goldenyears Loc: Lake Osewgo

A resident of my retirement community has many hundreds of 35mm slides she shot in her previous travels around the world. She has begun to participate in the community's photography club. She takes slides to a business somewhere to be scanned, and then has trouble opening the images on her old computer. She doesn't have a photo editor of any kind (but I plan to have a look at her computer in case there is one lurking around somewhere.)

I am going to suggest that she get a 35mm slide scanner so she can do her own scanning. Given the age of her computer, trying to install a new device and software into an old computer might cause problems. So I'm thinking that an offline slide scanner that writes the output image to an SD card might work best in her situation. With images on a card she would be able to copy the images to her computer using an USB SD card adapter. Minolta sells these scanners reasonably priced. [url]address[/https://minoltascanner.com/collections/all] She will just need to produce images of moderate resolution for display at club Zoom meetings. If she wants high-resolution prints, she will take the slide to the business as she has been doing.

Any thoughts?

newsguygeorge Loc: Victoria, Texas

I've been very happy with my Wolverine scanner. https://www.wolverinedata.com/

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

Can she not afford to upgrade her computer? An Epson V600 scanner works great.

therwol Loc: USA

[quote=goldenyears]A resident of my retirement community has many hundreds of 35mm slides she shot in her previous travels around the world. She has begun to participate in the community's photography club. She takes slides to a business somewhere to be scanned, and then has trouble opening the images on her old computer. She doesn't have a photo editor of any kind (but I plan to have a look at her computer in case there is one lurking around somewhere.)

I am going to suggest that she get a 35mm slide scanner so she can do her own scanning. Given the age of her computer, trying to install a new device and software into an old computer might cause problems. So I'm thinking that an offline slide scanner that writes the output image to an SD card might work best in her situation. With images on a card she would be able to copy the images to her computer using an USB SD card adapter. Minolta sells these scanners reasonably priced. [url]address[/https://minoltascanner.com/collections/all] She will just need to produce images of moderate resolution for display at club Zoom meetings. If she wants high-resolution prints, she will take the slide to the business as she has been doing.

Any thoughts?[/quote]

A business that scans slides will almost certainly return jpegs. A slide scanner will give you jpegs unless you specify something else. You should 1. Check the file type of the scanned slides. 2. Try to open them on a newer computer. If I'm right about this, and if she can't replace her computer, try to find out why her computer won't open jpegs. How old is it? What is the operating system?

BebuLamar

I think the Minolta in your link is fake. I do not think Konica Minolta even license their name. The type font of the name isn't correct and the company now is Konica Minolta so even if they license their name it would be their KM name.
One thing you can help her is to tell her to give you the files that she had the lab scanned for her that she can not open. Perhaps you or someone on the UHH can open them and convert them to a file format she can open.

11bravo

Irfanview runs on almost any Windows OS, going back to XP...

https://www.irfanview.com/

What medium are the scans being delivered on? Flash drive, SD card, DVD...? You might try taking a look at the medium on another computer.

MDI Mainer

Amazon is selling the Revive 5 for $139.95, but very mixed reviews. The Kodak Scanza models seem a better choice. But these products are likely all just licensed names being used -- no real connection to the namesake manufacturer. Nor to the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scaners of old.

https://www.amazon.com/MINOLTA-Scanner-Negative-Worldwide-Red/dp/B08TMWHYHL

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

My dad lives at home, but also has an older computer and OS, with no intention of updating either. You don't say whether the computer you are asking about is connected to the intetnet or not, but one big thing we have run into with "our" old computer is that many newer devices cannot be actually connected and made operational unless the computer they are being connected to is in turn connected to the outside world. Drivers must be downloaded, etc. Yhe move to 64 bit software has made it even worse.

I think that the best suggestion you have received is to identify someone who can scan and capture the images and put them on storage which she can access.

therwol Loc: USA

I disagree. The first thing that should be done is to identify the file extension of the already scanned files, establish that they can be opened on another computer, and then figure out why her computer can't open them.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I agree that those are interesting questions. Just don't see them or their answers leading to a solution on her computer.

therwol Loc: USA

Just trying to us a little logic. A commercially done scan business would not be in business unless the output of their scans will open on nearly all computers. The logical format would be jpeg (or jpg), which is pretty much a standard for finished photos. If this is verified, and if the photos will open up on another computer, then there is something about the older computer that prevents the files from opening. Maybe the problem is in the file associations. Every Windows since XP can open jpegs with software built into Windows, and I'm going to guess Windows versions before that as well, though I'm so far away from that that I don't really know. Can we know the operating system?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

As suggested already, gather some exact details, likely needing to visit your friend's home and inspect directly. Take a notepad and collect the following:

1) What file format are the commercial scans being created? How big are the files, both in bytes and pixel resolution?
2) What model, RAM, diskspace and OS version are your friend's current computer?
3) How much total disk storage is used by the files on the current computer harddrive?
4) Confirm how that computer is connected to the internet.
5) Review the model and size of the connected monitor, considering whether that monitor is appropriate for digital image editing. If replaced, is there available room for an HD model maybe 22-inches wide?

Assess whether your friend is interested and prepared to upgrade their computer, based on the details collected regarding the configuration and status of the current equipment. The issue may not actually be equipment. At this point your description is too high-level to determine. Given the lower-end Dell XPS my father ordered a month ago with Win11 installed, you're friend might be looking at $800 to $1200 to upgrade, depending on brand and model, including a mid-level High-Def monitor for Windows-based options.

But, the problem may have nothing to do with the equipment, rather, maybe just the process of how to load and access the scanned images.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Some thoughts (with little info to go on) - If her computer still functions, what about a reload of whatever operating system it uses, or whatever it is capable of using (based on internal capabilities)? An older computer could also be so full of junk/crap that it does not/will not work correctly. Someone in the photo club (with good basic computer skills) should take a look at it and see what they can do to help her. Scan and correct defiencies, delete unnecessary programs, clean out browsers, get rid of what does not work/reload things that do, etc. - a good thorough general cleanup/tuneup should make a world of difference. Short of that, a pro "Comp. Nerd" might be in order!!

In the end it is up to her as to what get's done, if she wants the help, and if she actually has any computer skills - Example = My MIL would not even turn one on, would not/could not deal with any type of computer/electronics, even the simple things like TV remotes/programming the microwave, cell phone (not a chance) etc. etc. She was (in spite of being quite intelligent (in an old school way) what I'd describe as completely unaccepting, electronically challenged, and totally not interested in anything to do with modern devices, especially after my FIL passed away....I'd be over to her home weekly to reset/reprogram all the basic electronic devices, as she would again have them "stuck" (she'd call it "broken again").

mudfog Loc: Ontario Canada

[quote=goldenyears]A resident of my retirement community has many hundreds of 35mm slides she shot in her previous travels around the world. She has begun to participate in the community's photography club. She takes slides to a business somewhere to be scanned, and then has trouble opening the images on her old computer. She doesn't have a photo editor of any kind (but I plan to have a look at her computer in case there is one lurking around somewhere.)

I am going to suggest that she get a 35mm slide scanner so she can do her own scanning. Given the age of her computer, trying to install a new device and software into an old computer might cause problems. So I'm thinking that an offline slide scanner that writes the output image to an SD card might work best in her situation. With images on a card she would be able to copy the images to her computer using an USB SD card adapter. Minolta sells these scanners reasonably priced. [url]address[/https://minoltascanner.com/collections/all] She will just need to produce images of moderate resolution for display at club Zoom meetings. If she wants high-resolution prints, she will take the slide to the business as she has been doing.

Any thoughts?[/quote]

I have borrowed the identical Kodax version of that unit. It works well for film negatives as you can insert at strip of 4 easily and slide them through the unit without removing the carrier . The issue I have for slides is that it takes one at a time and you have to insert and remove the carrier for each slide and the carrier is very tight fitting. You also have to pay close attention that you insert the slide in the correct orientation. I went through over 4000 film negs in a few days but have only done a few dozen slides and am looking for a better solution as it is too tedious using this scanner. That said the .jpg results are satisfactory for posting online. Most of my photos were of the children when they were young, I uploaded to Amazon Photo and sent them a link. They loved it as they only look at them on their phones or iPads. I viewed them on 27 inch 5K iMac and was happy with the results.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Define what the "trouble opening the images" is. She may lack understanding of how to get the photos from what the company gives her onto her computer. She may not know how the file manager in her operating system works if this is her first time doing that task. Ask her if you can use the media she gets from the scanning company to put the files on a newer computer, see if that works. If it does, then you’ll know that the scanning company's product is ok. As for using an accessory dedicated slide scanner, be sure that it’s compatible with her old computer's operating system. The old computer maybe the problem. It may not even be able to accurately read the media she gets back from the scanning company.