https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Universal_Print_Driver
This article is long on technical details, and short on explaining what is available for what printers and Windows versions.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Finding HP drivers for old laserjets
Google for:
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows
Anything else ls likely to get you on the wrong path, including trying to navigate the HP support site.
Do NOT ever try to use a driver from some site other than HP. Good chance you'll end up with malware.
Anything else ls likely to get you on the wrong path, including trying to navigate the HP support site.
Do NOT ever try to use a driver from some site other than HP. Good chance you'll end up with malware.
Universal PCL5, PCL6, and Postscript drivers
For Win 8, it probably works best to use the universal USB driver with a USB conversion cable.
For Win 7, you get three choices:
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL5 (64-bit)
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL6 (64-bit)
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PostScript (64-bit)
A bit of research shows that for a printer which supports Postscript, the Postscript choice is probably the best. However, an LJ5 does not support Postscript. The correct choice is PCL5.
Installing the PCL5 driver does not "fix" the printer which was discovered when Win 7 finds a printer on the parallel port.
Rather, it creates a generic PCL5 printer which is hard wired to a parallel port, normally LPT0:.
The printer seems to work ok, although I have not tested extensively as yet.
So far, this is the only solution I find for Win 7.
For Win 7, you get three choices:
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL5 (64-bit)
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL6 (64-bit)
HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PostScript (64-bit)
A bit of research shows that for a printer which supports Postscript, the Postscript choice is probably the best. However, an LJ5 does not support Postscript. The correct choice is PCL5.
Installing the PCL5 driver does not "fix" the printer which was discovered when Win 7 finds a printer on the parallel port.
Rather, it creates a generic PCL5 printer which is hard wired to a parallel port, normally LPT0:.
The printer seems to work ok, although I have not tested extensively as yet.
So far, this is the only solution I find for Win 7.
USB to Parallel Port Converters
The converters are easy to find, either at your local computer store or Amazon/Ebay.
Expect to pay about $8.
A cable with a USB connector on one end, and a parallel port connector on the other end. Unless you need more length, you can get one long enough to be the cable to your printer.
My first experience with these was not reassuring. Windows of all flavors sees that there is something out there on a USB cable, but does not recognize it as a printer, let alone what kind of printer you have.
On Windows 7, I'm still not sure what to do for this problem.
On Windows 8, the solution is to install
HP LaserJet USB (DOT4) communication driver for Windows 8 and Higher (64-bit)
This option does not seem to appear if you select WIn 7, but it does appear if you select Win 8. Then, the printer will install when it is discovered, much as one would expect.
Expect to pay about $8.
A cable with a USB connector on one end, and a parallel port connector on the other end. Unless you need more length, you can get one long enough to be the cable to your printer.
My first experience with these was not reassuring. Windows of all flavors sees that there is something out there on a USB cable, but does not recognize it as a printer, let alone what kind of printer you have.
On Windows 7, I'm still not sure what to do for this problem.
On Windows 8, the solution is to install
HP LaserJet USB (DOT4) communication driver for Windows 8 and Higher (64-bit)
This option does not seem to appear if you select WIn 7, but it does appear if you select Win 8. Then, the printer will install when it is discovered, much as one would expect.
Using old laserjets on new computers
I have a collection of LaserJet 5p laser printers.
I bought one of them new, for about $900, in 1994 or 1995. The others I have acquired for very little in the interim twenty years, along with a collection of toner cartridges.
My trusty XP computer died recently, and I decided to give up XP. I bought a new HP computer, which runs Win 8. New computers don't come with a parallel port, indeed my new computer does not have even a way to add a parallel port.
I also acquired a Win 7 computer, with a parallel port.
I'll be discussing how to get a LJ5P running on both.
Comments and experienced regarding using old laserjets are more than welcome.
I bought one of them new, for about $900, in 1994 or 1995. The others I have acquired for very little in the interim twenty years, along with a collection of toner cartridges.
My trusty XP computer died recently, and I decided to give up XP. I bought a new HP computer, which runs Win 8. New computers don't come with a parallel port, indeed my new computer does not have even a way to add a parallel port.
I also acquired a Win 7 computer, with a parallel port.
I'll be discussing how to get a LJ5P running on both.
Comments and experienced regarding using old laserjets are more than welcome.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)