There’s a new driver in town. One that finally allows the Optix-XR Color Calibrator from Monaco (now X-Rite) to work with Windows Vista. This might be old news to some of you since the driver is actually dated January 10, 2007, but since I just recently built a new computer with Windows Vista Home Premium, I just found out about it.
Version 2.0 Software Doesn’t Work with Windows Vista
I had tried to install the Monaco Optix XR version 2.0 software from my original disc, but it wouldn’t work. I could install the software, but when I plugged in the colorimeter, and told the software to calibrate and profile my monitor, the program froze. I had to end it via Windows’ task manager. Even now, with a new driver installed, I try it and it still freezes. I’m afraid to uninstall it though, in case it takes some dll files with it that EZcolor needs in order to work, and because there was a warning in the readme for the new EZcolor software.
The error I got was “Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device. Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it. X-Rite DTP94. The required line was not found in the INF.” There is a solution floating around on the internet regarding adding two lines of code to the INF file, but this didn’t work for me.
Installing the New EZColor Software for Vista
I discovered that there is a new release of Monaco EZColor which supports Vista and the DTP94 colorimeter I have as well as a few others. Check the readme.txt file and look on the bottom of your device for the model number. So, I tried to visit the X-Rite website at www.xrite.com. It seems to be down. I googled xrite and found a bunch of entries, but none of them work.
Then I went to www.gretamacbeth.com, since the two companies had merged. On their home page, they listed a bunch of links for X-Rite and a bunch for GretaMacbeth. None of the X-Rite links work. I went to the GretaMacbeth support link. There’s nothing there for EZcolor upgrades, just packages which include the software along with a new colorimeter. (UPDATE: the Greta MacBeth website is no longer online).
Finally, I googled EZcolor 2.6.5 and was able to find a link to the software at this website: http://shop.colourconfidence.com/page.php?xPage=updates.html. I downloaded it and saved it. I unzipped and installed the software and it works like a charm. A couple of notes: if you read the readme file, it says that in order to upgrade, you’ll already need to have an older version installed. This is not true. It also says you can only install it if you have a serial number from an older version that begins with “EZ-MNAC25-”. I think what they mean is that you need to already have a serial number for version 2.5. Older versions probably won’t work. I have version 2.5, but since it came with my Epson Scanner (3200 Pro), its serial number starts out “EZ-EPSN25-”. It worked fine. There may be other version 2.5 software that came with other scanners or hardware. I’ll bet it will work too.
Once installed, the software can be found under your start menu under “X-Rite”. No icons are installed on your desktop. You may want to check your start menu. I found two copies of Monaco Gamma along with Monaco Reminder. I deleted Monaco Reminder since I don’t want it to pop up every 7 days or so to remind me to recalibrate my monitor. I can remember on my own. Then I opened properties and details on each of the Monaco Gammas. I then removed the old one (dated 10/27/2003 version 2.0.0.1) and kept the new one (dated 7/28/2005 version 2.0.0.5). Since this one is just a shortcut, you have to go to “open file location” under shortcut to get the date.
Latest and Greatest
For those of you who don’t already have color-calibration equipment, the X-Rite Eye-One Display 2
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This post on the driver for the colorimeter from Monaco/X-Rite saved me pulling all of my hair out when I rebuilt my Vista Home Premium machine. Thanks so much for posting this!
Glad to be of help. It seems Monaco/X-Rite prefer to support their newer stuff at the expense of us Optix-XR users. That being said, their new–and humorously named–ColorMunki Photo Profiler
seems like an interesting product. It’s available from Amazon 
and Adorama.
I need to thank you, buddy. You saved me a ton of money. This prog works great with Vista Ultimate 64-bit!
Oops. It works great to calibrate the monitor, only. It crashes when you try to do a printer
Man… I need some help, here ???
X-rite now has software downloads and support for the discontinued Optix-XR on their website here.
I just rebuilt my computer about a month ago and downloaded the software there. It works fine on my Vista machine for monitor calibration. I have not tried to use it to calibrate a printer.
I suggest getting a professional printer profile made. I got one for only $40 from John Watts at wattscolorlab.com. The custom profile is far more accurate than any profile I have ever been able to make on my own. Well worth the $40.