windows driver translator? possible? exists?

[wa2ise]

Is it possible for a program to take an old driver (say for an older scanner) and recompile it to create a new driver that would work on win 7, 8, 10? Sure, it probably be inefficient, bloated and such, but allow the use of old but still functional equipment to be used. Idea being, that the program would find the "links" that used to mean something in say Win98, and figure out a new "link" to do the same function that win 7 would understand.

I don't know programming (which may be painfully obvious ), else I'd write it myself, assuming that it could be done at all.

Or is there a program out there that does this?

 

[setishock]

 

[root]

it is unlikely that you'd ever be able to compile a windows 98 driver to work on XP/vista/7/8/10.

the reason is ring0 security.
in windows 98 software could directly talk to hardware, when windows XP came along MS introduced the concept of hardware abstraction to increase stability and security, no software has directly to hardware, instead it must talk to a DLL file that runs at ring 0 as a security level, and then the hardware may be accessible.

(this also breaks lots of stuff that used to happen in real time, and makes parallel ports practically useless... - which is why you often find old dos boxes and windows 98 installed in industrial sites. where the computers had direct controll over millions of pounds worth of equipment where getting a new compatible control board, or trying to get accurate timing on USB etc is impossible...)

(It also broke a bunch of MIDI controllers, joysticks printers and scanners.)

to put it simply, unless you're talking about some sort of high end medical scanner, it's going to be faster, easier and cheaper to buy a new scanner.