the middle, I selected SilverFast for scanners (the text not the picture of a scanner)
4.On the displayed page, form the drop-downs, I selected Epson as the Manufacturer and 4990 as the product
5. On the displayed page I selected the Download TWAIN Version to the right of the SilverFast Ai wording, second item down in the list
6. On the displayed page <Demo-Registration, I did not enter any data just clicked the register and download button
7. On the displayed page I selected the SilverFast (DEMO) item
8. On the file download dialog box I selected a directory to save it to and clicked the save button.

Worked for me that way at least YAMMV

[alan]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply and in fact I double checked my process just in case I was being dim - but no - I was in fact doing exactly as you describe. Thing is this - I click on the demo image and get to the page where I have to select the type of software and yes, I click on the active text link next to the picture of the scanner. When I get to the next page - where I have to select scanner type - I use the drop down list to select Epson and as soon as the page refreshes guess what? - I'm taken back to the page where I was two steps ago. Honest - it's not me - the way this site is designed is just not properly optimised for all browsers or systems - I don't particularly care which. But that's really the least of my problems. The software didn't work properly from day one.

It's this fact coupled with the huge amount of undoubtedly legitimate complaints and frustrations expressed throughout this site that lead me to believe that however good these guys might be at imaging software, they have almost sod all idea of how to run a business. Like all the other frustrated inconvenienced users on here I am a CUSTOMER. That's a funny old fashioned word these days but it means that I EXPECT some measure of service provision in return for parting with my cash. The fact that I am apparently allowed to post such blatant criticism without any attempt on their part to Firstly: assuage my doubts and attempt to help me directly with the obvious issues I have with their product and Secondly: offer any evidence at all that they are genuinely even the tiniest bit concerned about their users, tells me just about all I need to know. ("ooh - you know the forum wasn't actually designed for support issues..." yeah well, if they understood the tiniest thing about support, there wouldn't be all these poor souls needing to post to the forum)

I would really, honestly like to have installed and used this software and I thank you for trying to help but I have a life and I have work to get done. I am now happily using a competitor's product which - dare I say it - is such an utter breeze and works 100%.