Windows 8.1 laptop crashes when attempting to connect a USB high-speed scanner
Greetings wise wizards of EE:
I'm helping a friend who owns a high-speed Xerox Documate 1120 scanner, which she connects via USB cable (it is a non-network scanner) to her HP Windows 8.1 laptop.
Just recently, when she plugs in the USB cable for the scanner (and the scanner is powered up) it crashes her laptop... the laptop actually shuts down completely.
It crashes when plugging in the USB cable for ALL of her USB ports, and I've uninstalled and reinstalled the scanner driver software & restarted infinitum. I've also taken the scanner to my home and successfully connected it via USB (same cable as used on my friend's laptop) to my Windows 8.1 desktop, as well as a Windows 10 laptop, and neither of them crashed, even without first installing the Xerox scanner driver software.
Thus, the issue seems to be with my friend's HP laptop. I'm not sure how to proceed, however, which is why I need your help. I am assuming it is a hardware issue, but I am not 100% certain of that.
Any help would be most welcome. My many thanks in advance,
Zovoth
I'm helping a friend who owns a high-speed Xerox Documate 1120 scanner, which she connects via USB cable (it is a non-network scanner) to her HP Windows 8.1 laptop.
Just recently, when she plugs in the USB cable for the scanner (and the scanner is powered up) it crashes her laptop... the laptop actually shuts down completely.
It crashes when plugging in the USB cable for ALL of her USB ports, and I've uninstalled and reinstalled the scanner driver software & restarted infinitum. I've also taken the scanner to my home and successfully connected it via USB (same cable as used on my friend's laptop) to my Windows 8.1 desktop, as well as a Windows 10 laptop, and neither of them crashed, even without first installing the Xerox scanner driver software.
Thus, the issue seems to be with my friend's HP laptop. I'm not sure how to proceed, however, which is why I need your help. I am assuming it is a hardware issue, but I am not 100% certain of that.
Any help would be most welcome. My many thanks in advance,
Zovoth
SOLUTION
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Crash as in a blue screen with white letters? If so, please run BSODView and then post the results here.
ASKER
Greetings William:
Many thanks for your rapid reply and inquiry... you are quite correct, my apologies for my goof... the scanner is a Xerox Documate 3120...
The HP laptop that crashes IS on AC power... I haven't tried plugging in the scanner without the laptop battery though... I think you are on the right track regarding power, as the crash/shutdown is very abrupt, with no error message or blue screen of death... it just shuts off the moment the USB cable is connected. I am hoping the issue is not a motherboard problem...
I haven't tried another USB cable, as the current cable works fine on my two machines, but it certainly won't hurt to try...
Thanks for your suggestions... I will be visiting my friend this week. In the meantime, I am hoping for more suggestions from fellow Experts Exchange wizards...
Zovoth
Many thanks for your rapid reply and inquiry... you are quite correct, my apologies for my goof... the scanner is a Xerox Documate 3120...
The HP laptop that crashes IS on AC power... I haven't tried plugging in the scanner without the laptop battery though... I think you are on the right track regarding power, as the crash/shutdown is very abrupt, with no error message or blue screen of death... it just shuts off the moment the USB cable is connected. I am hoping the issue is not a motherboard problem...
I haven't tried another USB cable, as the current cable works fine on my two machines, but it certainly won't hurt to try...
Thanks for your suggestions... I will be visiting my friend this week. In the meantime, I am hoping for more suggestions from fellow Experts Exchange wizards...
Zovoth
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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the systems you tested on - did they have the same OS - 8.1 ?
ASKER
Greetings Nobus:
Many thanks for your inquiry... I tested the scanner on both the OS Windows 8.1, as well as Windows OS 10... no crashes.
Zovoth
Many thanks for your inquiry... I tested the scanner on both the OS Windows 8.1, as well as Windows OS 10... no crashes.
Zovoth
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Greetings NerdsOfTech:
Great name, by the way... Thanks for your inquiry... I should have mentioned that other USB devices, such as flash drives and a multi-function printer, do not crash this laptop... just the Xerox scanner, which has not crashed my two computers... hence, the mystery...
Zovoth
Great name, by the way... Thanks for your inquiry... I should have mentioned that other USB devices, such as flash drives and a multi-function printer, do not crash this laptop... just the Xerox scanner, which has not crashed my two computers... hence, the mystery...
Zovoth
Thanks!
Does the system crash if you have the scanner connected to the system before it boots up?
Does the system crash if you have the scanner connected to the system before it boots up?
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Greetings wise wizards of EE:
Many thanks for all of the helpful comments and suggestions, many of which I tried. In the end, upgrading the BIOS seemed to do the trick.
Thanks again and may the wind be at your back,
Zovoth
Many thanks for all of the helpful comments and suggestions, many of which I tried. In the end, upgrading the BIOS seemed to do the trick.
Thanks again and may the wind be at your back,
Zovoth
ASKER
Forgive me, EE wizards, I am trying to assign points to those who assisted, but the question closed before I could do so... I'm trying to figure out how to re-open the question... if anyone can make a suggestion, I would appreciate it, as it is far from obvious...
Zovoth
Zovoth
In the command prompt window which opens, type sfc /scannow and hit Enter.
See if that helps. As this looks machine specific, this may resolve the issue.
Also, make sure all updates are installed and remove any unnecessary programs. There's a conflict somewhere.