Printer Drivers

Working with your printer drivers

Printers, like any piece of computer hardware, require device drivers in order to interact with your computer. Printer drivers tell the operating system what type of printer it is and how it should be controlled.

When you first purchased your printer, it came with an installation disk which contains the installation program, specialty printer software, and printer drivers. Most people store this installation CD for future use in case they run into problems and need to reinstall the drivers or in case they buy a new computer and want to use their existing printer with the new system.

Reasons for keeping your printer drivers up-to-date

However, it's not a bad idea to forgo the disk in favor of downloading updated printer drivers from the printer manufacturer. You can do this under any scenario including repairing malfunctioning printers, installing your existing printer on a new machine, or when seeking enhancements potentially made.

For example, a malfunctioning printer isn't necessarily due to a mechanical failure. If your printer stops responding as it should or is giving you trouble, consider updating your printer drivers. A number of different things could have happened to cause this disruption including file corruption, missing printer driver files, missing DLLs, and conflicts with other devices or applications. By updating your printer drivers, you could very well solve your printer problems.

In addition, printer manufacturers regularly discover conflicts and issues with their devices after they've been released on the market. Rather than going through a major recall, they simply release an updated device driver that solves these issues. By updating your printer driver with the latest update, you have solved any known and repaired flaws. This will help you to avoid potential problems.

Tips on how to update your printer drivers manually

If you are migrating your existing printer to a new computer, you should update the printer driver so that you have the latest updates. For example, when your printer was manufactured, it might not have had access to the latest technology such as Vista capabilities. If your new system is a Vista PC, the printer won't work with your new system unless the printer manufacturer has added Vista compatibility to it and released updated printer drivers.

Another excellent reason to update your printer drivers is to take advantage of any upgrades and enhancements made to the printer since you purchased it. By keeping your printer drivers current, you can extend the useful lifetime of your printer and enjoy improvements made since you first installed it.

Printer drivers are specific to the device and the operating system. For example, you can't use an HP printer driver on a Canon printer. Further still, you can't use an HP printer driver designed for an HP model other than the one that you own. Nor can you use an HP printer driver for your specific HP printer that is designed for an operating system other than yours. This means that you must know the exact brand, series, and model number of your printer as well as the operating system of your computer when you are searching for new printer drivers.

Once you've located the appropriate updated drivers, you must install them. This is done by clicking the Printers icon found in the Control Panel. Once launched, right-click the printer that you are updating and choose Properties. Click the Advanced tab and then click New Driver. From there, follow the prompts for updating the printer drivers.

Updating your device printer drivers "the easy way"

Want a better way to update? DriverCure automates driver updates for all of the hardware and peripheral devices on your system on a regular basis which means that your PC will be at its best at all times!

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Printer Drivers

Working with your printer drivers

Reasons for keeping your printer drivers up-to-date

Tips on how to update your printer drivers manually

Updating your device printer drivers "the easy way"