PC help needed
 

We have a Brother printer that accepts both a parallel and a usb inputs. My pc uses the parallel input. About 6 months ago I have been unable to access this printer. The only thing that might be a problem is that I am running Windows 7. According to the manual it only shows Windows XP as an operating system. However, the manual was printed before Windows 7 was in use.

I may need someone to come over and fix this problem. Are there any recommendations for this type of problem?

Thanx

John

You can probably handle this yourself.
On your computer go to "Control Panel" or find "Devices and Printers" by doing a search.
In the Printers section find your printer and click it once. Then right click on it and "Delete" (or remove printer) Yes it sounds severe but windows will detect your printer when it restarts and install the software for it. You will not need the original disk.

Restart your computer.
Restart your printer.

If that doesn't fix it, then your need to update the printer driver (software for the printer to make it compatible with Windows 7)
Find your printer on the linked page below and go from there. Follow those instructions. Usually easier than you might think.

Windows 7 Compatible Models | Brother

Good luck.

Got the printer uninstalled thru the control panel. Restarted windows. My printer is now in the control panel. However still no go with printing. As far as I know the drivers are up to date as windows checked for update drivers. There are 4 places where the printer cable can be installed on the back of the pc. I tried all of them and also changed the ports to various parallel and serial ports on the printer properties but still no go. The best port was lpt1. When I tried to print a short word document I eventually get printer errors. Most of the time I don't get the printer icon on the task bar which usually happens when you have a print job in the quey.

At this point I'm stymied.

John:confused:

Honestly upgrade to a wireless printer, like an HP Envy, under $60, and upgrade to Windows 10 which will already be 2 yrs old this yr. If you don't stay current stuff starts breaking.

I do have a wireless laser printer and it works with both my pc and my wifes pc. I don't want to switch to Windows 10 right now but will look into a wireless non-laser printer which shouldn't cost much.

Thanx for the help.

John

If you feel confident that you installed the driver according to the link I attached earlier and still no go, I would abandon the idea of installing the printer using an LPT port. They are primitive. The LPT port must be active and I remember lots of problems with interrupts (IRQ) settings. I assume it's an older printer.

Use the USB method and REINSTALL the printer using the USB method according to the owners manual. You can find it online if you don't have it.

If that fails, rather than beat yourself up over this, take romanpaulas advice and pick up an HP printer.

I think I still have some new in the box USB to parallel port cables for printers, if all else fails you can try one of these, just give me a few minutes to find these.

I just ordered a wireless laser non-color printer from Amazon for $99. Now no more problems except I now have a perfectly good laser printer that I need to get rid of.

John