Nikon Coolscan compatibility question

I think I know the answer to this, but want to make sure.

I have a Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED film scanner. It mostly sits packed away, but I want to hook it up again. I know that when I replaced my computer a few years ago with a Windows 7 OS (was using XP) the firewire card was no longer recognizable. I have done some research and found this is a common issue.

I understand there are some workarounds, but I was wondering if it would be easier to just buy a new firewire card?

Does anyone know if this is the only compatibility issue I face, or are there others with the software as well?

I use NikonScan for my Super Coolscan 5000ED using XP Virtual Machine that is a free download for Win 7 Pro. I've tried a few other "workarounds" but XP Virtual Machine was the only way to get a dependable result.

Unfortunately XP Virtual Machine is unavailable with Win 8 Pro.

You should be able to find a firewire expansion card that's compatible. Many current motherboards include the firewire connector so it's not completely incompatible with the newer operating systems. You'll need to search the net for the driver workaround to use it with nikonscan on Windows 7 as Nikon only supported the scanner up to Windows XP I believe. PM me if you need more info on that as I have setup and used my 9000ED on windows 7 64-bit.