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Question

window7 and xp printer driver problem

Jul 29, 2012 4:26AM PDT

I have just bought a computer with windows7 and installed a Epson RX620 printer on it. Problem is I have a laptop with XP on it but the drivers for the printer on xp are not compatible with windows 7.when i installed the printer on win7 it used drivers from windows to install it.how can i put these drivers on my XP laptop or is there another way round this

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Why not go to epson.com for drivers?
Jul 29, 2012 4:48AM PDT
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window7 and xp printer driver problem
Jul 29, 2012 8:25AM PDT

I've done that when i installed it on my windows 7 computer but there wasn't any it just said windows7 would install its own driver which worked ok .the trouble I'm having is trying to share it with a xp laptop because i cant install the right driver on xp

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I went to epson.com
Jul 29, 2012 8:51AM PDT

And it looks like the driver is there for XP. After we install the printer driver then we point it at our shared printer. As someone noted, you don't copy these off the Windows 7 machine.

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window7 and xp printer driver problem
Jul 29, 2012 3:59PM PDT

how do i do that .Sorry if i sound a bit stupid i don't know much about sharing printers.thanks

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Re: sharing printer
Jul 29, 2012 5:06PM PDT

After sharing the printer on the W7 machine, go to your XP PC and add it as a local printer. When asked what printer, enter
\\name-of-w7-pc\name-of-shared-printer

Use the downloaded XP drivers. When you add the printer as a network printer, it copies the divers. It doesn't do that when installing it as a local printer. The above trick (giving the full networked identification) allows the local drivers to find it.

Kees

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window7 and xp printer driver problem
Jul 30, 2012 6:12AM PDT

thanks tried that still no luck think its because its w7 64bit and xp is 32 bit as stated by another response .So decided to give up and go with a new printer with WiFi so it can be installed on both pc's and use separately.Thanks for you help much appreciated.

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Work-around.
Jul 30, 2012 6:20AM PDT

That certainly is a good solution. But let me mention a cheap (free!) work-around, that might work for you if it's for occasional use. If you use it every day, it's too clumsy.

On XP, install a pdf-printer (like cutepdf). Print to a pdf-file (on a USB-stick or on a share on the Windows 7 machine). Then print that pdf-file on the Windows 7 machine. No printer driver needed on XP.

Kees

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window7 and xp printer driver problem
Jul 30, 2012 6:07PM PDT

Thanks I think the best option is a new printer easier all round.thanks for your help spent days trying to sort this out should have just asked in the first place

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A network ready printer is the better choice but
Jul 30, 2012 6:23AM PDT

I'd go wired if the printer is close enough to the router/switch but you'll have fewer problems this way than with sharing. As well, you won't need a host for the printer to be on when printing from the other PC.

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Clarification Request
How is it that you are connecting both PCs
Jul 29, 2012 6:47AM PDT

to the printer? Are you connecting directly, through a network or trying to share it from one or the other? In any case, you cannot use the same driver on both systems. This is especially true if your Window7 machine is 64 bit. If sharing, you'll have problems if one system is 64 bit and the other is 32 bit so maybe more information as to how you're connecting these will get a better answer.

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trying to share
Jul 29, 2012 8:15AM PDT

Thanks for replying sorry i am trying to share it from one to the other.its installed on windows 7 but wanted my xp laptop to share it.
the driver on the installation disc is no good for win7 so when i tried to install it on win7 it used windows driver now i cant get it to print from the xp laptop.it worked fine till i changed the main computer from xp to windows7.