Windows 7 Printer via Vista Host - No Drivers

brianmcavoy

New Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Vista 32-bit Host connected direct to an HP printer - works fine.

Win7 64-bit laptop connected direct to same HP printer - works fine.

Win7 64-bit laptop printing via Vista 32-bit host - no go.

I've tried installing the 64-bit driver on the 32-bit Vista machine. I've also tried installing the 32-bit driver on the Win7 laptop. In both cases, Windows and the HP website give me the runaround and insure me that all necessary drivers will auto-install via Plug-n-Pray. But this is not the case. Unable to find driver downloads easily.

How do I solve this printing riddle?
 
First can you clearly indicate what "no go" means? Do you get an error. Does the job enter the queue? Can you not see the shared printer?
Which computer is the printer actually attached to and hosted by?
If file and printer sharing enabled?
There is a couple work arounds that may get you going, but first I need to understand, which computer is the host and which computer is the client.
 
Vista 32-bit is the host and is directly connected to the HP printer.

Printer is shared and given a logical name.

Win7 64-bit does not "see" the shared printer. Entering the printer path manually does not work either.

Bottom Line is that I can't even add the shared printer to the Win7 laptop. My guess is that it has something to do with 64-bit vs 32-bit drivers, but attempts to install these drivers were unsuccessful as noted in the original post.

I hope that helps - let me know if I can clarify any other details. Thanks for the help.
 
The difference in the drivers may certainly be a consideration, but if you have had the printer physically attached to the Win 7 machine, and it worked, then the native drivers are probably already there, so..
try this;
Get rid of any reference to any failed attempts at installing the printer on the Windows 7 machine and determine the hostname and or IP address of the Vista Machine and the Printer Share Name.
Open Devices and Printers
Select add printer near the top menu bar
Select add local printer
Choose Create a new port and local port from drop down arrow Click Next
In the enter a port name do one of the following
1. \\MachineNameHostingPrinter\Printer'sShareName or
2. \\ipaddressOfMachineHostingPrinter\Printer'sShareName
In the install printer driver dialog box do one of the following
1. In the left panel select your printer manufacturer and in the right panel select your printer model (to use Win7 native drivers) or
2. Select the have disk button and direct the install process to the folder where you have download and extracted the Win 7 drivers for your printer.
 
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