Wind Xp Reinstalling Same Printer Drivers Using Same Printer Model
Hello;
I have a question regarding replacing a printer.
We are using a lot of the CAB A4+ printers
part nr: 5954505, and 5954505.101
Model A4+ 200p
The printers are connected using the USB port.
The problem we have here, every time a printer is replaced, windows XP tells that it finds new hardware and wants to install the printer.
Even do the printer that is placed is from the same Model (A4 + 200p)
In windows under the printer ports, I can see also that if I let windows install the printer (again). Windows creates a new Virtual USB port for the replacement printer (USB002).
The production on this firm starts 05:00 in the morning, so if there is a printer problem and they need to replace a printer, they still cannot use this printer because IT needs to install the printer drivers (again)
Is there a way to fix this, or is there a common solution for this problem?
I have a question regarding replacing a printer.
We are using a lot of the CAB A4+ printers
part nr: 5954505, and 5954505.101
Model A4+ 200p
The printers are connected using the USB port.
The problem we have here, every time a printer is replaced, windows XP tells that it finds new hardware and wants to install the printer.
Even do the printer that is placed is from the same Model (A4 + 200p)
In windows under the printer ports, I can see also that if I let windows install the printer (again). Windows creates a new Virtual USB port for the replacement printer (USB002).
The production on this firm starts 05:00 in the morning, so if there is a printer problem and they need to replace a printer, they still cannot use this printer because IT needs to install the printer drivers (again)
Is there a way to fix this, or is there a common solution for this problem?
0
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I think it's the case that this will happen if you plug the printer into a different USB port. If the USB port and the printer is the same then you should be able to avoid this Windows Plug'n'Play message.
I take it that even when a new virtual USB port is used by the driver the printing still works?
If you have problems you could always open up the properties of the printer driver and experiment by selecting different virtual USB ports under the "Ports" tab of the printer driver.
Note that this sort of thing is common to any USB connected device in Windows. I had a similar issue myself today after I plugged in a webcam on a different USB port than what I had used before.0 -
Legacy Poster
★ BarTender Hero ★
Hello;
I use the same pc usb port, I’m switching the usb cable from printer to printer to test this.0 -
Legacy Poster
★ BarTender Hero ★
Hello;
I use the same pc usb port, I’m switching the usb cable from printer to printer to test this.
Also, I have installed 2 CAB printers on my laptop, i now can see that i have 2 virtual USB ports.
Switching from one printer to the other printer, windows will also switch the virtual USB ports
It seems that windows automatically creates a new Virtual USB port0 -
Yes Windows will create a virtual USB port as and when a device connects physically to one of the ports on the computer for the first time.
Some background information on USB ports:
The USB port is not actually a "port" in the normal sense you are accustomed to. Typically a port in the list, like LPT1 or COM1, directly corresponds to a physical port on your PC. USB does not work like this, it works more like SCSI or some kind of network protocol. A physical port can have more than one USB device attached to it, because they can be chained together, or multiple devices plugged into a hub which is then put in the PC. All the USB ports on your PC are the same way, they are all connected into an internal "hub". Regardless of how many USB plugs are on your PC, internally there is really one USB interface which can have multiple devices chained on to it.
When you plug a device into the PC via USB, it is identified by Plug-and-Play ID, not by port. This ID is unique per printer model, but is the same for each instance of the same printer model, so long at they are identical. When you see a port "USB001" listed in the Add Printer Wizard, it does not actually correspond to any particular physical port on the PC. It is a virtual port associated with a particular PNP ID, and the system automatically creates ports USB001, USB002 etc. for each printer you plug in.0 -
One of our developers has made the following comments on this which I pass on below:
The physical port you plug into is actually totally irrelevant for USB, sort of like how which Ethernet port you plug into on a hub has no impact on the TCP/IP address.
The reason they show as separate devices is because each printer contains a unique USB serial number which identifies it as a separate device. This is usually a good thing, as it enables you to attach more than one printer of the same kind.
However, the customer outlined a problem caused by it. This is a problem with Windows XP, which is better in Windows Vista, 7, 2008, 2008 R2. On newer operating systems, they can use “pnputil” to pre-install the driver package one time, and then plugging in new printers of the same model will not require administrator intervention. DriverWizard has done this automatically since 7.2, but they can do it with older drivers using “pnputil” from the command line.
Unfortunately Windows XP doesn’t have pnputil.
There are really two options for them:
• Upgrade to Windows 7.
• Get a version of firmware that doesn’t enumerate the USB serial number, or always enumerates the same serial number. That would require talking to CAB. There are actually printers that allow turning this off, or manually programming it yourself with a printer command, but that isn’t a common feature and I'm not sure on the situation with the CAB printers specifically.0
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