Getting your current printer to work in Windows 7 may turn out to be a piece of cake or all but impossible. For some key information you should have in hand before you start, take a look at the companion article Is Your Printer Ready for Windows 7? If you’re ready to install, however, here’s how.
As a rule of thumb, the newer your printer is, the more likely it is to work with Windows 7, and the more likely it is for all the features to work, rather than just the basics. In particular, all of the printer manufacturers I spoke to said that they will provide full support for Windows 7 for all of the printers they currently sell. Microsoft says the same is true for all of the printer manufacturers it deals with.
Just as important, because Windows 7 is much more like Windows Vista under the hood than Vista was like Windows XP, any printer with a Vista driver is likely to work with Windows 7 using the Vista driver. Printers that predate Vista and still don’t have Vista drivers available are potentially more of a problem, but even some of these can be coaxed to work under Windows 7, if only for basic printing.
The best approach to installing your printer in Windows 7 depends on what drivers and downloads are available for it, and from where. Here are some strategies to follow, starting from the best case of full support available as a download and working down to printers that may or may not work under Windows 7.
1. Look for Windows 7 Printer Drivers
If you’re installing Windows 7 as an upgrade to a Vista system that already has your printer drivers installed, and the Windows 7 disc includes drivers for your printer, the new drivers will be installed as the part of the upgrade. (Microsoft recommends that you make sure the printers are on during the upgrade installation). If you’re doing a fresh install, they won’t be.
If you’re installing Windows 7 as an upgrade to a Vista system that already has your printer drivers installed, and the Windows 7 disc includes drivers for your printer, the new drivers will be installed as the part of the upgrade. (Microsoft recommends that you make sure the printers are on during the upgrade installation). If you’re doing a fresh install, they won’t be.
In the first case, you should use Windows Update to check for newer drivers, and then test the printer to find out if the drivers support all of the features you need. If not, your next step should be to go to the manufacturer’s Web site and look for a download for your printer for Windows 7. For a fresh install, you might as well start by downloading the Windows 7 driver, or driver plus software package, from the manufacturer’s Web site, since it’s more likely to have full support.
2. Use Vista Drivers
If you can’t find specific support for Windows 7 for your printer, your next step is to try installing the printer’s Vista drivers and software, assuming there are Vista drivers and software to install. One printer I tested—the Konica Minolta magicolor 2300DL—predates Vista, and isn’t even listed on Microsoft’s Windows Compatibility Center. Getting it working under Windows 7 was easy, though. All I had to do was download the Vista driver from Konica Minota’s Web site and install it.
If you can’t find specific support for Windows 7 for your printer, your next step is to try installing the printer’s Vista drivers and software, assuming there are Vista drivers and software to install. One printer I tested—the Konica Minolta magicolor 2300DL—predates Vista, and isn’t even listed on Microsoft’s Windows Compatibility Center. Getting it working under Windows 7 was easy, though. All I had to do was download the Vista driver from Konica Minota’s Web site and install it.
Unfortunately, installing a Vista driver isn’t always that easy. I ran into an issue with one of the HP printers in my tests, with the installer checking the Windows version and refusing to run.
3. Run in Vista Compatibility Mode
If you run into a problem with a Vista installation routine, you may be able to get around it by running the installation program in Windows Vista compatibility mode. Right-click on the installation program’s filename, choose Properties, and then the Compatibility tab. Check the Run this program in compatibility mode for check box, and choose Windows Vista, Windows Vista (Service Pack 1), or Windows Vista (Service Pack 2). Apply the changes, choose OK to close the dialog box, and then run the program. Most installation programs should work the same way in any of the three Vista variations, but if the program doesn’t work with one, you can try it with the other settings as well.
If you run into a problem with a Vista installation routine, you may be able to get around it by running the installation program in Windows Vista compatibility mode. Right-click on the installation program’s filename, choose Properties, and then the Compatibility tab. Check the Run this program in compatibility mode for check box, and choose Windows Vista, Windows Vista (Service Pack 1), or Windows Vista (Service Pack 2). Apply the changes, choose OK to close the dialog box, and then run the program. Most installation programs should work the same way in any of the three Vista variations, but if the program doesn’t work with one, you can try it with the other settings as well.
Note that running the installation program in compatibility mode has no effect on how the driver works. Also, there’s no compatibility mode for drivers. However, this trick may let you install the driver and other programs. Or it may not. The HP installation routine I was testing still refused to work, even in compatibility mode. (Note too, that if the installation program installs other software besides the driver and you have trouble running that software, you may be able to use the compatibility mode to get it to work in Windows 7.)
4. Manually Add Printer Drivers
If the Vista installation program won’t work, you may still be able to install the Vista printer driver—but not scan drivers or other software—though the Windows Add Printer Wizard. Go to the Devices and Printers window, choose add a printer, and work your way through the wizard. When you get to printer options, choose Have disk, navigate to the folder with the driver, and select the printer’s INF file.
If the Vista installation program won’t work, you may still be able to install the Vista printer driver—but not scan drivers or other software—though the Windows Add Printer Wizard. Go to the Devices and Printers window, choose add a printer, and work your way through the wizard. When you get to printer options, choose Have disk, navigate to the folder with the driver, and select the printer’s INF file.
5. Install Network Printers Locally
If the printer is on a network, you may need to tell the Add Printer wizard that you’re installing a local printer, use LPT 1 as the port it’s connected to, and then change the port setting after the driver is installed. To change the port, go to the Devices and Printers dialog box, right click on the printer name, and choose Printer Properties (not to be confused with Properties). Then choose the Ports tab and the Add Port button. In most cases, you’ll want to highlight StandardTCP/IP Port, choose the New Port button, and then work your way through the rest of the wizard screens, entering the Printer’s IP address in the appropriate dialog box.
If the printer is on a network, you may need to tell the Add Printer wizard that you’re installing a local printer, use LPT 1 as the port it’s connected to, and then change the port setting after the driver is installed. To change the port, go to the Devices and Printers dialog box, right click on the printer name, and choose Printer Properties (not to be confused with Properties). Then choose the Ports tab and the Add Port button. In most cases, you’ll want to highlight StandardTCP/IP Port, choose the New Port button, and then work your way through the rest of the wizard screens, entering the Printer’s IP address in the appropriate dialog box.
6. Try Using a Universal Printer Driver
If there aren’t any Vista drivers for your printer, or if the Vista drivers don’t work with Windows 7, there are other possibilities worth trying. If your printer uses either of the two most common page-description languages (PDLs), PCL or PostScript, you should be able to get it working with a Windows 7 universal print driver (UPD).
If there aren’t any Vista drivers for your printer, or if the Vista drivers don’t work with Windows 7, there are other possibilities worth trying. If your printer uses either of the two most common page-description languages (PDLs), PCL or PostScript, you should be able to get it working with a Windows 7 universal print driver (UPD).
UPDs come in separate versions for PCL and PostScript, with OS-specific versions for each printer language. HP, Xerox, Ricoh and others offer UPDs for Windows 7 as free downloads. In some cases, the company explicitly says the driver is meant to work with any PCL or PostScript printer. In others, the driver is meant to work only with the company’s own printers, although you can usually coax it into working with any brand of printer. An exception is the HP UPD, which checks for the printer model and simply will not work with non-HP printers.
In general, you can count on a UPD to provide basic printing support for almost any printer that uses the right PDL for the driver. It may or may not support additional features, like duplexing (to print on both sides of a page), multiple trays, or output sorters.
Any given manufacturer’s UPD is likely to support more features for the manufacturer’s own printers than for the competition, so if your printer’s manufacturer offers a UPD, that’s the one you’ll want to use. If the manufacturer doesn’t offer a UPD, you might want to try all the UPDs that work with the printer, to find the one that offers the best support. And if your printer offers both PCL and PostScript compatibility, you might want to try both the PCL and PostScript UPDdrivers.
Unfortunately, not all printers use PCL or PostScript. Almost all inkjets, and many inexpensive lasers, are host based, meaning that they let the computer process a print job to send to the printer, instead of processing the print job themselves. For these printers, there is no such thing as a UPD, because there’s no standard language for a UPD to use.
7. When All Else Fails…Use Brute Force
If you’re stuck with a host-based printer that doesn’t have a Windows 7 or Vista driver, or that has a Vista driver that doesn’t work in Windows 7, you may still be able to get it working in Windows 7. It’s a good idea to start at your favorite search engine, searching for variations on the printer name plus the words “Windows 7.” If you’re lucky, you’ll find a discussion of how to get the printer working. Otherwise, you’re basically reduced to brute-force trial and error.
If you’re stuck with a host-based printer that doesn’t have a Windows 7 or Vista driver, or that has a Vista driver that doesn’t work in Windows 7, you may still be able to get it working in Windows 7. It’s a good idea to start at your favorite search engine, searching for variations on the printer name plus the words “Windows 7.” If you’re lucky, you’ll find a discussion of how to get the printer working. Otherwise, you’re basically reduced to brute-force trial and error.
The trick is to find another printer whose driver works with your model. The best candidates are drivers for similar models in the same series and later versions of the printer. If you have a 6560 model, say, which has since been replaced by the 6660 model, there’s at least a chance that the 6660 driver will let you print, even if it doesn’t support all of the printer features.
This same approach of using a driver for a similar printer is even more likely to work with PCL or PostScript printers to support features that a UPD may ignore; so you may want to try it for non-host based printers as well. Keep in mind, though, that your time is worth something too; at some point, you may want to cut your losses, and simply buy a new printer. Be aware too that there are still more ways to get a printer working in Windows 7. However, one or more of the approaches included here should give you at least basic printing support in the vast majority of cases.
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