This article is for installing printer drivers and configuring a Windows 10 Technical Preview PC for printing to LAN-Shared HP LaserJet 2300 Series Printer that is connected and installed on a USB Port of a Windows XP PC and shared on a LAN from the XP PC. The Windows Technical Preview machine (that is, the Windows 10 PC) wants to use this remote printer shared from the XP PC, but the add printer wizard mechanisms on Win 10 refuses to install it as it searches but can’t find an appropriate driver on the Windows Update. And, even if you visit the HP support site and download the 32 or 64 bit Universal drivers for Win 8.1, this does not provide the necessary *.inf or printer drivers to connect to the remotely shared printer.
Here is the Fix or Work Around:
- Plug the printer directly into the Windows 10 PC.
- Allow Windows 10 to locate and install a driver from Windows Update. Once installed locally to the Windows 10 PC, then print something to test.
- Unplug the printer from the Windows 10 PC and then plug it back into the Windows XP machine. Important, you must use the same USB socket that the printer was originally connected to or you may get another 2300 Series printer detected and installed on the XP machine.
- Assuming the HP LaserJet 2300 is shared from within XP you now need to browse the network on the Windows 10 PC to find the remote XP machine and the shared HP Printer connected to it. When you see the shared printer, click the right mouse button on the remote printer and select ‘Make shortcut’ – a shortcut should appear on the Windows 10 desktop.
- Right click on the desktop shortcut and click properties. The Target box should be highlighted, so click on it and select copy. You will be copying the network shortcut of the remote Printer, for example, \\XP-PC-Name\HP-LaserJ
- On the Windows 10 machine, search for and Open the “Devices and Printers” panel. The 2300 Series that you installed locally via USB socket will still exist even though the printer has been returned to the remote XP PC on the same LAN. Right click on the Printer icon and the left click “Printer Properties.”
- Click the Ports tab. Then click “Add port” and then click ‘Local Port,” When the ‘Enter Port Name’ text input box appears, paste in the Network Shortcut target information and click next.
- Click OK or Apply until all the boxes have gone.
You should now have a working printer!
Windows 10 treats the Printer Device on the newly installed Port like its a local printer, but you have redirected it to the LAN shared printer connected to the USB port of the XP machine.
Print a test page. Set the 2300 as your default printer on Windows 10.
This fix is derived from the Microsoft Tech Net Forum answer proposed by Nic Bunting with regard to a Windows 7 install, posted on Monday, April 26, 2010, 11:52 AM. See Forum Thread at:
social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/
Apparently, something similar now works for the Windows Technical Preview.
