Friday, April 16, 2010

Why won't my printers work with my new 64-bit Vista machine?

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CNET Reviews
April 16, 2010
Why won't my printers work with my new 64-bit Vista machine?

Dear CNET members,

Happy Friday! It's back to business after a week of quality time with the family. This year for the kids' spring break, we drove up to the mountains for some fun in the snow. It's been a while since I've seen so much fresh powder in this area, especially around this time of year, and we had a blast with endless snowball fights, snow angels galore, snow tubing, and of course snowmen! OK, enough talk of snow; let's plow forward to help Paul with getting his older printers working on his new Vista 64-bit machine.

Well, Paul, I have good news for you. Despite what your buddy told you, you didn't screw up by buying this Vista machine. And it's very likely that you will be getting your older printers up and running soon with all the support that you have received from your fellow members. From reading through all the answers, both printers will work on your system; you'll just have to download new drivers for both printers from the manufactures' sites.

When Vista was first released, especially the 64-bit version, a lot of drivers were not available for older hardware, but since Vista has been release for quite some time now, many manufactures have caught up and have updated their driver catalog with the latest ones so that folks like you will be able to use your old peripherals with newer operating systems. I have selected a few answers from our members to get you started, but please read through all the responses . Good luck and thank you to all who took the time out to help Paul out. Have a nice weekend!

Cheers!
- Lee


Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com

Lee Koo
Lee Koo
CNET Community manager
Last week's question
Why won't my printers work with my new 64-bit Vista machine?
QuestionI've got a new HP Pavilion loaded with Windows Vista. It is a 64-bit system, and I can't use either my Epson CX4600 or my Dell AIO 940 printers. I am computer illiterate, but one of my buddies told me that I really screwed up buying this one. He says that none of my equipment can be used with the 64-bit HP and that I will have to get all new stuff when and if it ever becomes available. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get my current scanner/printers to work with this computer? Again I must reiterate that I am not computer smart and am just a 68-year-old retiree on a fixed income. Thanks for any suggestions you can give me.

-- Submitted by: Paul H. of Cornelius, OR

AnswerFeatured member solutions
for last week's question:

 "It's probably in need of drivers... "
-- Submitted by: Wolfie2k5

 "Pretty simple. Install the drivers "
-- Submitted by: BigGuns149

 "64 bit problem "
-- Submitted by: Steven Limbrick

 "New computer problems "
-- Submitted by: waytron

 Read all member contributions

 Thanks to all who contributed!

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Check out next week's question:
Windows 7: All desktop shortcuts appear twice and it won't stop doing this!
Next week's questionI help out at the local church with the computer system. The church recently bought a new HP desktop running Windows 7. Unfortunately, all the desktop shortcuts appear twice and I can't stop it from doing this. The shortcuts appear only once in the relevant desktop folder and all the other duplicate desktop folders have nothing in them. I can't find solutions on the HP or Microsoft sites.

Does anyone know how to fix the problem? I don't want to reload the system and start again. Thanks!

-- Submitted by: Jeff B.

  Know the answer? Click here to submit it!

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Quick pollCommunity quick poll
Weigh in on this week poll topic!
How many peripherals have you had to retire after upgrading to Windows Vista or 7?

(Please click on button to vote)

 None at all (Lucky you!)
 One. (What was it?)
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 Three. (What were they?)
 Four. (Wow, that many? What were they?)
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 I don't do Windows.

Vote and discuss it here!
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2. E-Books: E-Ink and anti-glare question

3. Can you connect external speaker on the front headphone jack of a PC?

4. DVI vs. HDMI: any difference in picture quality?
Help your fellow members
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