scanner will not connect to iMac

My scanner is a "canoscan 8800F" and I was attempting to use Photoshop Elements 4 to acquire the image via the scanner. I even tried using another program, but each time I tried it, I received this message: "Cannot communicate with scanner. Cable may be disconnected or scanner may be turned off. Check status. Scanner driver will be closed. 155.0.0"; another few times, I got this message: "PhotoStudio/Photoshop quit unexpectedly. Click Reopen to open the application again. Click Report to see detailed information and send a report to Apple." It's plugged in, the software/drivers are installed. Is this a common problem? Is there a way around this?

Try this (a bit drastic):
1. Ditch ALL (and I mean all) Canon scanner software (unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an uninstaller provided on the install CD),
2. Keep all 'old' Canon software and files in a folder on the desktop - do NOT delete them (yet),
3. Disconnect the scanner from your Mac (turn power off as well if you wish),
4. Reinstall the Canon software from the Install CD.
5. Reboot your computer,
6. Reconnect your Canon,
7. Try a sample scan of anything.

If that works, you're up and away. Otherwise, we'll need to look at something different.

PS. please post your full Mac specs and MacOS version in your profile, it helps us to help you better.

I never use the software provided on the CD, it's usually out of date.

Check Canon's website for updated software for your OS.