Scanner trouble

[Garyfl]

Hello all
I have a HP4200C scanner and I wanted to scan a list of things that I do to clean up my PC and I was going to e-mail it to my buddy accross town. I am using a HP6370z computer, Win 98SE,350MHz,96MB.Here is what the scan looked like.

D6 -. #/,5 ~ w z@@ Af r 4 . 1. Click on IE5 then tool@?internet options. Delete the tenip Internet riles and clear.(he hision riles. 2. Click on Netscape then edit>prcferences>adv@anced>caclie click on both buttons.,- - - 3. Clean out the tenip fii6s and t'eimip internist files. To do this Double click "iiiv computer" Double click the C: icon Find the windows fol&'r (niav be called WIN95 on some machines) and double click on it. Scroll doN,.,ii and doubled click on -the Temp folder' Go to edit and then s@lect all. @.11 of the files and folders should now be in blue If vou get a message saving there are hidden files then go to view and then Folder options. or Options if using WindoNN-s 95. Click on the view tab and select All files in the flist and click Appiv and OK. go to edit and then select all again. Once all the files and folder@'lia%,@ been selected. click file then select delete. Click N7es,or yes to all to anT prompts that come up@ Repeat (his for the temp internet file folder. 4. Click start>programs>gcce,ssories>systeins tools>disk cipai.i up. Click OK. OK. Yes. I 5. Click oii aiid ruii regcleaii 41 6. Click start>sllutdoN%@n@;ielcct "restart in DOS" then OK In DOS type cd\ and 6en enter. Then itype scanreg /fix and then enter. Afler the program runs type exit to return to Windows. 7. Empty the recycle biii, 8. Click on start>progranis>accessories>svstem tools>scandisk Choose standard and auto fix errors. 9. Click on start>prograitis>acce@s6r-iEs>systeni tools> disk defragnienter. OK. I or .1 I 1-1. I i

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software. When I went to the HP help site it said my word proccesser could cause this so I uninstalled and reinstalled MS Works 4.5. I did a search here and other places and so far I have not found the answer. Could someone please tell me what to do to correct this? TIA.
BTW the scanner will scan photos OK. The scanner software has something called "Omnipage Opitical Character Recognition" that I think is causeing the trouble but I dont know how to get rid of it. Gary

[Edited by Garyfl on 10-13-2000 at 02:46 PM]

[tward]

The standard optical character recognition that comes with the scanner isn't very good. This is the software that "reads" what is on the scanned page and tries to convert it to editable text. A lot depends on the quality/font of the text being scanned. Some text just scans better than others. Even a good scan will only get 85-95% accuracy. I don't think this a problem that you can fix. That's just the way it is.

There are better optical character recognition software packages available for a price. If this is that important, you should invest in one.

[glc]

Instead of sending the scan to a word processor, send it to an image editing program and save it as a JPG. Either that or spend the $99 for an upgrade to OmniPage "Pro".

[tward]

Is the list you are scanning a typed list or is it handwritten? If it is handwritten, forget about converting it to a document. Do like glc said and make it a .jpg file.

[Garyfl]

It is just a list of stuff that I had typed up using MS works. I have been using the scanner for about a year and a half and it never did this before. I will try to type it over again using a different format. Maybe notepad.

[glc]

Why are you scanning it if you already have it typed into Works? Just e-mail him the Works file if he has Works - if not, save it as "rich text format" and he can open it in Wordpad or any other Windows based word processor.

[tward]

Or, just copy and paste into the body of the e-mail. No need even for an attachment.

[K A Hall]

uhh....is it alright if I let out a snicker or giggle here?
LOL!!!

[Garyfl]

When I typed it in MS works I did not save it. I printed it out instead. My mistake. You can giggle if you want.

[Garyfl]

From the Dan Rosenbaum Win Letter #106 dated 10-13-00 Quote
There is a German term, Schadenfreude, which the dictory
defines as "glee at another's misfortune".
A reason some people prefer to lurk.

[K A Hall]

Originally posted by Garyfl
From the Dan Rosenbaum Win Letter #106 dated 10-13-00 Quote
There is a German term, Schadenfreude, which the dictory
defines as "glee at another's misfortune".
A reason some people prefer to lurk.

I am very familiar with that quote.
I was not giggling at your misfortune, and even if I was this is a minor one and I have done things similiar. I was merely amused by the thread. Sorry you took it that way.

[Garyfl]

Its OK. Thanks to all who tried to help me. I understand it now. I just thought that plain text would be a piece of cake for a scanner. It is OK to close this now.

[Garyfl]

This is a follow up to let everyone know that there is a free program for scanners that lets you scan printed material and it will give you an exact copy. It is called Wocarw 2. works great.