Printer driver

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OCgolf Posts 7 Registration date Tuesday October 21, 2008 Status Member Last seen October 30, 2008 - Oct 28, 2008 at 05:19 AM
OCgolf Posts 7 Registration date Tuesday October 21, 2008 Status Member Last seen October 30, 2008 - Oct 30, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Hello,
Recently my computer was affected by a drive by download and the OS had to be reinstalled. For a month I have been struggling to re access the old files I need and thank God I have got most of it but the printer driver seems to have vanished - at least the printer does not work. The printer is HP Laserjet4L and the computer is Dell running Windows XP. I have original XP software home edition but the guy who restored the system has put on XP professional. Don't know if it is 32 bit or 64 bit. I tried downloading 32 bit software from HP site but it did not work . Can I assume it is 64 bit?

Ideally I would like to recoonect my old faithful HP and also connect via my home network (Wireless) to another printer on my wife's laptop which also runs XP but this may be beyond my tech capabilities. Any advice to solve either or both problems would be much appreciated
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3 responses

xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Oct 28, 2008 at 08:50 PM
The 64 bit version of XP displays "x64 Edition" on the boot screen. Right click on "My Computer" and select "properties" that should display the version of Windows you are using. I think HP Laserjet4L support is built into Win XP and you should not need to download a driver. When the printer is connected Windows should detect it and load the correct drivers.

Have you checked to see if the parallel port is active? You may need to download the motherboard drivers so that your ports work. Do you have a Drivers CD that came with the Dell?

To check the Parallel port go to START - CONTROL PANEL - SYSTEM - HARDWARE -DEVICE MANAGER
click on the + next to PORTS - you should see a line for a printer port (LPT1) if you don't see a parallel port or there is a yellow question mark next to it or you do not have a PORTS line - you need to install the drivers for the port.

On the network side - check this site for more info:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-set-up-a-network-4097198
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OCgolf Posts 7 Registration date Tuesday October 21, 2008 Status Member Last seen October 30, 2008 1
Oct 29, 2008 at 03:04 PM
Many thanks for your comments. The printer line for LPT1 is definitely there and the Add Printer Wizard suggests that the set up of the HP printer is complete, but when I click Finish it says some files are needed and asks for the XP disk to be inserted.. It then does not read anything and after browsing and finding PCL5ERES.DLL , you press OPEN and it is not found. Most exasperating.

Thanks for the links on networking I will study at leisure.

I find no reference anywhere to 64 bit though the boot screen flashes by so quickly it is hard to know what it says.Properties on MY COMPUTER simply says XP PRO version 2oo2 with service pack 3 and all hotfixes to May 2008. I assume it must be 32 bit.
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xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Oct 29, 2008 at 05:51 PM
Did you download the driver package from HP?

If not - here is the link

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?prodNameId=15034&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodSeriesId=25486&prodTypeId=18972
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OCgolf Posts 7 Registration date Tuesday October 21, 2008 Status Member Last seen October 30, 2008 1
Oct 30, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Yes, I have several times downloaded the software from the HP site - and unzipped it. lj632 with its 29 files resides on my desktop for the time being. I am beginning to think I will have to buy a new printer. I did install my wife's modern HP printer which has an insallation CD and it worked perfectly. Why my old faithful Laserjet won't work is beyond me.
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