Scanning adventures

Ok, so this actually happened 2 days ago, but I'm going to pretend like it happened last night, since I said I was going to scan some stuff in, according to my post from last night anyway.

So for years, I have been a Microsoft/Windows girl. (ok, well in all honesty, in High School I thought computers were cheating, and shouldn't be touched with a 10 foot pole- I have since grown up and gotten with the program) My first computer was a Sony Viao laptop (I don't even know if I spelled that right, that's how long it's been)- and it wasn't even capable of handling any kind of internet that went faster than dial up (you know, pre 2000 dial up). While I was at the Art Institute, I purchased a rediculously expensive Gateway computer, that was supposed to be able to support any and every program known to man...and the sales man (never trust them) promised me it wouldn't be inferrior to anything else that came out for the next 5 years. The next month Gateway closed all of it's stores, and they had an even more badass computer sitting at Best Buy. Yeah, I'm a genious.
After getting...oh I don't know...50 or so viruses on my Gateway, I had had enough. So I recently purchased a Mac Book Pro. I'm not a mac girl. Well I am now, but purchasing it, I wasn't. Mac's are for all those hip kids that know what they're doing (or the simple minded, take your pick). The interface is so easy to use, that I find myself over-thinking things- and when I try to install a program, when it says "drag the icon to the desk top" I assume there are 10 steps after that to make sure the program is installed- so you can imagine my shock when the icon is on the desktop- AND IT ACTUALLY OPENS THE PROGRAM.

This leads me to "last night". (read first paragraph for explination of the use of " and ") I have a printer, that I've had for the last 2 years or so. It's been nicely attached to my virus eaten desktop (gateway- you suck!)- it is so new, that just by plugging the USB cord into my USB port on my mac- allows me to print. Just THAT EASY! So I assumed that my scanner would do the same thing.

Yeah not so much. (how do we spell assume???)

My computer wouldn't even recognize that anything was plugged in. Me of course living with an IT guy, felt that I should know some IT stuff, because if I'm sharing space with the IT guy, osmosis should take effect, right? Plus, I'm dating a guy who is also IT savey. (ok, the truth is, I ask those 2 for way too much help with my electronics, surely I can figure out how to get my scanner working, without buying a new one)

So I'm sitting there, just me, my laptop, and my scanner. I know David (boyfriend IT) has mentioned before about downloading drivers to get things to work. So I went searching on the glorious thing we call the internet. I found one. FANTASTIC! So I download it. I install it. I plug the scanner in. IT MAKES THE CALIBRATING SOUND!!! I was over joyed. But then I was like "um, wait- there should be a program opening with this". I can't just hit the scan button on the scanner...because it doesn't do anything.

So now I make a mad dash around my living area (keep in mind, I've lived at this place for 14 months now and STILL have boxes full of crap from when I moved), I'm going thru boxes left and right, then finally I find the label that I had stuck to my "computer, CDs, and other electronic crap" box. I found the label, not the box. So I had to attempt to find the unlabeled box.

Found it. Burried in the bottom is a CD for the scanner (keep in mind I've had 3 of these scanners, so I had to deduce that this was the correct scanner installer CD)

So I go to load it, and it loads. Everything loads and installs. I started doing a happy dance. I'M A GENIOUS!!! Then, I plugged in the scanner. ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE! An Error message pops up, telling me that a driver is incorrect or missing. Happy dance ends.

I sit there, thinking- and actually saying outloud to no one-"I knew I should have waited for David, or at the very least Greg" (Greg=IT roommate) I felt like a failure. That's what I get for buying a Mac. They make you feel so smart, and then you go and ruin the computer.

Ok, well all was not lost, and I had everything figured out in my head by the time David got there, who then just did exactly what I said- and POOF- it worked (you know, the whole installing the updated driver before installing the actual software does cause problems there amber...maybe you should have done that in reverse order...so much for my genious status). I'm beginning to think my High School self had it right. Computers are cheating. My work computer cheats at Solitaire every day. Then again, it is a Windows machine.

So you should have more pretty sketches to look at before the end of the weekend. I say should, because if the scanner is working, the only things that will prevent me from posting them is my laziness, or if I decide to flee town for the weekend. Hopefully neither occurs.