I just picked up a scanner from work. It's a HP Scanjet 5550c USB.

I plugged it into my computer, but how do I know it works? What programs can I test it with?

micro420; try hp support & inquire if they have driver. on their site u will find information on that scanner,specs, date mfg.,etc.
look into LQO,s Hardware Compatibility List if scanner is supported by linux.

Good news and bad news.

Good news is that, according to the Mandrake website submitted by a community user, this scanner, HP Scanjet 5550c, is supported by Mandrake 9.1. Bad news is that I have no idea to see if it works or not, or how to test it. Another person mentioned XSane, but I googled some info up and XSane does not support this scanner. So what other options are there for me to test if this scanner works?

And by the way, the HP website does not have Linux drivers for this scanner.

micro420; could u write a script driver for device. ? am a newbie thats over my head, sorry.

I don't know how to do that.

Looks like I"ll have to go back to Windows XP to scan things. Please don't make me do this!!!

micro420; no one is making u do anything. your choice. advice: before jumping into anything research & read any all material on subject to understand howto. late for where u r at now but next time it will be different. slow down be patient & get to know what it is about . that is best way to avoid problems.

Your are correct: no one is making me do anything and it is my choice.

However, you are incorrect in assuming that I ignorantly put myself in this situation by getting a scanner without researching, as you don't even know the reasons why I need to scan or how I got this scanner.

Basically, my work gave me a LAST MINUTE project that I have to do this weekend. I didn't really buy the scanner. In fact, they gave it to me! LOL After this project is over, I'll investigate and see if this scanner will work with my Mandrake 9.1. If not, at least I got a free scanner. Now THAT you can't beat.

micro420 ; point taken & justly so. meant no implication of u not knowing, just referring to u r post(original) not quite definitive. now very clear & I apologize! and sorry for ur compromized position of preforming in such short time without prior knowledge of device unknown specs. but that is what still have reference to ie; also have a hp scanner (someone gave me)
have not tried it but researched it to find specs, drivers,cables,manuals & howto,s. it is an old model may not be able to use with linux ah well it is free! THANK YOU for opportunity to attempting to help you.