How to Use a Parallel USB Adapter With Windows XP
As technology moves on in the computer world, we slowly find ourselves moving away from some long-established means of connecting our peripherals. Perhaps the newer PC or the replacement motherboard you bought is missing one or more of the ports you used to use. Or, on a completely different note, it could be that you are tired of using some of the bulky cables that these ports use, and want to use something slimmer, more flexible and easier to route and hide. The printer port is one of the ports that still come with some PCs and motherboards that fit either category. Luckily, there is a type of cable that can convert an old parallel printer to plug into a PC via USB.
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Things You'll Need
- Parallel-to-USB adapter
- Printer driver CD
- Windows XP CD
- Latest driver installation package for your printer make and model
Instructions
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Connecting Everything
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1
Remove the old parallel cable from both the printer and the back of your PC.
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2
Connect the adapter to the back of the printer firmly, and secure it with the clips found to either side of the printer connector. If the adapter requires a separate power source, be sure to plug this into the adapter and the wall as well.
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3
Connect the USB end of the adapter to the desired USB port on the PC.
At this point, things will go one of three ways:Windows will automatically detect your printer and install the necessary drivers for basic printing services.
Windows will require the operating system installation CD or printer driver CD to complete the driver installation.
Windows will inform you that it cannot find the appropriate drivers for the device, at which point you will need to install the latest software and driver package for your printer. -
4
Reboot your PC once the drivers and software are completely installed. Depending on how the driver installation of the previous step went, this may be a required step. Be sure to save any work in progress and shut down any open applications before restarting.
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