Vista x64, XP x86, Sharing Printer on Network

[Ristogod]

OK, so when I built my latest rig using Vista x64, to be able to share my printer on the network to my XP x86 machines, I had to add an additional x86 driver on my Vista x64 machine. I was lucky that I could simply extract all the files and find the .inf file that pointed to the correct driver. All I had to do was edit the .inf file to match the name that Vista was looking for, and it worked.

However tonight, I tried to do the same thing for my Aunt and Uncle, and had no success. Their printer is a HP psc 750xi and it is connected to their Vista x64 machine. I had no luck at all in finding the files I needed to load their x86 driver.

Can anyone help me figure out how to get the proper files in order to load the driver for their printer so it will work with all the x86 machines on their network?

[caveman-jim]

get the HP Universal Print Driver for Windows x64, there is a PCL5, PCL6 and PS version. Comes as a self-extracting executable, IIRC you can just run it to extract all and the copy what files you need to the guest that requires them. You get all the basic printing functions, some of the advanced management tools are missing.

[Ristogod]

get the HP Universal Print Driver for Windows x64, there is a PCL5, PCL6 and PS version. Comes as a self-extracting executable, IIRC you can just run it to extract all and the copy what files you need to the guest that requires them. You get all the basic printing functions, some of the advanced management tools are missing.

So that will install also the 32 bit drivers?

I checked the supported printers for that driver and their's is not listed.

[caveman-jim]

I am confused... you want 32bit drivers for a Vista x64 printer, to be used as additional drivers under printer sharing, correct? If so then download the client 32bit drivers, extract them on the x64 machine, and use the add driver wizard to include them as well. I think.

[Syl66]

Wouldn't you just need to have the x86 drivers installed on the x86 machine and the x64 drivers installed on the x64 machine. I would like to know the proper way to do this as well as I will be in the same boat very shortly. Let us know how you make out Risto.

[Ristogod]

I am confused... you want 32bit drivers for a Vista x64 printer, to be used as additional drivers under printer sharing, correct? If so then download the client 32bit drivers, extract them on the x64 machine, and use the add driver wizard to include them as well. I think.

OK, my computer is Vista x64. It has a printer connected to it. When I go to printers in the control panel, I see the icon for my printer. If I right-click on it and chose sharing, I will see the sharing screen. Then if I click on the Additional Drivers button at the bottom, I can select to add an x86 driver. For me I simply downloaded the XP drivers and ran the executable. It extracted a bunch of files and I quit the install. Then I went to where I could add the x86 driver and chose an inf file in that list of extracted files. That then loaded the x86 driver. Now any computer on my network can print to that printer as the drivers are available to them. So it works for me and my printer on my network.

I tried doing the same thing tonight for my Aunt/Uncle but could not get it working. The files extracted to their computer were different. I found some inf files in there and tried to use them, but none of them seem to do anything and just gave errors. So I am wondering how do I get the files with the inf file in it so I can just load them in the additional drivers section of the printer?

[Ristogod]

So I finally figured out where the files were being placed on the hard drive. The .inf file was called hpopxp04.inf. So I copied all of the directory that that file was in. When I tried to get Vista x64 to load it into the x86 slot, it errored saying it couldn't find any info for "HP PSC 750xi". So I looked into the .inf file and changed all occurrences for "hp psc 700 series" to "HP PSC 750xi". Finally the it accepts it and starts the process of installing the driver. Along the way it complains about the driver not being signed or verified or something, but I just click to install anyways.

So finally after all that I can add the printer by typing in \\pcName\\PrinterName. It prompts me for a username and password, so I use one of the admin accounts on Vista as the username and password. It then shows the printer in my list of printers.

So at this point I'm thinking that I figured it out. But as soon as I test it, nothing works. Notepad gives me some error about the handle not being found. Printing from other applications just gives some useless generic error with no specifics.

Why is it this hard? I've been googling to my heart's content, and it seems that I'm the only one in the world to have these problems. Others are similar in some ways, but not exactly the same. I mean seriously, why is it this hard?

[Dr. Zhivago]

Because you're using a crappy HP product.

Sorry Risto. I don't know how to help you with this. But, I hate HP and their crappy printers and drivers.

[caveman-jim]

You can't use unsigned drivers in Vista x64.

[Ristogod]

Anyone know how to uninstall a printer driver? I would guess that whatever driver I used for x86 wasn't correct. But there seems to be no option that I can find to update that driver or remove the existing one. Anyone know how to remove the x86 printer driver from a x64 Vista install?

[Dr. Zhivago]

\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\w32x86\<folder name>
\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64\<folder name>
\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
\Windows\System32\spool\prtprocs

Look in those locations.

EDIT: I realize you're on x64, and the paths may be different, but that should be close.

[Ristogod]

Spent the better part of the evening researching this crap. Won't be able to test whether anything I've read can be applied and will work for awhile. My Aunt/Uncle live like 30-45 minutes away. So whenever I get back there, I'll be able to give an update on this fairly painful process.

[Ristogod]

The Solution

OK, I figured it out. Here is how you do it.

Get the printer running on your Vista 64 machine. Vista has a ton of drivers, and for the most part, it should detect your printer and start working. If not, you'll have to install the drivers from the manufacturers disc or driver download.

To be able to share the printer on the network so that it works with x86 computers, you have to install the the proper x86 drivers. These drivers are the same drivers that work with Vista 32 bit. Don't assume that drivers built for XP 32 bit will be correct just because the other x86 computers on the network are running XP.

To install the x86 drivers go the the start menu and type "printers" and press enter. You should see an icon of your printer. Right click on your printer and chose "Properties". Inside, go to the "Sharing" tab. Click the "Change sharing options" button. Next click the "Additional Drivers" button at the bottom. Check the checkbox in the processor column with the "x86" next to it, and click OK. This will prompt you to install the x86 driver. It wants you to navigate to the driver's .inf file.

At this point, we don't have the driver and its .inf file. To get the proper driver we first need to do some stuff. If your printer installed on its own using the provided drivers found in Vista 64, there should be a corresponding driver with the same inf file name in Vista 32. To get the drivers, you either need a PC running Vista 32, or the disc itself.

I had the disc, and the method I used to get the drivers from the disc was this. I downloaded Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, which is a free download. Install the program and created a new virtual PC. I then installed Vista 32 bit on it. Once there, I went to C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ and copied all of the files from there and pasted them into a shared network directory on my Vista 64 bit machine. Once I had the files, I could then complete the process of installing the x86 driver on the printer.

Its just a matter of finding the correct .inf file in the copied files. For me installing a HP PSC 750xi, the correct file was in a folder that started with "prnhp001.inf_".

When installing my Epson printer, I was able to do it another way. I downloaded the Vista 32 bit drivers from their website. Then started the installation executable. After the program has extracted all its files, I tracked down where the files had been extracted to and found the driver's .inf file there. Then I attempted to install the x86 driver. However the printer's name was slightly different in the .inf file and would not install. Pay attention to the error Windows gives you. It should the printer by name it is trying to install for. Write down that name and go into the .inf file and edit the printer name to match what Windows is looking for. After editing the file, try again. Windows should now be able to find the drivers and install.

If at any time during the install Windows should complain about the drivers not being signed or some other similar warning, most likely the drivers aren't going to work.

After you finally track down the correct drivers and install them into the printer, you should now be able to navigate to the Vista 64 machine on the network and see the printer icon. Click on it to install the printer on the 32 bit machines and test. If everything went as planned, you should be able to printer just fine.

If for some reason, after installing the drivers, they do not work, you may need to investigate further and install the correct drivers. But first you need to uninstall the incorrect x86 drivers. To do so, go to the start menu and type in "printers" and press enter. Inside the printers window, right click on the open space, not a printer icon, and choose "Run As Administrator > Server Properties". Then go to the drivers tab and find the driver you just installed and click the remove button.

I hope this helps anyone needing to run both x64 and x86 PCs on their network that need to share the same printer. I never tried running it the opposite way though, where the printer is on the 32 bit machine. That may bring with it another whole issue of problems.

[-n7-]

My head hurts.

Attack of the wall of text.

Glad to hear you got it figured out.

Since i'm lazy, i just send the files to my main PC & then print them if i have something on the HTPC or notebook to print.

After sorta reading that, i have no desire to to attempt to get mine networked lol...

[caveman-jim]

Risto, good job getting it working, and some useful tips in there. WinRAR and 7Zip can pull apart most self extracting executables, HP's can be a pain because you install an installer agent, which downloads files and uncompresses them etc. I need to look up what the extract command for Vista's cabinets is, if its different from XP's extract or if winRAR can open them from the disc.

Moved to OS from Gen HW, I'm going to add this to the OS useful info thread.

[Dr. Zhivago]

Good post Risto. But what a PITA!

[Ristogod]

Risto, good job getting it working, and some useful tips in there. WinRAR and 7Zip can pull apart most self extracting executables, HP's can be a pain because you install an installer agent, which downloads files and uncompresses them etc. I need to look up what the extract command for Vista's cabinets is, if its different from XP's extract or if winRAR can open them from the disc.

Moved to OS from Gen HW, I'm going to add this to the OS useful info thread.

Yeah, I tried using 7zip to decompress, but it was like you said, one of those feed agent installers.

[warriorking]

Basically had the same problem sharing my Canon Mp500 printer connected to my Vista 64Bit system, went to the Canon website downloaded the XP drivers, unzipped them on my Xp system, quit the install ...Did a search for the printer over the network, installed the INF file from the unzipped canon files when prompted and Bang!!!! I am good to go ...Now printing from my XP as well as my Vista 64 Bit systems...