Print device installation

Initial installation of your port-connected device can occur in many ways, and the system can be in a variety of states when your device is connected for the first time.

System state	Device test scenario
System Off (S5)	Boot install
System Working State (S0)	Base Plug and Play
System in Sleep State (S1-S4)	See Power management

For more information, see System Power States.

The most common system power state at which initial installation of your device will occur is System Working State S0. Most of your device installation testing should initially be focused here, but it is important to verify installation during other system power states as well.

Your device’s Plug and Play (PnP) compatibility can best be assessed in the device’s state when it is first connected. In initial installation tests, start the system with the device attached, and then install the device when the system is in System Working State S0. Finally, verify device connection and installation in all possible system power state combinations. For more details, see Power Management.

Verifying basic installation

When first connecting your printer, you should receive a Plug and Play (PnP) notification. Verify that the device is correctly identified. The device name should be properly recognized. If the correct driver is provided, the device should install successfully. If driver installation fails, open Device Manager to look for possible causes for errors. Open Device Manager by double-clicking Computer Management in the Administrative Tools Control Panel. Alternately, select and hold (or right-click) the My Computer icon on the desktop, and select Properties. On the Hardware tab, select Device Manager.

Make sure that the following two scenarios work smoothly:

Install the driver first and then install the device.

Install the device first and then install the driver.

Using Control Panel applications to confirm device installation

After the driver is successfully installed, use the following Control Panel applications to verify that your printer is installed to the proper locations.

Device Manager: Check that the device is installed correctly. It should be listed in the tree according to the bus on which it is connected. From Device Manager, verify that your printer responds correctly to requests to disable/re-enable and uninstall/install the device. To reinstall the device, on the Device Manager Action menu, select Scan for hardware changes.

Printers and Faxes: From this Control Panel application, verify that the printer icon appears. Also verify that the printer icon can be deleted successfully. Confirm that you can reinstall the printer using the Add Printer wizard.

Device-specific Control Panel application: Some buses, such as Bluetooth, have their own Control Panel application. From this Control Panel application, verify that your device is properly installed, that your device is connected over a specialized bus, and that your device can be removed and installed successfully.

Finding, canceling, and deleting installations

Test print device installation as follows:

While your printer is installing, try canceling the installation and then restarting it. Your printer should continue to install successfully.

After you have successfully installed your printer, delete it, and then reinstall it. It should install without problems.

Make sure your printer can print at the same time that other resources are being installed on the same bus that the printer shares.

After you have successfully installed your printer, try installing it again. No dialog box should appear announcing that new hardware has been found, nor should the New Hardware Wizard launch.

Make sure that device power-cycling is working. If your printer is on a bus that is hot-plug capable, it should show up in the Printers and Faxes window (in Control Panel) as offline. Also check the Device Manager to verify that the device has been removed from the system.

Bus-specific hardware requirements

Certain buses, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB), can have varying hardware requirements. Be sure to test your printer installation on a wide variety of hardware, covering as many variations as possible. For USB, be sure that the device is tested on open host controller interface (OHCI, USB 1.1), universal host controller interface (UHCI, USB 1.1), or enhanced host controller interface (EHCI, USB 1.1).

Hot-pluggable buses and device chaining

Certain buses, such as USB and IEEE 1394, are «hot-pluggable,» meaning that the device can be removed from the bus simply by unplugging it from the computer or turning the device off. To verify that your hot-pluggable device functions correctly, complete the following:

Plug the device into the computer.

Using Control Panel applications discussed previously, verify that the device is installed to the proper locations.

Verify that the device functions properly.

Unplug the device from the computer and make sure that the device no longer appears in Device Manager.

If the bus supports chaining, chain multiple devices together and verify that the device installs and functions correctly.

For USB devices, verify that the device can work on USB hubs of various configurations and types, including USB 1.1 and USB 2.0, and with chains of multiple devices.

To test a printer on a hub, complete the following:

Try installing a print device on different ports on the same hub and chained hubs.

Test other printers (both the same and different models) on the same hub and chained hubs.

Verify that the printer installs correctly when other devices are installed at the same time.

When you plug the printer into a new hub device, also install other port-connected devices.

Install multiple printers on different ports, and then verify that only one instance of each printer is installed.

Disconnect a printer from one port and connect it to another port, and then verify that it uninstalls successfully from the old port and reinstalls successfully to the new port

Printer Driver Architecture

Print jobs are created by applications through calls to Microsoft Win32 GDI or, in Windows Vista, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) functions. The Win32 functions spool application data as EMF records for later playback by the EMF print processor, or they can immediately render a printable image for each document page. The WPF functions spool application data as an XPS spool file.

Prior to Windows Vista, applications communicated printer settings to the printer by using a DEVMODEW structure. In Windows Vista, the Print Ticket and Print Capabilities technologies communicate printer settings so that printer settings are more compatible across printers and applications.

Image rendering, whether performed immediately or during print processing, is performed in the print driver:

A GDI-based printer driver performs the image rendering during the playback of EMF records from the spool file and is controlled by the GDI rendering engine. During the rendering operation, the GDI rendering engine calls the appropriate Windows 2000 and later printer driver for assistance.

XPSDrv print drivers use a series of processing filters to process the XPS spool file content for output to the printer.

Windows 2000 and later GDI-based printer drivers must:

Assist GDI in rendering print jobs by providing printer-specific drawing capabilities that GDI cannot support.

Send the rendered image’s data stream to the print spooler.

Provide a user interface to the modifiable configuration parameters that are associated with printers and print documents, such as which input and output trays are selected, the number of copies, image resolution and orientation, and so on.

XPSDrv printer drivers have the same user interface responsibility as the GDI-based drivers and are also responsible for processing the print job data and sending the data to the printer. XPSDrv printer drivers, however, do not need to use GDI to render the page images for the printer.

Windows 2000 and later printer drivers are made up of a set of printer driver components that divide a driver’s drawing and user interface operations into separate DLLs. XPSDrv printer drivers are also made up of components that divide the configuration and the drawing and rendering functions into separate objects.

This section is intended to help you understand the different types of printer drivers that the Windows 2000 and later operating systems support, but you should also remember that the following three printer drivers are shipped with the operating system:

These three drivers support most printing devices that end-users can purchase today. You need to write a printer driver only if your printing device is not compatible with the appropriate Microsoft-supplied driver. You can support most new printers by simply adding a printer data file to one of the Microsoft-supplied drivers. Devices that might require a new driver include those containing hardware drawing accelerators controlled by proprietary command sequences.

This section contains the following topics, which describe the Windows printing architecture.

Microsoft Printer Drivers Download

After you upgrade your computer to Windows 10, if your Microsoft Printer Drivers are not working, you can fix the problem by updating the drivers. It is possible that your Printer driver is not compatible with the newer version of Windows.

• Updates PC Drivers Automatically
• Identifies & Fixes Unknown Devices
• Supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP

Popular Utilities

Driver Updates for Popular Microsoft Printer Models

How to Update Device Drivers

There are two ways to update drivers.

Option 1 (Recommended): Update drivers automatically — Novice computer users can update drivers using trusted software in just a few mouse clicks. Automatic driver updates are fast, efficient and elimate all the guesswork. Your old drivers can even be backed up and restored in case any problems occur.

Option 2: Update drivers manually — Find the correct driver for your Printer and operating system, then install it by following the step by step instructions below. You’ll need some computer skills to use this method.

Option 1: Update drivers automatically

The Driver Update Utility for Microsoft devices is intelligent software which automatically recognizes your computer’s operating system and Printer model and finds the most up-to-date drivers for it. There is no risk of installing the wrong driver. The Driver Update Utility downloads and installs your drivers quickly and easily.

You can scan for driver updates automatically and install them manually with the free version of the Driver Update Utility for Microsoft, or complete all necessary driver updates automatically using the premium version.

Tech Tip: The Driver Update Utility for Microsoft will back up your current drivers for you. If you encounter any problems while updating your drivers, you can use this feature to restore your previous drivers and configuration settings.

Download the Driver Update Utility for Microsoft.

Double-click on the program to run it. It will then scan your computer and identify any problem drivers. You will see a results page similar to the one below:

Click the Update button next to your driver. The correct version will be downloaded and installed automatically. Or, you can click the Update All button at the bottom to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out-of-date on your system.

Before updating, use the built-in driver backup feature to save your current drivers to a specified folder. Use this backup folder to safely restore drivers if necessary:

Option 2: Update drivers manually

To find the latest driver, including Windows 10 drivers, choose from our list of most popular Microsoft Printer downloads or search our driver archive for the driver that fits your specific Printer model and your PC’s operating system.

Tech Tip: If you are having trouble finding the right driver update, use the Microsoft Printer Driver Update Utility. It is software which finds, downloads and istalls the correct driver for you — automatically.

After downloading your driver update, you will need to install it. Driver updates come in a variety of file formats with different file extensions. For example, you may have downloaded an EXE, INF, ZIP, or SYS file. Each file type has a slighty different installation procedure to follow. Visit our Driver Support Page to watch helpful step-by-step videos on how to install drivers based on their file extension.

How to Install Drivers

After you have found the right driver, follow these simple instructions to install it.

1. Power off your device.
2. Disconnect the device from your computer.
3. Reconnect the device and power it on.
4. Double click the driver download to extract it.
5. If a language option is given, select your language.
6. Follow the directions on the installation program screen.
7. Reboot your computer.

Printer Drivers Download

A Printer Driver is a piece of software which connects your computer to your printer. Problems such as printer connection failure, unable to print or garbled output are common. They may be due to missing, out-of-date or corrupt drivers. Sometimes problems can occur after upgrading from one version of Windows to another, especially when upgrading to Windows 10. The reason may be that your current driver may work only for the prior version of Windows. Downloading and installing the latest driver for your specific printer make and model can fix these types of errors.

• Updates PC Drivers Automatically
• Identifies & Fixes Unknown Devices
• Supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP

Popular Utilities

Browse By Printer Manufacturer

Driver Updates for Popular Printer Models

More Printer Device Driver Downloads & Updates

How to Update Drivers to Fix Printer Problems Quickly & Easily

Many Printer problems can be fixed by updating the drivers. After you upgrade to Windows 10, problems can occur because your current driver may work only for the prior version of Windows. There are two ways you can update your Printer drivers.

Option 1: Update drivers manually — Use DriverGuide to find the correct driver for your device and operating system. Next, download and install it by following the step by step instructions. You’ll need average to intermediate level computer skills to use this method.

Option 2 (Recommended): Update drivers automatically — Even computer newbies can update drivers with just a few clicks of a mouse. Use trusted software to identify, download and install the newest driver updates for your PC in one step. Your old drivers can be backed up and restored if you encounter any problems. You’ll need novice to beginner level computer skills to use this method.

Option 1: Update drivers manually

To get the latest driver, including Windows 10 drivers, you can choose from our list of most popular Printer downloads or search our driver archive for the driver that fits your specific Printer model and your PC’s operating system.

If you cannot find the right driver for your Printer, you can request the driver and we will find it for you. Or, try the automatic option instead.

Once you have downloaded the new driver, next you must remove the current driver if it is installed. On a Windows PC, you do this by using a built-in utility called Device Manager. It allows you to see all of the devices attached to the PC, and the drivers associated with them.

How to Open Device Manager

In Windows 8.1 & Windows 10, right-click the Start menu and select Device Manager

In Windows 8, swipe up from the bottom, or right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose «All Apps» -> swipe or scroll right and choose «Control Panel» (under Windows System section) -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager

In Windows 7, click Start -> Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager

In Windows Vista, click Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Device Manager

In Windows XP, click Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager button

How to Install Drivers using Device Manager

The printer driver should typically be located under a category called «Printers,» «Print queues,» or «Imaging devices.»

Locate the device that is having the issue and double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.

Click the Settings tab.

Click Devices and Printers button to open the Devices and Printers screen.

Right-click the printer and select «Printer properties.»

On the General tab, click the «Change Properties» button.

On the Advanced tab, click the «New Driver. » button.

The «Add Printer Driver Wizard» will open. Click Next.

If you have an installation disk, insert it and click the «Have Disk» button. If you want to use Windows Update to locate a driver, click the «Windows Update» button. You can also pick from the list of manufacturers and printer models to see if an updated driver is available.

Follow the remaining instructions in the Wizard to complete the installation.

Option 2: Update drivers automatically

If you do not have the skill level or time to update your drivers manually, or are having difficulty finding the correct driver, you can do it automatically with the Printer Driver Update Utility.

This utility is an intelligent program which will automatically recognize your computer operating system and device. Then, it will find the correct drivers for it. There is no need to know which specific operating system you have, and there is no risk of downloading and installing the wrong driver. Automatic driver updates eliminate mistakes when installing or updating drivers.

You can scan for driver updates automatically with the FREE version of the software, and complete all necessary driver updates with the premium version.

Run the driver update utility and click the green Scan Now button. Your system will be scanned and automatically detect any problem drivers.

After the scan is complete, the utility will display a results page similar to the one below:

Click the Update button next to the out-of-date or missing driver. The correct version will be downloaded and installed automatically. Or, you can click the big green Update All button to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out-of-date on your system.

Once complete, the utility will re-scan your system to verify that all drivers are up-to-date:

How to Install Drivers

After you have found the right driver for your Printer, follow these simple instructions to install it.

1. Power off your Printer device.
2. Disconnect the device from your computer.
3. Reconnect the device and power it on.
4. Double click the driver download to extract it.
5. If a language option is given, select your language.
6. Follow the directions on the installation program screen.
7. Reboot your computer.

Visit our Driver Support Page for helpful step-by-step videos.