Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

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kunkel321
Posts: 645
Joined: 10 Jun 2012 03:45
Location: Near Seattle

Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

Post by kunkel321 »

I bought this https://www.mustcam.com/products/c-17-p-34.html microscope back when I was running Windows 7. It's a pretty good little microscope, but maybe a year after I got it, I only had access to Win 10. The software doesn't seem to work with Win 10. I've contacted the company a couple of times asking them to support Win 10, but I never get a response. I've tried all of the "Compatibility" tab options in Windows -- no luck. A while back I did a thorough Google search for any generic drivers that might support it. No luck there either. The Windows "Add a device" tool doesn't seem to see that the microscope is plugged in. Can you guys think of any other software, hacks, kludges, or tweaks that I might try?
ste(phen|ve) kunkel

jupe
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Joined: 20 Oct 2017 21:14
Location: Win10 22H2 120dpi

Re: Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

Post by jupe »

Have you tried installing Windows7 in a VM and just using it when you need the microscope?

kunkel321
Posts: 645
Joined: 10 Jun 2012 03:45
Location: Near Seattle

Re: Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

Post by kunkel321 »

I have not! I'll look into that. Thanks.
ste(phen|ve) kunkel

jupe
Posts: 2757
Joined: 20 Oct 2017 21:14
Location: Win10 22H2 120dpi

Re: Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

Post by jupe »

I just re-read your post, initially I thought it was a software only problem, but you say Add a Device doesn't recognize the device, that leads me to believe it could possibly be the upgraded Windows 10 USB Controller driver, as another alternative you could try downgrading that if you are feeling adventurous.

kunkel321
Posts: 645
Joined: 10 Jun 2012 03:45
Location: Near Seattle

Re: Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

Post by kunkel321 »

jupe wrote:I just re-read your post, initially I thought it was a software only problem, but you say Add a Device doesn't recognize the device, that leads me to believe it could possibly be the upgraded Windows 10 USB Controller driver, as another alternative you could try downgrading that if you are feeling adventurous.
Is the controller driver part of the OS? It's worth noting that I have two different Win 10 laptops and the microscope doesn't work on either, though other other USB devices work fine.

I've installed Oracle VM Virtualbox. Now I have to see if I can get my virtual Window 7 to work. The help manual is 300+ pages. :shock:
ste(phen|ve) kunkel

kunkel321
Posts: 645
Joined: 10 Jun 2012 03:45
Location: Near Seattle

Re: Need to make an old microscope work on Win 10.

Post by kunkel321 »

Wellll....
After doing a bit a research, I've come to the (now obvious) conclusion that VirtualBox doesn't actually come with versions of Windows embedded in it. I'll look around, but I'm 99% sure that I don't have any old backup disks of previous versions of Windows -- so I might be out of luck. It looks like Microsoft used to provide XP for free (https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download- ... rosoft-si/) but the link is no longer valid. I'm sure there are cracked versions of Windows all over the web, but I don't want to mess around with those.

EDIT: I actually do have an old Vista disk!!! And it did work! What a trippy stroll down memory lane that was. Now I need to get it to "see" things plugged in to the USB ports.

Just a follow up: (8-4-2018) I actually found an updated driver for the microscope, but it still doesn't work. Presumably there is something wrong with the hardware. I don't know. Virtual Vista works fine. I've kept it on my computer, though I haven't actually used it for anything.
ste(phen|ve) kunkel

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