HP 722 XP compatable driver

As pointed out at the MS website: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293378
"NOTE: For any printer, the printer drivers provided with Windows XP are generally preferable
to the drivers included with earlier versions of Windows. However, you may want to consult
the printer manufacturer to determine the best printing solution for your printer. "

I would suggest grabbing the HP drivers for XP for this printer and giving them a
go! Worst case scenario, uninstall and reboot! You can also give the 98 drivers
a try... they just might work.. But I would try the HP ones first:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?product=57565&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&submit.y=8&submit.x=9&lang=en&cc=us

The HP site has no driver for XP; it just refers one to use XPs drivers for this printer. Problem is that XP's driver does not have all the functions of the original Win 98 HP driver.

I would recommend against using a driver for a different OS.  That would be a last resort and only if absolutely necessary (i.e. worth messing up the computer for).  It just has too low of a chance to work and too high of a chance to cause an issue that can be difficult to reverse.

The driver you have is generic so that is why it doesn't have duplexing, etc.  How old is that model?  What is the full model name?  If we can find a driver for XP for a similar printer with duplexing then that has the best chance of giving you that function again.  I haven't been able to find or think of one yet but any extra model details may help.

Duplexing is a more complex function though and so the chances are poor.  I'll keep looking and there are some other great experts in this area that may know of one to use as a replacement.

bol

Thank you for your response. I wasn't sure if I used the old Win 98 driver if XP would tell me that it is not compliant and to get a nupdated driver (which does not exist on the HP site), or try to install the old driver  which may scrub my system. I shall not try it given that possibility.

The model is HP 722C. I searched for  adriver, but found none. I did find a dll plugin reference for one of the Office programs that claims to allow duplexing on the 720 series, but the URL did not work. Presumably the fix for lack of duplexing in drivers migrated to th eapplication program. However, I have found no such reference to a dll for Excel.

I trying to avoid doing something like converting th epages to pdf, then using Acrobat to shuffle them, print hald, flip papers, print rest. I assume that will work (or any other shuffling of the page order), but I'll probably get them in funny sequence.

Thank you all for your responses.

>> if XP would tell me that it is not compliant <<
That is most likely what would've happened and you would have to "force" the 98 driver, if you even wanted to.

Was it manual duplex?  I don't actually see that the printer really duplexed but the driver may have "faked" it so you could manually do it.  Is that true?

There are better "print management" programs than Adobe.  I can look up and suggest some if we need and that may be the best option with this printer.

Let me know what you think of this and I'll still look for a driver.  Need clarification on the features and way duplexing was done though (see second paragraph).

bol

Take a look at the driver at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=buu01852.  Also see the information there.  I don't know for sure that duplex will be an option but there was some "updating" done for XP so there is hope.  Keep in mind the option for duplex may be in a different place or called something else.

bol

Sorry for the bad HP link.. I saw it an assumed there was a download link behind.
I click the other OS link and there was driver download links. Except Vista, which
just explained how to work with the legacy drivers included with VIsta. This was
noted at the bottom of the instructions:

"Using the advanced printer functions:
You might find that some of the advanced features are no longer available when
using this basic driver. You can upgrade to an HP product that is fully compatible
with Windows Vista if the advanced features are necessary. To help you decide
what product to upgrade to, the following tool will be helpful as you make your decision:"

b0lsc0tt: the 722c is and OLD OLD printer. A good printer that won't quit, but old.
I'm pretty positive that the duplex printing was manual, as it was on my later 822.

I have had my 822 series from 1999 and it still runs strong. In these printers, HP had
the print heads designed into the Ink Cartridge.. Unlike the Epson I had in which the print
heads were in the machine, go fouled up, and ended up being such a pain in the butt
to try to fix, and too expensive to send out for repair, I tossed it after about 1 yr of
Service!

@Mshine - I knew the printer was old, I think I even had one years ago.  I was curious to find out how old but it doesn't really matter.  Like you, I'm "pretty positive" the duplexing was manual but would still like Liafail to confirm it.  "Pretty positive" isn't always right and it is an important detail.

bol

Yes, the 2-sided printing feature is manual. The driver just arranged the pages, and printed the first side, without any intervention. Then one flipped the stack over, and the second side printed out.

Is there a management program that does what this driver once did?

I have a number of old HP printers. They just never seem to have a problem. Thank you to everyone who has responded.

Oh, and I am having problems with printing two pages on a single sheet. The generic driver simply does little in the way of paper management.

I just thought of a fix...recall my old WIN 98 laptop from my son (another workhorse that is almost a decade old and works fine (Dell Inspiron 7k) and hook that up to my printer, or hook up my Dell MMX (still quite functional, but also headed to another home).

Seriously, I hate to get rid of a good printer because of poor driver support.