Scanner Freezing, Photoshop Crashing

[TWolf]

We're currently running Silverfast 5.1.1 on a Nikon Coolscan 2000. The firmware on the scanner is current. We're experiencing some slowdowns and lockups on scanner/software, especially when using manual focus and selective autofocus. Also, when scanning into Photoshop, in order to access images, you must quit Silverfast, and when you try to reaquire the scanner it says "scanner not found". You then must quit Photoshop and then reopen Photoshop and reaquire Silverfast. Is this normal? We're giving some thought to updating to version 5.5. Will this help aleviate some of these problems? It's a Windows 98SE machine, P3, 1 ghz, with 512 megs of ram. The scanner is the only device on the scsi interface. Should Silverfast be loaded on top of the standard Nikon software? Or is it best to remove the software and just install Siverfast? We currently have it installed on top of the Nikon software as a plug in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kmart]

I had the same problem with 5.1. I cured it by removing Nikons software and 5.1. Reinstall 5.1 first and see if the problem is still there. If not, then re-install the Nikon software, then they both should work. 5.5 should fix the problem at least it did for me.

[TWolf]

Thanks for the promt response. I will uninstall and reinstall the software per your advice when I return to work on Mon.
Any problems or issues with 5.5? Is it worth the update if this resolves the problem?

[kmart]

I am very satisfied with 5.5. Negafix is a big help with negatives, Overall my scans have improved in quality and color since upgrading to 5.5.