HP Scanjet 300 not working with Mac

I recently bought an HP Scanjet 300 to use on my iMac that is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 - on the product box it states it is compatible, and when inserting the USB my computer creates a scanner queue for the product - however, the scanner doesn't even attempt to scan through Image Capture or through the scanner queue - even when clicking on the button on the device - which automatically opens Image Capture, begins to do an 'overview scan' but nothing happens - the scanner doesn't even budge!

I installed the appropriate driver and it still doesn't work.

I changed USB slots and even the cable and nothing happens.

I tried the scanner on my Macbook Pro running Mountain Lion 10.8.5 and I got an error message stating the the 'scanner detected an error - access denied'

On a side note, the scanner connects and works on an HP laptop so the device actually works.

I'd really appreciate help with this, I did notice that someone else had a similar issue with another Scanjet (200, I think) and they received no response. I also checked the list of compatible products available and the scanner model is not listed - however, how come the mac detects it and creates a queue for it?

Is it a case of returning the product because it simply will not work with my system, or is there a solution?

If there is no solution, which scanners will work FOR SURE with my operating system, because this is the second scanner I tried to connect that has not worked

Thanks for the help, if possible!