XP printer drivers (what older drivers for printers work?) - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

arch13 · 01-18-2005, 05:35 PM

My father has finally accepted that moving off of 98' is a must.
He has read somewhere though, that xp cannot use 98' printer drivers. Some his printers are old enough to have no drivers newer than 98' (accroding to him, I'm checking that as I post this). These are great old school laser printers that take a good load and just work. Period.

He has absolutly no reason to get rid of or stop using these printers.

Is there any truth to this, or can XP fall back to using a 98' drivers if a newer driver does not exist? I suspect that some of these printers are so well known that their drivers are on the windows CD by now and can be automagicaly installed via plug n' play.
I'm looking up the support and drivers for these as we speak, so I will point out that I have by no means finished with my own googling yet. But as a blanket statment, can XP use a 98' driver. How about a 2000 driver if they exist?
I find it hard to believe that support for these would just be abandoned.

The printer list is:
H-P LaserJet II (circa 1990)
H-P LaserJet III (circa 1991)
H-P OfficeJet (multifunction, about '97 or '98)
Brother 9600 (multifunction, 2000)
NEC Silentwriter
H-P LaserJet IIp, (circa 1989)

catback · 01-18-2005, 07:54 PM

WinXP from my experience won't take Win98 drivers, it will take Win2k drivers for most hardware as XP is just an updated Win2k. If the printer is HP, Lexmark, or some big name brand laser printer like that then the drivers will be on the CD assuming it's a popular enough printer model.

arch13 · 01-18-2005, 10:02 PM

Your right. I found a knowledge base artical stating as much.
Thank you for clarifying that xp cannot play with a 98' driver.

One of these days I'll move off 2000 to xp as well

cyrnel · 01-18-2005, 10:41 PM

Support for many standard printers is built into XP. The early HP PCL printers were extremely popular and one example of this.

If it doesn't auto-detect look up the model on sites like <a href="http://www.printer-drivers.com/companies/456.htm?acd=3&rvd=5&thx=9&bng=7&o=5">printer-driver-guide.com </a> or http://www.driverguide.com

01-18-2005, 05:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
arch13 Loves my girl in thongs Location: North of Mexico, South of Canada	XP printer drivers (what older drivers for printers work?) My father has finally accepted that moving off of 98' is a must. He has read somewhere though, that xp cannot use 98' printer drivers. Some his printers are old enough to have no drivers newer than 98' (accroding to him, I'm checking that as I post this). These are great old school laser printers that take a good load and just work. Period. He has absolutly no reason to get rid of or stop using these printers. Is there any truth to this, or can XP fall back to using a 98' drivers if a newer driver does not exist? I suspect that some of these printers are so well known that their drivers are on the windows CD by now and can be automagicaly installed via plug n' play. I'm looking up the support and drivers for these as we speak, so I will point out that I have by no means finished with my own googling yet. But as a blanket statment, can XP use a 98' driver. How about a 2000 driver if they exist? I find it hard to believe that support for these would just be abandoned. The printer list is: H-P LaserJet II (circa 1990) H-P LaserJet III (circa 1991) H-P OfficeJet (multifunction, about '97 or '98) Brother 9600 (multifunction, 2000) NEC Silentwriter H-P LaserJet IIp, (circa 1989) __________________ Seen on an employer evaluation: "The wheel is turning but the hamsters dead" ____________________________ Is arch13 really a porn diety ? find out after the film at 11. -Nanofever

01-18-2005, 10:02 PM	#3 (permalink)
arch13 Loves my girl in thongs Location: North of Mexico, South of Canada	Your right. I found a knowledge base artical stating as much. Thank you for clarifying that xp cannot play with a 98' driver. One of these days I'll move off 2000 to xp as well __________________ Seen on an employer evaluation: "The wheel is turning but the hamsters dead" ____________________________ Is arch13 really a porn diety ? find out after the film at 11. -Nanofever

01-18-2005, 07:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
catback Psycho Location: North America	WinXP from my experience won't take Win98 drivers, it will take Win2k drivers for most hardware as XP is just an updated Win2k. If the printer is HP, Lexmark, or some big name brand laser printer like that then the drivers will be on the CD assuming it's a popular enough printer model.

01-18-2005, 10:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Support for many standard printers is built into XP. The early HP PCL printers were extremely popular and one example of this. If it doesn't auto-detect look up the model on sites like <a href="http://www.printer-drivers.com/companies/456.htm?acd=3&rvd=5&thx=9&bng=7&o=5">printer-driver-guide.com </a> or http://www.driverguide.com