Well absolutely no one should be online without adequate protection these days, too many scoundrels out there by far. The 2 most popular seem to be Superantispyware and Malwarebytes. Be careful installing and stay with the free version, Malwarebytes is free but does not appear to say so as you install. I run one or the other perhaps weekly, more if I feel I have visited doubtful places. That is a very smart move taking your scanner when visiting rellies, at least that way they feel safe in that the photos remain in there possession. Also you get the chance to discuss each and perhaps make notes because no one thought to write on the backs of the photos. On the printing issue have you considered having them done for you? This can be done online at a large number of places including your local supermarket and/or pharmacy. You then collect them the next day or whatever the rules are at any given location. This to me is cheaper than using your own ink and I think their ink quality is somewhat better than we get for our printers. I found scanning slides very trying but that was a few years ago and the equipment was not as good as we have now. You say the scanner is expensive and no doubt it is. But when I started the local computer joint charged $10 for the first scan and $8 for any others done at the same time. It made sense to buy a scanner and save a bundle, you have to decide how many scans you need to do then decide on which route. Photo editing for tears, bends and scratches is very interesting but time consuming and a steep learning curve at the outset. I enjoy that stuff, in fact I just removed a no longer son in law from the middle of a family group for a lady.

Just to let this move farther down in the que, doesn't need to be at the top.

My Officejet came with the "HP Solution Center". When launched, it presents options to scan to either a pdf or jpg. What scanning software are you trying to use? What happens when you try to use it? Is there an error message?

Maybe your cookies are getting deleted when you run some scans of some type. Firefox and other programs can delete the cookies. I use Firefox always and the problem does not happen to me often but.... when it does happen, I have to re-login (maybe it happens once every 2-3 weeks). Luckily, when that happens, the login information is re-displayed so, all I have to hit is 'Enter' to login. You may want to click on "remember me" so it is easy to re-logon. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/clear-cookies-and-site-data-firefox?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=delete-cookies-remove-info-websites-stored Other programs that scan and delete cookies may have the capability to not delete some of the cookies. Investigate if one of your scans is deleting the cookies and try to tell the program not to delete some of these cookies.