When you plug in the power, try turning the scanner on. If it can't power on (it should, regardless of whether or not it's connected to a computer), then it may have perished. I'm assuming it does turn on, though, so the next step is asking if you've made sure to run the New Hardware Wizard. Sometimes, when a device uses a Parallel port, it doesn't react as it should - PnP. Running the NHW should detect it if you've got it plugged into the computer and turned on. If it doesn't, this still doesn't mean that it's bad. I have an Epson 660 Inkjet, and I've had times where the PnP won't detect it, the NHW won't detect it, but if I just install the drivers and print something, it works like a jiffy. So maybe you should try and install the drivers and software and then try and scan something. You might be surprised