Applications do not find a new scanning device after another device is disconnected

Consider the following scenario:

1. You connect a Web Services on Devices (WSD) scanning device to a Windows-based computer.
2. You disconnect the WSD scanner.
3. You connect a different scanning device, such as a USB scanner, to the computer.
4. You start an application that uses the new scanner.

In this scenario, the application may not behave correctly. For example, the application may not find the new scanner.

When this issue occurs, the scanner driver may experience a WIA_ERROR_OFFLINE error when it calls the IStiDevice::LockDevice method.

This issue occurs if an error occurs in the "Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)" service when the service initializes the WSD scanner. If the initialization process succeeds without any errors, this issue does not occur.

To work around this issue, try any of the following methods:

• Uninstall the connected scanner device (for example, by using Device Manager), and then reconnect the scanner.
• Stop the "Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)" service, and then restart the service.
• Restart the computer while the scanner is connected.

For more information about errors that a WIA scanner application or driver may experience, see Error Codes.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.