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Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:20 am
by egrets
So I'm shopping for a new laptop and my current one is ancient, so I am not up to speed technically.

I'm looking at a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 (11). It seems to be okay for the things I do. I don't game, watch long videos, etc.

What I can''t figure out is what to do about scanning. It has optional Microsoft Office packages but none of them mention scanning. On my current laptop I use Microsoft Office Document scanning a lot.

Can someone clue me in? Thanks.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:24 am
by dfw_north
egrets wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:20 am So I'm shopping for a new laptop and my current one is ancient, so I am not up to speed technically.

I'm looking at a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 (11). It seems to be okay for the things I do. I don't game, watch long videos, etc.

What I can''t figure out is what to do about scanning. It has optional Microsoft Office packages but none of them mention scanning. On my current laptop I use Microsoft Office Document scanning a lot.

Can someone clue me in? Thanks.
Please try Microsoft Office Lens

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:08 am
by egrets
dfw_north wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:24 am
egrets wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:20 am So I'm shopping for a new laptop and my current one is ancient, so I am not up to speed technically.

I'm looking at a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 (11). It seems to be okay for the things I do. I don't game, watch long videos, etc.

What I can''t figure out is what to do about scanning. It has optional Microsoft Office packages but none of them mention scanning. On my current laptop I use Microsoft Office Document scanning a lot.

Can someone clue me in? Thanks.
Please try Microsoft Office Lens
Says no longer available except for mobile devices.

So I go to a newer laptop/software and I lose scanning and a cd reader. And people wonder why I stay on my old laptop.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:20 am
by stan1
It's unclear what you want to do. Looks like Microsoft still has something called Windows Scan. Is that what you want? There is a lot of information about it for Win 10 online. Are you trying to connect a USB scanner to the new laptop?

I'd also check the vendor support page for your scanner. There will be updated drivers that support Win 10 but those may not support your scanner model if it is old.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:21 am
by RudyS
My printer(s) does my scanning. Never a thought about having the laptop do it. Up till 3 years ago, I only had a desktop.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:23 am
by egrets
stan1 wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:20 am It's unclear what you want to do. Looks like Microsoft still has something called Windows Scan. Is that what you want? There is a lot of information about it for Win 10 online. Are you trying to connect a USB scanner to the new laptop?

I'd also check the vendor support page for your scanner. There will be updated drivers that support Win 10 but those may not support your scanner model if it is old.
Thanks I'll look at Windows Scan when I have time later today. I currently use USB scanners with my old laptop. WIndows Document Scanning was fine with those.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:26 am
by UpperNwGuy
RudyS wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:21 am My printer(s) does my scanning. Never a thought about having the laptop do it. Up till 3 years ago, I only had a desktop.
+1 Always use my HP printer to scan. The printer's scanning process creates a file in my laptop.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:35 am
by stan1
You may find this linke useful:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 009b02a81a

"Install and use a scanner in Windows 10"

If your scanner is very old it may no longer be supported. Search the make/model and Windows 10 and you'll see what others have posted and see what solutions might be available.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:21 am
by DocInColo
If you have a smartphone, and aren't scanning a ton of pages, there are some awesome apps that scan (and OCR) paper using your camera and then create a PDF which you can then email/upload/save. I kept my old multifunction printer around just to use as a scanner until I found these apps. Saves a lot of desk space now.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:24 pm
by zincTwo
  • On my PC desktop, I used my printer to scan, but prefer to use NAPS software.
  • On my phone, for PDF scans, I use the feature built into the Google Drive app...(+CreateNew=>Scan)

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:25 pm
by gtd98765
I think you will get better answers if you describe what you are scanning and what you are doing with the scans afterwards.

Anyway, I use freeware scanner NAPS2, which does all I need, scans single or multiple-page documents use either the sheet feeder or the glass window on my scanner, saves the documents as either .jpeg or PDF, etc. https://www.naps2.com/

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 9:48 am
by BoomerM3
+1 for NAPS2. Works with my Epson flat bed.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:00 am
by Thranduil
SwiftScan Pro app on my phone has replaced my Fujitsu ScanSnap for all but the largest scan jobs. Easy to use, does a great job (e.g., straightening documents), and saves the files nearly anywhere you want (in my case, Dropbox).

Sounds like you are a light computer user. You may not (probably not....) need Microsoft Office. Check out the free options, including Google Docs.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:01 am
by shunkman
I downloaded the MS Scan App to my laptop and it works well.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:59 pm
by SmileyFace
Download software for whichever scanner(s) you own. You will find better options and results using the software application specific to your scanner.

Re: Microsoft Office - scanning?

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:07 pm
by SnowBog
egrets wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:08 am
dfw_north wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:24 am
egrets wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:20 am So I'm shopping for a new laptop and my current one is ancient, so I am not up to speed technically.

I'm looking at a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 (11). It seems to be okay for the things I do. I don't game, watch long videos, etc.

What I can''t figure out is what to do about scanning. It has optional Microsoft Office packages but none of them mention scanning. On my current laptop I use Microsoft Office Document scanning a lot.

Can someone clue me in? Thanks.
Please try Microsoft Office Lens
Says no longer available except for mobile devices.

So I go to a newer laptop/software and I lose scanning and a cd reader. And people wonder why I stay on my old laptop.
Office Lens is a mobile app (iOS, Android). If you only make the occasional scan, I prefer Office Lens.

Most smartphones have better quality cameras than scanners (especially old scanners), and Office Lens does a great job at straightening the images. The end result, in my opinion, is better quality "scans" with more flexibility and portability.

The only time I'd consider using a desktop scanner anymore is if I needed to regularly scan multiple page documents, and my printer/scanner has a automatic paper feed. I even bought the printer/scanner to do so, but in the past 5 or so years, I don't think I've made more than two scans on it, everything else has been with Office Lens.