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Hi
a friend of mine just bought a new printer (oki B2200)
problem is, her laptop doesn't seem to recognize it when she plugs it in, there's no "new hardware found" popup etc
I tested it on my laptop, and it does work, for both Vista and XP
other USB devices are no problem, like external hardrives, memory sticks...
I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to computers, but I honestly don't know what do...
does anybody have any ideas?
thx!
Generally speaking any USB device that uses additional drivers (ie printer) requires the drivers to be installed BEFORE connecting the hardware.
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Don't know about that, but if you say so :p...
what I do know is that it's not like that in this case
like I said, I tested it on my laptop and it worked, I did the following:- downloaded the driver package from the OKI site
- connected printer
- a pop told me it was found, but drivers had to be installed
- ...blablabla...
- manually installed the drivers through the wizard vista offered me
- test print: it workedon my friend's laptop there is no detection of the printer whatsoever...
NB: I did try to install the driver first, and then connect it, but still no luck...
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Have you verified that USB port is functional?
Try going to Start> settings> printers> add printer. Follow the prompts.
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I did that, that was the only way to install the driver on her laptop...
it's not that particular USB port that's causing trouble,
the printer doesn't work on any of the ports :s
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You didn't answer OtheHill's question. Have you verified that the USB ports are functional? Meaning (for clarification purposes) have you tested other USB Devices in the ports? Is the printer requiring a 2.0 port and perhaps the ones in your friend's computer are 1.0?
Also, you said "Don't know about that, but if you say so :p... what I do know is that it's not like that in this case." Yes. We do know about that. USB printers and some other USB devices require the installation of the software before connecting the device.
"So won’t you give this man his wings
What a shame
To have to beg you to see
We’re not all the same
What a shame" - Shinedown
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the answer to that question was in my original post... I said that other devices like external harddrives and such are indeed functioning normally, if I was unclear about that, my bad :)
so to be perfectly clear:- all USB ports work and they are USB 2 btw, so that's not it either
- drivers do not have to be installed before connecting the printer, I know this for a fact since that was how I got it to work on my laptop
NB: this WOULD be the case however should it be possible to install them from the cd (like I did when testing on XP), but since the Vista drivers are not included on the cd, that's not possible, except for doing it manually like OtheHill said
NB2: like I said, I tried both scenarios, being:
1) connecting the printer without having the drivers installed (does nothing)
2) connecting the printer having the drivers installed (also does nothing)
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Did you try booting the computer with the printer connected then? If you have an installation CD then use it and follow the prompts. Your Vista computer has different drivers included and that is why it may have installed in the manner your used.
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remove all instances of printer software, then follow the install instructions in manual WHICH SAYS INSTALL SOFTWARE BEFORE
printer...here is manual:
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@OtheHill: haven't tried booting with the printer connected, will try that asap!
but again: my friend has the cd for the driver, but there is NO vista driver on it, that's why I downloaded the package from the OKI site and installed it manually...@fgdn: there was nothing printer-related installed, and yet again: the cd does not have vista drivers included, the driver package from the OKI site simply holds the driver files without any setup, which means the only way to install them is doing it manually, which, like said, I already did 8-)
and again, I don't care what the manual says: I succesfully installed the printer on my laptop in vista without the cd oviously, by FIRST connecting the printer (it was detected even though I had NO driver installed! like it should be) and THEN installing the driver from the downloaded package
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Do you know for a fact there is no compatible driver included in Vista? Many different printers use the same print engine.
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no I don't know that for a fact I guess...
but even then, why does it work on my laptop and not on her's?
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And what OS is installed on the friend's laptop?
Did you actually successfully print after connecting the printer to your Vista machine?
"So won’t you give this man his wings
What a shame
To have to beg you to see
We’re not all the same
What a shame" - Shinedown
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honestly, thanks for trying to help here, but I feel like I have to repeat myself over and over again...
yes I have vista, I don't know if there are any compatible drivers included, all I know, is that on my laptop in both vista and xp the printer was immediatly recognized upon connecting, with or without drivers installed
on my friend' laptop nothing happens whatsoeverrepeating AGAIN: OS on my friend's laptop is vista
yes I did print some pages to test if it actually works, in both vista and xp, otherwise I wouldn't have said it worked
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"repeating AGAIN: OS on my friend's laptop is vista"
and of course you BOTH have the same version of vista with the same updates???
drivers on your laptop are evidently part of the system..on her's non-existant...
strange huh???
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timothy
You need to look at this process like we do. We have no idea what your skill level is. That means statements like I tried this or that are meaningless until specific questions are answered.
Having an attitude will not help the process.
I just skimmed over the thread again. I don't see where you stated what OS your friend is running. Perhaps I missed it.
If you posted her specs with your original post then I assumed those were your specs. That is because most users here do that. They generally explain if the specs are the ones posted or not.
Now that you have cleared up the fact that both you and your friend are both running Vista we can try to get past that.
Try booting your friend's laptop into safe mode and checking Device manager for any abnormalities. Also check printers under settings to see if the printer show there.
There have been many instances of users here having an issue with flash and/or USB external hard drives not showing up when connected. This seems to be related to the USB ports remembering other hardware and not allowing the port to reconfigure for the new hardware. There are not hard and fast rules on how to correct this problem. One solution is to remove all the USB ports from within Device Manager and reboot. Allow Vista to re-install the ports and then follow the printer manufacturer's recommended procedure for installation.
Wouldn't be a bad idea to check the Add/remove programs in the Control Panel before removing the ports to remove any instance of software related to that printer. Also wouldn't hurt to use a registry cleaner at that time. CCleaner has a decent one that has IMO proven to be safe. However, I don't run Vista so I can't speak to that aspect.
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thx OtheHill, yea ok, my mistake it's like you said I posted my friends specs instead of mine, my bad
anyway, at least I have some options to try now, thx!
will do that once I get over there again, unfortunately that's not gonna be any time soon...
removing the USB ports from device manager ok, but how exactly do I reinstall them then?if those options don't work I'm just gonna format the whole thing and install XP since that is what she eventually wants anyway
sorry if I came across as having an attitude, kinda tired, I'm here to ask for help so IMO having an attitude is not the way :p
thx for the help!
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The USB ports should automatically be re-installed by Vista upon a reboot. The drivers are part of the motherboard chipset drivers and should already be present.
Before wiping Vista be absolutely sure you have ALL the needed drivers.
Microsoft has played hardball with the OEM vendors. You may not find XP drivers at all for some hardware. Wireless network and HD sound are two that come to mind as problematic. Even if they are available you should still get them ahead of time and burn to CD.
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