This tip was printed from the MalekTips Computer and Technology Help and Tips website at http://malektips.com.

Scanner Misc - Save Documents Before Acquiring a Scan

SUMMARY: To prevent losing information, always save documents before you acquire an image via the scanner.

Many software packages, including Microsoft Word, offer a feature where you can directly acquire an image from the scanner instead of using the scanner software to make the scan, saving a temporary file, then importing the file into your current document.

While this is a handy feature, whenever you acquire an image this way, you should always save the currently edited file first before importing a directly scanned image. Scans can use a lot of memory, and that combined with potential conflicts between your scanner software, scanner driver (such as a TWAIN driver), and the software package acquiring a scan could result in occasional software crashes, or worse, complete system crashes requiring a reboot.

Though the chance is remote, especially with modern operating systems and scanner software/hardware combinations, you should take this possibility into account. To prevent against possible data loss, saving your current document, which should only take a few seconds to do, is always a smart bet.