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General discussion

Network Printer - XP 32bit Server, Vista 64bit Clients

Jan 26, 2009 9:43AM PST

I'm having an issue with adding a printer on a Vista Ultimate 64bit computer. Here's the setup:

The printer is an HP Photosmart 7760. This printer does not offer a network connection, so it's connected via USB2.0 to a 32-bit Windows XP computer. This setup has worked for some time.

The client computers were previously also 32-bit Windows XP machines on a local area network. Microsoft Print Sharing has worked great in this regard, and printing worked smoothly.

Recently two of the client computers were replaced with new machines running Vista Ultimate 64-bit. For the most part the transition has been smooth, but not in the area of printing. Vista can see the XP server, and can see there is a printer being shared. When I attempt to connect or when I add the printer through the control panel, it says the driver is incorrect.

I'm assuming this means the driver being offered by the XP print server is incorrect. That makes sense since it's offering a 32-bit driver.

The difficulty is that I haven't been able to force a 64-bit driver to work. Installing the driver from HP only allows you to attach the printer locally via the USB port. Since the client machines are laptops, and are typically used in a different room, this isn't acceptable. I tried a 64-bit driver from HP that is supposed to cover the entire Photosmart line, but it also seems to want a local connection.

Since the print server is only being used for print service, I'd rather not upgrade its OS. It would be cheaper to replace the printer with something that is network capable. But that still costs money, and the printer is perfectly functional. It would be a shame not to use it.

Has anyone run into a 32-bit server / 64-bit client network printing issue before? I'm stumped.

Thanks,

Tom

Discussion is locked

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I looked and looked and
Jan 26, 2009 9:47AM PST
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" This utility will only support USB connected printers."
Jan 26, 2009 9:48AM PST

" This utility will only support USB connected printers."

Annoying...

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Network Printer - XP 32 Bit to Vista 64 Bit
Jul 30, 2009 5:02AM PDT

Tom,
I am having the same issue with exactly the same equipment that you mentioned. Did you ever resolve this problem? If so, please post your findings.

Thanks,
Charlie

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Network Printer - XP 32bit Server, Vista 64bit Client-Update
Oct 19, 2009 2:12PM PDT

I have the EXACT problem described. I have an XP (32 bit) desktop that acts as a print server on my network. I recently bought a laptop with Vista (64 bit). After spending 3 hours on the phone with HP, I am $39 lighter and I still can't print. HP left me with two choices. 1. Upgrade the XP box to a 64 bit OS........ or 2. Use a dedicated wireless print server attached to the printer via a network cable. HP seems to feel (and it makes sense) that by using a dumb print server any computer on the network can use correct drivers installed on the local machine without a problem. The problem seems to lie in the lack of forward compatibility (32bit server - 64bit client). Reversed, (64 bit server - 32 bit client) no problemo.

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Netwk Printer-XP 32bit Server-Vista 64bit Client-FIX!!
Oct 19, 2009 2:58PM PDT

I found the fix for this issue!!!!! Really simple actually. These are the steps I followed.

Here are the exact steps that worked for me:
1. Download the Windows Vista 64 bit printer driver for the HP 3055 multifunction printer from HP.com.
2. Install the driver on the Windows Vista computer as a local (not network) printer. If, during installation, you are prompted to connect the printer to your computer, choose the option to proceed with installation without connecting the printer. Install to LPT1 (default) only. (port change is done after install completes in Steps 6 &7)
3. After installation completes, open the Printers applet from the Windows Vista Control Panel.
4. Right-click on the new HP 3055 printer and choose Properties.
5. Go to the Ports tab.
6. Click Add Port?, select Local Port, then click New Port?
7. For the port name, enter exactly the network path and share name of your printer. In my case it was \\xpburner\HP3055, Click OK, and double-check that this new port is selected with the checkbox next to it.
8. Click OK to close the printer properties.


The entire article is here:
http://www.kevinyank.com/blog/archives/connect-to-a-network-printer-on-a-windows-xp-server-in-windows-vista

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Worked great!
Dec 28, 2009 3:04AM PST

I've been trying to print from my Vista 64bit laptop for some time now. Very frustrating. The solution certainly doesn't appear to be intuitively obvious. Saved my sanity also! I really needed this to work.

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Network Printer Vista 64bit Home - laptop XP 32 bit
Jan 8, 2010 7:52PM PST

I have the reverse situation but the solution doesn't appear to work. The 64bit Vista machine is working with Workgroups whereas the laptop is on domains - does that make a difference?

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Thanks for sharing!
May 3, 2011 5:21AM PDT

Thank you for sharing this! It's exactly what I was looking for: a way to print to a 32-bit print server from a 64-bit Windows installation!

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Printing from a 64bit Vista to a 32bit XP
Oct 19, 2009 11:17PM PDT

First-check to see if there is a 64bit driver for your printer. If its over 5 yrs old it probably is not available. Install the 64bit driver on the 64bit computer, attaching the printer directly to the 64bit machine. Next reconnect the printer to the 32bit machine. Check the name on the printer on the 32bit and rename the printer on the 64bit to agree. Set the printer to share. Next set the printer on the 64bit to "print to file". Lastly, Make the connection on the 64bit to print to \lanname\\printer and your ready to print.

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DUH!!!!!!!!
Oct 20, 2009 1:49AM PDT

I think I just said what you said except I was much clearer. You do not have to connect the printer directly to the Vista 64 machine to install the driver. So, thanks for mucking up the whole thing.

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Windows 7 x64 is also able to print on 32 bit server
Jan 7, 2010 3:46AM PST

Thanks Mate.

I was able to use the same method in Win 7 Home premium.HP helped me in no way.The machine is a brand new HP slimline and the printer is HP 3015 All in one Laserjet.The stuff works now.Thanks....Great relief indeed.

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It still works
Feb 23, 2012 2:50PM PST

Its 02-23-2012 and the instructions of Dave Mod above worked swimmingly.

A couple comments on my specific hardware may be helpful.

OS on computer sharing printer - win xp 32bit
OS on computer accessing printer - win 7 ultimate 64bit

HP Laserjet P1606dn -- downloaded latest and greatest from hp but the installation was so automated that that it only offered a USB installation or a network installation that required a MAC address. Both alternatives were dead ends. I then tried an installation using the drivers that cam with the OS and was offered a LTP1 port and it went smoothly from there.

Epson Styles Photo R1600 - after downloading the 64bit drivers I started the installation. I was offer a manual installation or an automated installation. After selecting the manual installation and selecting the LPT1 port it went smoothly from there.

And thanks that I still remember something of UNC (universal naming convention) from my early experiences with using scripts for network setups when the computer was rebooted.

Thanks to all,
Robert.

P.S. Without having previously read these posts, I would not have bought the 64bit OS.