windows 7 - Where can I find a driver for a specific HP printer?

07
2014-07
  • ymar

    I would like to install a driver for HP LaserJet 4250n on a Windows 7 machine. The HP site gives me a universal driver which is not what I need. After installing that driver, I have a new icon in Devices and Printers, "HP Universal Printing PCL6". When I choose this "printer" after clicking Ctrl+P, a window opens in which I can input the address of the actual printer I want to use. It does work in that the printer prints the things I need, but it's twice as much clicking as I'd like. Can't I just install a driver for the actual printer I'm using? Where can I find it?

    • Answers
  • who.knows

    It depends on how you install the driver itself, in your case "traditional mode" is the way to go.

    I got this from the "HP Universal Print Driver" manual:

    Because the HP Universal Print Driver is flexible, you can install it in Traditional or Dynamic mode—and you can have both running on your PC at once.
    Traditional mode functions exactly like the product-specific drivers you are accustomed to using.
    When installed in Traditional mode, the HP Universal Print Driver is associated with a specific print device, which you can then select from an application’s Print menu. Once selected, the driver functions as a traditional, product-specific driver.

  • Simkill

    This one should work. I remember having to use vista drivers for win 7 in the past with no issues http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=412144&prodNameId=412158&swEnvOID=2093&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=lj-24656-6

    The driver for that printer for win7 is actually included with windows as standard, so you should really use that.


    • Related Question

    Is there a way to 'mimic' another OS from Windows 7 to get a driver / application to install?
  • Aron Rotteveel

    I recently bought a HP Officejet 6500, which has the ability scan and fax, besides the default printer functionality.

    Howvever, it turns out that the drivers on the CD-ROM and HP website do not support Windows 7. I already tried running the setup.exe in compatibilty mode and I even tried manually installing the .msi packages, with no success.

    I am almost certain that there is no actual problem with installing these drivers, as Windows Vista drivers work in almost every case on Windows 7. I am guessing there is simply a hardcoded "block" in the setup file which does not allow me to install the driver.

    Besides running application in compatibility mode, is there any other way to actually trick an application into believing you run another OS?


    • Related Answers
  • harrymc

    you can try to extract the drivers from the MSI package and force-install the driver via the device manager.

    right click the device > update driver software ... > Browse My Computer ... > Let me pick from a list > Have Disk ... > point to the *.inf file you have extracted and ignore any warnings.

    before you do that, you may create a drive image of your windows 7 partition, in case something does not go according to your plan.