Make Your EPSON PERFECTION 3200 PHOTO Work with 64-bit Windows 7

Looking for EPSON PERFECTION 3200 PHOTO drivers for Windows 7 64-bit?

Windows 8 Update: We've got some exciting news about adapting this workaround to Windows 8: See bottom of this page.

Windows 7 is becoming ubiquitous. In addition to being a very attractive upgrade for your existing computer, every new Windows PC, laptop or netbook, comes now with Windows 7. Many of these new Windows 7 computers come with the 64-bit variant of Windows 7.

Windows 7's support for hardware is impressive, but it is not perfect. While most manufacturers try to provide a Windows 7 drivers for their peripherals, you may run into a situation in which your particular device is missing a driver.

This indeed turns out to be the situation with the venerable EPSON PERFECTION 3200 PHOTO scanner.

When you go to EPSON's website to search for a Windows 64-bit driver for the EPSON PERFECTION 3200 PHOTO scanner, you will not find one. Yes, you will find an "ICM Color Profile Module Update" for Windows 64-bit but this is not the driver for the scanner. Interestingly, you will find a Windows 64-bit driver for other EPSON scanners, but not for the 3200 PHOTO.

Do you really need to discard your quality scanner just because you upgraded to the 64-bit flavor of Windows 7?

Look no further. Software Candy has found a workaround that allows you to "eat the cake and have it, too". If you carefully follow the instructions below, you will be able to use your EPSON PERFECTION 3200 PHOTO scanner as if it were an EPSON 4990 scanner.

Part I (download the 4990 driver):

1. Point your browser at the EPSON PERFECTION 4990 PHOTO Drivers & Downloads page.
2. Select Windows 64-bit and click the Go button.
3. Click the [+] link next to TWAIN Driver and EPSON Scan Utility v3.04A.
4. Click the Download Now link that has just been revealed.
5. The download page will now prompt you to accept Epson's Software License Agreement. Click the Accept button to start the download.  

6. Save the file epson12181.exe in an easy to access location.

Part II (tweaking the 4990 driver to support 3200):

1. Open epson12181.exe to extract the files within, but do not run the installer yet! Uncheck the "When done unzipping open:" checkbox.

2. Go to the folder epson12181_pr49ph_twain_driver_and_epson_scan_utility_304a and open (for editing) the file Es4f.inf Setup information file:

3. Locate the following lines:

4.  And right below them add these two lines:

5.  Save the file and exit the text editor.

Part III (Installing the driver):

1. Turn your EPSON scanner off.
2. Open the Setup.exe application and proceed with the installation

3. Turn your EPSON scanner on. Wait a few seconds for it to show up on Devices and Printers.
4. Right-click its icon and select Properties. If the Update Driver... button is enabled click it. Otherwise, click the Change Settings button and then click the Update Driver... button.
5. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
6. Point at where your edited Es4f.inf (along with the rest of the driver files) is and complete installation.
7. Enjoy your scanner with its icon replaced in Devices and Printers: 

Notes:

• Be sure to use the the EPSON scan software with this driver (C:\Windows\twain_32\escndv\escndv.exe, also downloadable from EPSON), and not some WIA software.
• These instructions are the USB only interface! Do not attempt to use this workaround on the firewire connection.

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Windows 8 Update::

One of our readers turned our attention to a post by Darien Graham-Smith which boils down to the following additional steps for making the above work for Windows 8:

1. Go back into the INF file and remove the reference in the header to the CAT file containing the driver’s cryptographic details. This leaves the driver not signed at all.
2. Go to the Advanced Startup app in Windows 8, and choose to reboot the computer with Advanced Startup options enabled. You’ll then be given the opportunity to boot into various troubleshooting modes, including Safe Mode, Debugging Mode and the snappily-named “Disable Driver Signature Enforcement” mode. Choose the latter! (“Disable Driver Signature Enforcement”)

Note: We have not tested this Windows 8 workaround yet, but we are rushing to publish this tip since we received many request to update this article to Windows 8. Apparently, EPSON did a great job designing & manufacturing the PERFECTION 3200 PHOTO. :) If you can improve the aforementioned steps, please send us your corrections/insights.