MF Toolbox doesn't work on Windows 10

[mj1856]

I have a MF4570dn, and recently upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10.

I can no longer scan using the MF Toolbox utility.   I had MF Toolbox 4.9 installed before the upgrade, and it worked just fine.  After the upgrade, I get "Cannot communicate with the scanner" error dialog:

I thought I would try to reinstall the MF Toolbox utility, but there are two problems.

1) The downloads page shows no downloads for Windows 10 for this printer. This should be updated.

2) I downloaded the one for Windows 8.1, and tried to reinstall, but it just hangs at the "Processing Installation" screen:

I've also tried to uninstall the existing MF Toolbox first, and it also hangs at this same dialog.

I've also tried various other things without success:

- Connecting via USB instead of Network.  It detects the scanner, and MF Toolbox can switch to that device, but it still gives a communications error.

- Trying the built-in Windows Scan app instead of MF Toolbox.  It uses the WIA driver.  It barely starts to scan, then immediately cancels.

Please Canon - forward this to your engineers and provide a fix asap.  I cannot use my scanner on Windows 10.

(I can use the printer functionality just fine.)

[sferrell615]

there is a new version of drivers and mftoolbox (v18; released this month).  

i uninstalled the existing drivers and mftoolbox, rebooted, installed the new drivers and mftoolbox, and rebooted again.

note, there is still a disclaimer that if you unplug the USB and the scan function stops working then you'll need to reboot your computer to get the scan function to work again.  however, i didn't experience this issue after performing the steps that worked for others in the past, which i've cleaned up a little and pasted below.  

1. Select Start
2. Enter services.msc
3. Select the Services Desktop App
   
   1. Scroll down to Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
   2. Right-Click Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) and select Properties
      1. Select the General tab
         1. Make sure that the Startup Type is set to Automatic
      2. Select the Log On tab
         1. Select the box next to Local System account
         2. Select the box next to Allow service to interact with desktop
      3. Select the Recovery tab
         1. Select the First Failure drop-down
         2. Select Restart the Service
         3. Repeat for Second Failure and Third Failure
         4. Leave Reset Service After set to 1 minutes
         5. Select the box next to Enable actions for stops with errors
      4. Select Apply then OK
4. Reboot

tested --> worked

unplugged USB, waited 30 secs, plugged in USB, tested --> worked

rebooted --> worked

unplugged USB, waited 30 secs, plugged in USB, tested --> worked

the 1 thing that didn't work for me was initiating the scan via pressing the Start button on the Canon ImageClass printer.  however, selecting Start from within the Canon MF Toolbox application did work for me 100% of the time.

[MikeyJ]

This worked for me.

Let's hope it stays fixed because I've had some success before only to find it is broken again next time!!

But definitely worth a try.

Thanks!

[reba]

I finally gave up on Toolbox.  For me it clearly doesn't work with Win10.  In fact it won't even install anymore.  I now have a working scanner in my D530 Laser printer/scanner because I uninstalled the printer and had Win10 reinstall it, not using the orginal CD.  I do lose FAX but I can live with that.  Presto Pages now manages my scanning so I don't go through MF Toolbox.

What irriates me is that if we judge from the participation on this thread there is a significant number of owners of Canon MF devices that have a serious problem that Canon won't address.  As I said in my previous post the CS rep that "helped" me on the phone just wanted me off the phone so he out and out lied.  Having given me a 'solution' he could now mark that problem as 'solved', thus showing his superiors that there is no problem.  This strategy is not limited to Canon, of course, and it makes managing technology for the average person, like me, very difficult.  In any case my next device defintely won't be Canon.

[charlie95722]

@sferrell615, 5/22/16 10:22 am.  Thank you for noting the new version (18) of the driver and mftoolbox that is available on their site.  I downloaded the two files and followed the steps you suggested.  I will add that before removing and installing the new driver, I unplugged the USB cable until the new driver installation said to plug it in, which is an old standard method.  The mftoolbox seems to work fine on all settings and even using the feeder.  I then used Windows Fax and Scan to make a scan, which also worked fine (although not very many settings and you can't scan as a pdf file), then reopened mftoolbox and it also ran perfectly again.  With the old version, that sequence would cause the scanner error message, but not now.

I am using Windows 10 with all the latest updates.

I had been using version 17 and whenever it locked me out, I would just open task manager, scroll down to "Service Host: Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)", click on it, then end the task (after agreeing to abandon all data).  I then just restarted mftoolbox and it would run fine until something made it lock up (only occurred maybe once a month).  This took maybe 15 seconds and was a satisfactory work around solution.

So we will see if this new version, which implied it was for Windows 10, works any differently.  The desktop icon was changed a little if I remember the old one correctly.  I will let this forum know if I experience any new problems with this (your) solution.  Thank you again!

[sferrell615]

hi charlie

i'm glad to hear that it's working for you so far!  thanks for following up.  i believe it is Piers_A (or whomever he / she referenced) whom deserves the credit for finding the workaround 🙂

yes, i forgot to mention the need to unplug the USB and re-plug the USB in as the install directions indicate.  i don't know if it's necessary... but a good idea nonetheless.

hi dcb

i sent an email to canon customer service with a link to this forum stating that hundreds of posts had been made, etc. and never received a response.  i wish you / us luck!

[debbie123]

im the same . wont work

[Typhoon859]

Did you try what I mentioned?... I responded to you the second you made your previous post.

[reba]

Typhoon, thanks for the reply.  I actually did what you suggested.  The problem was that when I booted into safe mode there was no Toolbox installation to uninstall.  It was not listed in Change/Remove Programs nor on the Start Menu.  I then tried to reinstall Toolbox and was told that I couldn't install it because it was already there.

This level of insanity was one iteration too much so I abandoned the idea of Toolbox and went the route I posted above.   I do appreciate your input and concern to try to help me.

[Typhoon859]

If you posted back sooner, I would've suggested you do what i did which was manually remove every trace in folder directories and registry of the software.  That allowed me to install the new version.  That would certainly allow you to install it and after it installed, I'm almost certain it would work for you as it has for many.  For me, I have a very different problem still which causes it not to work, but obviously otherwise you're right.  This is the worst crap I've ever seen.  Completely retarded.

[IslandTractor]

What I find astonishing is that there is not a single Canon tech support comment in this entire thread.  There are hundreds of posts, no simple or reliable solution to give a fully functional toolbox and yet Canon simply doesn't respond.  I wouldn't even care if they replied that they'd tried everything and cannot come up with a valid work around but to simply fail to engage is stunning corporate arrogance.   I've called their tech support people who flailed around for 45 minutes and finally asked me to call Microsoft for a solution.  Unbelievable.  If the hardware wasn't so good I'd be done with them.