Windows 10: Is Softpedia a safe place to download drivers from?

Is Softpedia a safe place to download drivers from? I have a scanner which is no longer supported by the manufacturer (HP Scanjet 4500c). I downloaded a driver for it from Softpedia and ran it through Virustotal. It got the all clear on every test except Comodo, which said "heur.suspicious". My guess is that this is a false positive, but I want to be sure before I try to install it.

:)

 

Activation error - how can i fix it ?

its windows 10 pro ver. 1703 and is upgraded from win 8.1 pro and win 8.1 was downloaded from a website like softpedia. my files and settings are safe if i run this commands ?

sorry if my eng is bad

 

nokia 201 - all downloads are saved as EXT file

All files from softpedia will be downloaded as EXT if you download them directly on the device. don't know the cause.

 

I always do a custom or an advanced install of anything I download from Softpedia, and from all other sources as well. I just now noticed you mentioned drivers -- it is best to get drivers directly from the manufacturers' or next best from the desktop/laptop's maker such as Dell, HP, Toshiba, Asus, Acer, etc.

 

HP don't offer drivers for anything older than 10 years, so I have no alternative but to look elsewhere.

 

I prefer to get drivers direct from the manufacturer then you can be 100% certain its safe.

 

If it were at all possible, that's what I would be doing too, but as I said earlier, HP have taken all drivers for products older than ten years, such as my scanner, off their web site.

 

You could try going Microsoft Update Catalog . Then do a search for the printer you have. One thing is you have to use Edge to get the site to work properly.

 

Not quite....

HP Scanjet - Third-party scan software solutions | HP(R) Customer Support

 

Thanks! I didn't know about that resource. I'm a bit perplexed though. I know that a driver used to ship with earlier versions of Windows because the scanner used to work on a Windows 10 machine that had been upgraded from Windows 7, but when I search for "Scanjet 4500c" I don't find anything. There are several drivers for the 4500 Pro, but that's not the same thing.

 

It used to only work in IE (not Edge) but MS have now rewritten the site to work in all browsers.

 

It is not supported for Windows 10 nor 8.1
I had a Scanjet 4370 same scenario for that, it was disposed of.
I understand you can get drivers from VueScan at a cost, too much. I would rather buy a new scanner.
VueScan Scanner Software for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux

 

Hp has discontinued support for this scanner. There are no drivers for this device. HP Scanjet - Scanners not supported in Windows 10 | HP(R) Customer Support
They want you to update your printer/scanner to a newer version. Multi Function printer/scanner/copiers are relatively inexpensive these days, the hardware is cheap, the ink is where they make their money.

 

In the end I did a bit or reading up on Softpedia to see if there were any red flags, decided that the one odd positive from Virustotal is probably false, and took a chance on installing the driver in compatibility mode. And it works.

 

In older days, I could "lie" to Windows, give it a printer that comes very very close to what I actually wanted, and sometimes that works. I'm not sure if that tactic will work presently.