Cannot Scan Wirelessly to Dell Photo 966

taward11,

You have to scan from the printer, when using it wirelessly.

Also try this tweak and restart your computer.

Start, control panel, device manager. Click on Network and then right click on your wireless adapter, left click properties, power management. Uncheck the box, allow computer to turn off this device to save power.

Rick

I have tried scanning from the printer.  It gives me the "Cannot retrieve scan applications list from your computer" error.  So no dice scanning from the printer.

I've changed the setting on the wireless card, but I can't imagine that 30 seconds of inactivity would inturrupt connectivity.  I haven't done a restart, but I'm not banking on that working.  

My biggest problem seems to lie with the scanning applications not being available to the printer and my inability to access advanced scan settings in the AIOC.

taward11,

Try this first.Enable Bidirectional Support/Enable Biodirectional Support

If this doesn't work, we could try the virus program and firewall.

I suspect the setting in your wireless router may need tweaked. Make and model of your wireless router and they type of security you're using. What channel?

Rick

taward11,

WPA-PSK(TKIP) Security(Personal)?

Try channel 11?

Allow Printer past Microsoft Essentials

Rick

Yes, WPA-PSK(TKIP) Personal.

Switch to channel 11 didn't help.  

Microsoft Essentials doesn't seem to be blocking anything.  But I can't tell.  I've added every dell labeled folder I can find to the exclided files list.  Are there some executables that I should add to the excluded processes list?

taward11,

You do have a wireless G router, one that uses the 2.4GHz frequency, correct?

Make and model of your computer and operating system. 32-bit or 64-bit.

Operating system is in which language?

Micorsoft Essentials is your virus program.

Rick

Yes, I do have a wireless G router that uses 2.4GHz frequency.  It is the standard att uverse issued router.

Lenovo X220T, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Yes, Microsoft Essentials is my virus program.

taward11,

First run Delete Print Jobs to remove any stuck print jobs from the queue.

Make sure the printer is not usb connected.

I suggest using these Recommended Wireless Router Settings I use channel 11. I would make a new SSID to make connecting easier.

Download and run the patch(printer cleanup utility) until it prompts you to restart your computer.

Restart your computer. Make sure the printer was removed. Manual Printer Driver Removal

Download the Vista 64-bit drivers. Install the Vista 64-bit drivers in the Vista Compatibility mode choose network and follow the instructions. I would choose a new installation. It should prompt you to connect the printer. Then follow the instructions.

Links to the patch/drivers can be found at...

Dell 966 Photo All-In-One Printer owners thread (W7)

Remember virus programs and firewalls will block communications.

Allow Printer past Microsoft Essentials

Rick

No dice.  Same message.  So scanning.

I don't think this is a networking problem. According to your list of available scanning programs, you don't have the scanning software installed on the computer. That has to be installed on every computer along with the printer driver. The wireless printer/scanner has to be attached to the network, not another computer. You can't share a scanner as you can a printer unless it is connected to the network router--by ethernet or wirelessly. As far as I know, the 966 is not a network wireless printer/scanner, so all you can share is the printer. Do your scanning on the computer it is attached to and then share the folder to move the scanned doc to the laptop.

What is THE scanning software??  I have installed everything that I could find related to the Photo 966.  I have several TWAIN capable applications (picasa, windows photo gallery, paint, windows fax) all in that list.  What else do I need?

The printer/scanner is attached to the network.  There is sharing through another computer involved.

The 966 is indeed a network wireless printer/scanner.  Every single piece of documentation describes it as such.  The potential functionality is also there.  The scanning utility on the printer knows what my computer is called through the network and recognizes changes whenever I re-install.  And it tries to pull my scanning applications wireless but fails. In addition, the AIOC also knows that the printer/scanner is there and connected.

In short, I am 100% certain that what I am trying to do is within bounds of this printer/scanner capabilities.  It may be (and getting more likely now) that I need another piece of software to bridge the gap between the 966's scanner utility and my computer.  I'd love to know what that is.

Thanks all for the help.

taward11,

Start, all programs, ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Sprint, ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Sprint

If this is not installed, then using the printer disk...

As for scanning, if you have the disk that came with the printer, then insert the Printer disk and stop it from running. Go to My Computer and double click on it. Look for the drive with the Dell disk in it. Right click on it, left click explore. Look for the OCR Folder. In the OCR Folder, there is an Abbyy Folder. right click on setup.exe, that's in the Abbyy Folder and left click run as administrator. This will install the OCR program.

Rick

Thanks for the update.  I don't have the disc that came with the printer anymore.  I got my hands on a trial version, and still no luck.  This line of solutions still doesn't jive.  Why would I need this particular program, or even one like it, to connect to the scanner wirelessly?  This is even more confusing considering that I don't always need any OCR, like when I'm trying to scan photos.

It seems that there is something more fundamental at work.  Let's go back to basics.

Dell required me to install AIOC to communicate with the printer wirelessly (instead of letting me load the drivers, connect it to the network, and let windows manage the rest).  So now I have this new program that is supposed to be the liaison between my computer, my network, and the printer.  This seems to work when data is only going from my computer to the printer in the form of a document to be printed.

And then there's scanning.  Several things seem to fall apart here.  

• First, there is no sign of scanner drivers.  I ran through the setup and it never asked me to set up a scanner.  So how can any program I have talk to a scanner that it doesn't know is there???  This seems like a HUGE flaw in my process here.  If I can solve this, it would go a long way to making this work.
• Second, assuming the folks at dell new what they were doing, the AIOC should handle things sans a formal scanner installation (or maybe not).  But I can't change advanced settings, so there is still something missing.  In addition, it doesn't seem to matter what programs I put in the list (Finereader included), the 966 can't download the list to figure out where to send a scan. DOA.

taward11,

The Dell All-In-One Center is used to help with scanning. For scanning photos, the OCR program is not needed. To scan document or to be able to scan faxes, tou'll need to install an OCR Program.

Open the Dell All-In-One Center and Update list of applications to send scans to

To scan wirelessle, you'll need to initiate the scan from the printer to your computer. The newer models you can scan from the computer or the printer but the older models, scanning wirelessly, use the printer buttion. If usb connected, you use the Dell All-In-One Center.

Rick