Err Msg: The Printer Driver You Selected Is Not Compatible with Your Current Version of Windows

When you try to install a printer driver on your Windows-based computer, you may receive the following error message: Also, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• You may be unable to successfully install a printer.
• Your computer may stop responding (hang) when you view Printer Properties or preferences.
• You may be unable to print correctly, or at all.

This issue can occur if you try to install an out-of-date monolithic Hewlett Packard (HP) printer driver. Some of these printer drivers are not totally compatible with Windows, and are removed or updated when you run Windows Setup to prevent potential problems.

To resolve this issue, contact Hewlett Packard to inquire about the availability of an updated printer driver or fix for this issue.

This behavior is by design.

The following is a partial list of the printer drivers Windows Setup removes, as noted where no Windows driver is listed. The first column of the following table lists Hewlett Packard's non-Windows compliant original equipment manufacturer (OEM) printer names, and the second column shows the equivalent Microsoft printer driver name as it appears in the Add Printer wizard.

NOTE: The mapping table can also be seen in the Windows_folder\Inf\Printupg.inf file. For some printer drivers, a date is added to indicate that only drivers before that date will be removed or updated. This is done to prevent new Windows-compliant OEM drivers from being adversely affected. If there is no corresponding entry in the second column, it indicates that no Microsoft driver is available, and may not be supported by Windows.



Installation of non-Windows compliant printers is prevented when the printer is installed locally, or on a network. If your printer is present in your Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based computer when you upgrade to Windows 2000, it may be replaced transparently by Microsoft's inbox drivers and an entry is added to the Setup.log file.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.