Epson Perfection 1670 Driver Download and Installation Guide

The Perfection 1670 is a flatbed photo scanner Epson sold in the early 2000s, and it is still a solid unit for digitizing old prints, negatives, and 35mm slides because of its built-in transparency adapter. The catch is that Epson stopped updating drivers for it a long time ago, so getting it recognized on Windows 10 or 11 takes a bit more effort than a plug-and-play device. Below I cover the full download and install process, plus the fallback steps I personally use when Windows refuses to load the driver cleanly.

Applies To	Epson Perfection 1670 / 1670 Photo flatbed scanner
Author/Publisher	Seiko Epson Corporation
Driver/Software Date	Last official release, Windows XP era
Version	Epson Scan driver v2.x (TWAIN)
File Name	epson1670.exe (self-extracting installer)
File Size	Approximately 10-15 MB
OS Compatibility	Windows 10 and 11 (32-bit and 64-bit), via compatibility mode

Step 1: Download the Epson Perfection 1670 Driver

Epson still hosts the archived driver package for this model on its support site. Since the Perfection 1670 predates Epson’s current driver database structure in some regions, you may need to search by model number rather than browsing categories.

1. Go to the Epson Perfection 1670 Photo support page.
2. Select your Windows version from the OS dropdown (pick the closest match if Windows 10/11 isn’t listed).
3. Download the “Epson Scan” driver package and the “Full Driver/Utility Package” if offered separately.
4. Save the file somewhere you can find it easily, like your Downloads folder.

If the official page has been reorganized and the file is missing, the Epson global manuals and drivers archive usually still has a mirror of the same package.

Step 2: Install in Compatibility Mode

Running the installer normally on Windows 10 or 11 often throws a “not compatible with this version of Windows” warning or silently fails partway through. Forcing compatibility mode fixes this in most cases.

• Right-click the downloaded .exe file and choose Properties.
• Open the Compatibility tab.
• Check “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3) or Windows 7.
• Also tick “Run this program as an administrator.”
• Click Apply, then double-click the file to run the installer.

Connect the scanner via USB only after the driver installation finishes, not before. Plugging it in early is one of the most common reasons Windows loads a generic driver instead of the real Epson one.

Step 3: Manual Install Through Device Manager

If the installer refuses to run at all, or Windows still lists the scanner as an unknown device, you can point Device Manager straight at the extracted INF file instead.

How to do it

1. Extract the downloaded installer using 7-Zip if it’s a compressed archive, or run it and let it extract to a temp folder without launching setup.
2. Open Device Manager (right-click the Start button and select it).
3. Look under “Other devices” or “Imaging devices” for an entry with a yellow warning icon, usually labeled “EPSON Perfection 1670” or just “Unknown device.”
4. Right-click it, choose “Update driver,” then “Browse my computer for drivers.”
5. Point it to the extracted folder containing the .inf file (often named esscsi.inf or similar).
6. Let Windows install it, then restart the PC.

Troubleshooting Failed Installs

A few issues come up repeatedly with this scanner on newer systems, so here’s what usually fixes each one:

• Scanner not detected at all: try a different USB port, preferably a USB 2.0 port directly on the motherboard rather than a front-panel hub. The 1670 uses USB 1.1/2.0 and some USB 3.0 controllers handle it poorly.
• Epson Scan opens but can’t find the scanner: reinstall the driver after uninstalling the old one completely through Settings > Apps, then reboot before reinstalling.
• Windows 11 blocks the installer with SmartScreen: click “More info” then “Run anyway.” This is expected for old unsigned installers and is not a sign of malware if you got the file from Epson directly.
• Scans come out with color banding or streaks: clean the glass platen and the scanner lamp needs time to warm up; run a test scan and discard the first pass.

I’ve set up this exact model twice on Windows 11 machines for family members who wanted to digitize old photo albums. Both times, the compatibility-mode install worked on the first try, but on one machine the scanner kept disconnecting mid-scan until I moved it off a USB hub and into a rear motherboard port directly.

Per Daniel Wu, who is a photo restoration hobbyist in Kuala Lumpur, “I was ready to throw out my old 1670 until I found the compatibility mode trick. It still scans negatives better than most budget scanners being sold today.”

Using the Built-In Film and Slide Adapter

One reason people hang on to the Perfection 1670 Photo is its Transparency Unit, which lets you scan 35mm slides and negatives directly without a separate film scanner. To use it:

1. Remove the white document mat from inside the scanner lid.
2. Place your negatives or slides on the glass using the included film holder.
3. In Epson Scan, switch the document type to “Film” and select either “Positive Film” or “Negative Film” depending on what you’re scanning.
4. Set the resolution to at least 2400 dpi for negatives if you plan to print enlargements later.

For more general background on how flatbed scanning resolution affects print quality, Tom’s Hardware has covered the tradeoffs between dpi and file size in scanner reviews over the years.

Windows 10 vs Windows 11 Differences

Both versions handle this driver similarly since neither has native support, but there are small differences worth knowing:

• Windows 11’s stricter driver signing checks are more likely to flag the old installer, so you’ll see the SmartScreen prompt more often than on Windows 10.
• Windows 10 in S mode blocks unsigned driver installers entirely; you’ll need to switch out of S mode first through Settings.
• Both versions handle the TWAIN driver interface the same way once installed, so scanning software like IrfanView or Paint.NET will detect the scanner identically on either OS.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won’t my Epson Perfection 1670 install on Windows 11?

The driver predates Windows 11 by many years, so the installer isn’t digitally signed the way modern software is. Running it in compatibility mode as administrator resolves this for almost everyone.

Is there a 64-bit driver for the Perfection 1670?

Epson never released a native 64-bit driver for this model, but the 32-bit installer runs fine on 64-bit Windows because it’s a TWAIN driver, not a kernel-level device driver.

Can I use Windows’ built-in scanner app instead of Epson Scan?

Windows Fax and Scan can work with this scanner once the driver is installed, but you lose access to film scanning and the color restoration tools that only exist inside Epson Scan.

What if Epson’s website no longer has the driver?

Check the Epson global support archive linked above, or search for the file name “epson1670.exe” through a general web search alongside “site:epson.com” to find it hosted on a regional Epson domain.

Does the scanner work over USB 3.0 ports?

Yes, USB 3.0 ports are backward compatible, though I recommend a USB 2.0 port if your motherboard has one since older scanner firmware sometimes has handshake issues with USB 3.0 controllers.

Conclusion

The Epson Perfection 1670 still holds up well for photo and negative scanning, and getting the driver running on a current PC is mostly a matter of using compatibility mode and installing the driver before plugging in the USB cable. If Device Manager still won’t cooperate after that, the manual INF install almost always closes the gap.