Canon’s site for the LiDE 50 does not list any Windows 7 drivers for download, nor Vista 64-bit drivers. However, I did find that you can use the CanoScan LiDE 60 drivers in place of the LiDE 50 drivers, and they do have options listed for Windows 7/Vista in both 64-bit and 32-bit varieties. 

Do do this, you download the appropriate driver (either the Windows 7 64 or 32 drivers) which is contained in an executable file. Use a program such as 7zip to uncompress this file into another folder. Within this folder, there are no drivers but further cabinet files. Use 7zip to decompress the _winzip_ file, which actually contains the driver you need to install.

In your device manager, locate the scanner and select the option to update the driver. You will need to select the driver manually, then specify the device type and driver, then click the “Have Disk” option. Locate the folder where the driver is located and select the .inf, and it will successfully (hopefully) install the LiDE50 as a LiDE60 scanner.

After having the device installed properly, download the latest CanoScan Toolbox, of the date of this writing it is version 4.9.3.2. This will give you access to all of the options you should have to set the buttons on your scanner, for example.

No need to buy a new scanner just because Canon didn’t develop a driver for the LiDE 50, apparently the chipset for the 60 is almost exactly the same.

37 comments
  1. Been pulling my hair out for months with this. I was able to install my LiDE 50 on Windows 7 32-bit per your instructions (shows up in dev manager as LiDE 60), but whenever I try to use it (Windows Images, Canon ScanGear Starter, etc), I get an error that says “Cannot communicate with scanner”. Did you not do anything aside from what’s in your post to get this working?Thanks,Brian

  2. Russ – Did you grab the driver from the Canon website for WIndows 7 32-bit? I rebooted my computer and still get the same error. I’m running version 11.1.1.0 of the driver.Thanks,Brian

  3. As with Brian, I have followed the solution above but get “unable to select TWAIN source”; rebooted to no avail running 11.1.1.0 and Toobox 5.0.1.2

  4. Thank you, this was very helpfull. One thing is that I had to use the canon europe website to download the driver :-). THe us version didn’t work for some reason. In any case, thanks allo

  5. Downloaded the drivers from the US site, had to change two lines from PID_221C to PID_2213 as below. And it worked[Models]%LPTENUM\CNQL60.DeviceDesc%=CNQL60Install,USB\VID_04a9&PID_2213[Models.NTamd64]%LPTENUM\CNQL60.DeviceDesc%=CNQL60Install_x64,USB\VID_04a9&PID_2213

  6. Thanks a million Dave. I had a difficult time locating the folder where the driver was located, but somehow (I’m still not sure how or where) I blundered onto it and everything now works fine. Thanks SO much for the post. It saved me buying a new scanner. I have sent appropriate hate mail to Canon. I think it extremely lame of them not support their products any longer than they do.

  7. Fantastic. Worked for me, thanks!Downloaded the LiDE60 Windows 7 (x64) driver (lide60vst6411111a_64en.exe). Extracted that file, then extracted the SetupSG.exe file to a folder which will have the CNQL60.INF file in it. Plug in the LiDE50 scanner and find it in Device Manager. Right-click, Select Properties, Update Driver, Browse my computer…, Let me pick from a list…, then Have Disk. Select the folder with the CNQL60.INF file in it. That’s it. As mentioned in another comment, the scanner shows up as a LiDE60 imaging device in Device Manager. With the TWAIN driver, I’m able to scan directly into Adobe Acrobat.Win 7 Home Premium 64

  8. Hellow. i did all that´s been mentioned before. i found the location of the driver, but mine doesn´t contain that CNQL60.INF file. it´s about the 32bit version. can anyone explain why i can´t see that file? without it i can´t get it done.

  9. Hello everyone! I did everything what all of you wrote there, but when I find folder where the inf. file exsist, I check it, open and comp said to me that he couldn’t find any driver there! Please, write exactly step by step how should proceed to make it work? I will be very thankful!

  10. Thank you very much, worked (almost) like a charm for me on Win7 Pro 32-bit. However selecting the driver manually didn’t work at first as Windows wouldn’t accept it. Instead i went to the folder with the extracted driver and ran “SETUPSG.EXE”. This installs the driver and the ScanGear Starter software. After that i was able to forcefeed Windows by selecting “Update Driver Software…” from Device Manager followed by “Browse my computer for driver software” and “Let me pick from a list of device drivers”. Although complaining again Windows would finally install the driver this time around and using aforementioned ScanGear Starter i was now able to do a successful scan.The driver i used was “lide60vst11110a_xpen.exe” from Canons US site.[EDIT: I just realized after writing this that if i had paid a wee bit more attention to Dave’s post it would have worked as advertised. *facepalm* I’ll leave it here anyways, it might at least be useful for getting that Starter software, which i find way more useful than the Toolbox.]

  11. Thanks for tip! I actually had to search for the .inf file in 64-bit Windows 7 before I was able to install the device. Apparently Canon no longer includes this file in the package.

  12. Super, thnx! My Lide 50 computer detect as Lide 50, not like Lide 60.I tried CanoScan Toolbox v. 5.0.1.2a and CanoScan Toolbox v. 4.9.3.2 – negative result. Now working with CanoScan Toolbox 4.1.

  13. Thank you very much for your guide! It works fine on Win7 (x64), now my scanner Canon Lide 50 (with Lide 60 drivers) works fine!

  14. I downloaded the link, unzipped, installed and: my Canoscan LiDE50 worked!Thanks an awful lot, good work here!

  15. I downloade the link, unzipped, installed, and it worked! Thanks an awful lot, good work here!

  16. Wasn’t working at first. Had to fiddle:From what Michael said, I replaced the following in CNQL60.INF:[Models]%LPTENUM\CNQL60.DeviceDesc%=CNQL60Install,USB\VID_04A9&PID_220E&REV_0100[Models.NTamd64]%LPTENUM\CNQL60.DeviceDesc%=CNQL60Install_x64,USB\VID_04A9&PID_220E&REV_0100Replaced from …USB\VID_04A9&PID_220E.It also didn’t work without the …&REV_0100 at the end.To find the matching ID to your LIDE50 device, goto Device Manager -> Canon… ->proporties -> Driver -> Details -> Hardware IdsHope this helps

  17. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with my PC config. Still gives twain error and can’t find the scanner

  18. Thank you very much!
    It’s work!

    Best Regards from Moscow, Russia
    Oleg Vasilchuk

    p.s.
    ???????? ?? win 7 ?64!
    ???? ??????? ?????? ??? twain, ?? ????? ??? ??????????: c????? ?????????? ??? lide 60 ? ???????? ? ??????? canoscan toolbox

  19. This is definitely the issue I’m running into, but from Canon’s site, the only file types available for download are executable. I was never given the option of downloading zipped files wherein I could locate a file with the .inf tag. Any thoughts?

  20. The initial download is a zip file disguised as an exe – it’s self-extracting – but you can and should manually extract it like the instructions say.

  21. Muchas gracias, soy español y despues de intentarlo con distintos drivers y opciones que había buscado por internet solo me ha funcionado la tuya.
    Por si le sirve a alguién indicar que utiliceis los drivers del link que aqui se indica, es la versión USA, yo lo intenté con otros y no funcionaba. Tal como indica otro compañero despues de descomprimir los drivers, aparece el fichero SetupSG.exe, este hay que descomprimirlo también, yo he usado el 7zip

  22. This workes fine. The Canon Servicedesk in Holland did not know this solution (!).
    I send them a copy.

  23. Thank you very much for the competent advice!
    ??????? ??????? ??? ??????????, ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ??? lide 60 ! ????????????? ??????? ??? : ??????????? ????????? ??? ????? ?????? ?????????? ?????, ????? ???? ? ????????? ?????????, ???? ???????? ??????? , ??????? ???????? ? ??????, ? ??? ???????? ?????????? ??????? ?? ?????? ????????????? ????????? ?? ??????????, ? ????  ????????????? ??????? lide 60. ?? ? ????? ?????? ????????? ??? ???????? ???? ??? ?????? ? ????????!!!!:)))))))))

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