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Omnipage SE on Vista

Omnipage SE won't install on Windows Vista; it gives an error that says "The wizard was interrupted before Omnipage SE could be completely installed." Don't bother trying compatibility mode settings, running as Administrator, etc, because the problem is probably related to this one, documented on Microsoft's support site. (Omnipage Pro 11.0 has some dumb hangup with the msi installer, and that just happens to be SE's internal version number). This program came with my Canon scanner, but Canon's web site says support questions should go to Nuance. Nuance says that SE isn't supported under Vista (works fine under XP, of course.) They WILL be happy to send you a $150 upgrade.

Here's what to do if, like me, you need OCR maybe twice a year:

  • Install Omnipage SE on an XP computer
  • Copy /Program Files/Scansoft to your Vista computer
  • Make a shortcut to omnipage.exe
It won't recognize your scanner, but will work fine on files. So scan into a .tif file first, then run Omnipage. Also thanks to Canon for passing the buck, Nuance for trying to bleed customers, and Microsoft for releasing the version of Windows that finally pushes everyone to Linux.

Comments

Bob Bryan said…
This worked OK for me. The Canon toolbox would install on my Vista machine. The toolbox OCR button has a setting to link the scanned image to the omnipage.exe file in the scansoft folder. Doing this allows the omnipage software to open automatically when the image is scanned. The only hiccup is that a message appears saying the registry failed to update. Click OK and proceed as you normally would.
DJL said…
Thanks, that's a great tip. I wonder why it's trying to modify the registry!
Anonymous said…
Im having issues with this. I cannot use the scanner as the cd that came with mine was xp only. I have imstalled the cd fully and then manually installed any extra vista drivers required. Now I have an SE4 update from Nuance which can only be installed if there is a copy of SE 4 already on there. So when I try to install it says "cannot install with a copy already installed. please reinstall and try again" so I do and alas, when I try to install again, it says "cannot install without a copy of SE4 already installed"

Catch22 + dead end = AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!

Help me please.
DJL said…
I'm pretty sure I went 'round and 'round the same circle. It really can't be done. If you have the SE program, my tip plus the first comment (from Bob B.) at least make it usable. Otherwise, you're probably stuck buying a new OCR program.
Anonymous said…
Hi,

I wonder if there is a way to find out and create the registery key that OmniPage SE is looking for? Any ideas how to do it? Perhaps compare the keys in an existing XP installation?

BTW, if you have MS Office 2007 you can use the OCR program that is included instead of OmniPage. Just go into Control Panel -> Programs And Features -> Microsoft Office -> Right click and select "Change". Then install the Imaging stuff.

Regards,
Andrew
DJL said…
I've never seen the registry update error. I wonder if it's because I turned off the annoying user account elevation and run as Administrator persistently. Also, I run XP2 compatibility mode for this program.

I checked my registry under Vista and the Omnipage keys ARE there, under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ScanSoft\OmniPageSE.


Thanks much for the MS Office tip.
Pedro S said…
Hi,
I followed the suggestion to copy from XP to Vista and it works!

Here is what I did:

* Install CanonScan Toolbox in a Vista computer
* Install Omnipage SE on an XP computer
* Copy /Program Files/Scansoft to your Vista computer
* Link omnipage.exe to the CanonScan Toolbox (See Bob Bryan post above)

Note:
OS: Vista Basic
CanonScan Toolbox: Ver 4.1
Scanner: CanonScan N670U
Did not use Nuance update

Thanks!
Unknown said…
Use 'compatibility mode' both when installing and when installing update(s), etc. This is a true life-saver

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