[re_cord_man]

I've been successfully using my Epson Perfection 2400 Photo scanner for several years. Now when I boot the system I'm starting to regularly get the error message that "Epson scan cannot be started". The next message reads "Unable to access the scanner because it is not ready or another application is using it". There are never any other applications using it.
I also use Silverfast software to scan with, if I try to start that the error message says "There was no scanner foiund".
There are times when the scanner will start with no problems, and when this happens the it performs perfectly well.
Is this likely to be a problem with the USB lead or is there something else going on?
I desperate to get it sorted as I'm in the process of digitising all the family photos!

[Hughv]

It might be easiest to completely uninstall and reinstall all the Epson software.

[re_cord_man]

Thanls for the advice Hugh, I had done that previously with no success, but it now appears to have worked!

The main difficulty in all of this is that it's so intermittent. I can sometimes get "scanner not found" on boot up, then another time it will be fine, and to make matters somewhat worse the scanner itself always performs OK, as does the software. This morning it's behaving again.
I had begun to wonder if the scanner itself was on the way out, but I'm reluctant to change it yet as I use it for slide and neg scanning, and those are not easy to find for good results.
Many thanks again Hugh, I really appreciate your advice.
Les

[Hughv]

Any odd noises from the scanner?
Have you checked the cables?
Make sure the lock is completely off.

[re_cord_man]

I've changed the leads, also changed the USB port that it uses, also uninstalled the software and re-installed it, and updated the software. As I said in my message to you earlier today Hugh, all for now appears to be working OK.
When in use the scanner performs perfectly well, no different noises, or any other performance concerns.
The annoying thing is that it's so intermittent. Yet again after closing down earlier today I've just re-booted the system and its all OK. Perhaps the gremlins have gone away....
I would be interested to hear from anyone else who's had similar difficulties with any scanner, especially this type.