Installing printer software on your PC without the original printer discs

Question: I don’t have the original discs that came with my printer. How can I get it to work with my computer?

Answer: Printers use device drivers to communicate with your computer’s software. Without those drivers, getting the printer to work will be impossible. Operating systems often come pre-loaded with many drivers; so on occasion you can plug your printer in and the computer will know how to talk to it. However, the vast majority of the time you will either need a disc with the drivers on it, or will need to download the driver from the manufacturers website. Hardware manufacturers almost always maintain downloadable drivers for even their out-dated equipment. Going to their website and finding a link to either ‘Support’ or ‘Downloads’ will usually lead you to the right spot. Simply enter in your model and you should yield a list of drivers available for download. Be aware that some printer drivers come bundled with software suites making the download very large.

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