The bulb in the lid of my Epson Scanner has stopped working - that's the one for scanning films, etc. Is it possible to replace & where can I get a new one? The only things I have done is to remove the cover & look at it. Never seen anything like it before!! As I do not know what voltage it works at I have been dubious about checking it with a meter.

SOURCE: Film option is ghosted

try to reseat (unplug and replug the TPU cable at the back of scanner, and open epson scan go to professional mode and click on configuration button, go to OTHER tab and press reset all then restart computer and try if film is an option to select.

SOURCE: how do i scan film on my scanner

You should be able to download the manual.

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=DownloadDetailAct&fcategoryid=351&modelid=10242

To scan film, you'll need to first remove the white cover on the underside of the scanner lid. That is where the backlight is. Also, you must be using the ScanGear driver and NOT the WIA driver. The WIA driver does not support film scanning. Locate your film guides. These are the templates that will hold the film and are placed on the scanner glass to be scanned. Lastly, there should be a Select Source option in the scanner driver that allows you to select Film as the source.

Hope this helps.

SOURCE: Epson perfection 4990 photo scanner

Please do the following to scan slides or negatives in manual mode of the Epson TWAIN:
For scanning transparencies in HOME mode - for EPSON SCAN models, not Epson Twain/Manual mode models.
1) In the program you are working from, begin the scanning process. If working in FULL AUTO MODE as the scan begins click PAUSE or CANCEL, then change "Full Auto Mode" to "Home Mode".
2) You will now see all Epson Scan settings displayed. If the scanner has not previewed automatically, click the large preview button to get a visual of what is on the scanner.
3) Ensure the settings on the Epson Scan are correct for what you wish to scan. For example, the DOCUMENT TYPE for transparencies must be either "Color negative film", "B&W Negative Film" or "Positive film"*.
* FILM here indicates that the item being scanned is transparent to light; this setting is also used for slide scanning. Positive indicates that the image is in true colors (ie the grass is green and sky is blue), whereas negative indicates reversed colors, as produced in some photo finishing processes.)
If the DOCUMENT SOURCE is set for a flatbed related option, ie PHOTO, the scanner is looking for reflective items and will not activate the backlight in the transparency unit. If the DOCUMENT TYPES for "FILM" are greyed out or cannot be selected, close the Epson Scan, reseat the power/communication cable connecting the base of the scanner to the transparency unit, then reopen Epson Scan and try again.
NOTE for PROFESSIONAL MODE users: DOCUMENT TYPE should read TRANSPARENCY for film scans.
4) Ensure the other scanner settings are correct for the type of scan you are doing. For example:
IMAGE TYPE should be color photo for all positive or negative color transparencies, or BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO for monochrome transparencies.
DESTINATION is unimportant, however you should select a RESOLUTION appropriate to what you plan to do with the scans. (There are no hard and fast rules for DPI. As a general guideline, if you are saving scans at original size, a resolution ranging from 400-600 DPI should capture enough information to faithfully record the image. If the slide or negative will be enlarged, you will need to increase this DPI accordingly. We have no means to calculate what your exact needs will be in this situation; you will need to experiment and view the output to gauge the appropriate input DPI from the scanner.)
PREVIEW. If your scanner is doing a THUMBNAIL PREVIEW, the slides will automatically preview and appear in boxes on the left side. Here, you can select or deselect the slides you wish to scan.
If you recieve a message that the scanner could not find the film, or you see in the preview that part of the scan is cut off, click the down arrow next to the large PREVIEW button and click NORMAL, then PREVIEW again. In NORMAL PREVIEW mode, the scanner will capture all information on the flatbed; you will then have to manually marquee or crop the slides you wish to scan. Use the left mouse button (click, hold, drag) to lasso one slide inside a box made of dotted lines, then click scan. Only the selected area will scan. Repeat this process for as many slides or filmstrips are on the bed.
5) Click CLOSE once scanning is complete. The images will now transfer to the application in use.

SOURCE: Epson 4490: where'd my "film" option go?

I had this problem, turned out the cable between the lid and the main chassis of the scanner had pulled out slightly. Plug it in and problem solved.

SOURCE: Epson V500 scanner will not scan film

You're problem is Vista, not the v500!