Windows Printer Driver Support

This article addresses the following questions regarding the Windows printer drivers:

• Who writes Windows printer drivers?
• Where are the printer drivers available from Microsoft?
• What if Microsoft does not have the printer driver?

Who Writes Windows Printer Drivers?

Windows printer drivers are developed through the cooperation between Microsoft and the independent hardware vendor (IHV) that manufactures the print device. Microsoft's role is to assist IHVs with programming and testing of the printer driver's interaction with Windows. The role of the IHV is to assist Microsoft in addressing either the general features or the entire feature set of the print device.

Where Are the Printer Drivers Available from Microsoft?

Windows supports all print devices listed in the latest Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). A copy of the HCL is located in the Support directory on the Windows compact disc. For additional information about the most recent HCL, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If a print device is not listed in the HCL and there is a high demand for printer support in Windows, Microsoft can work with the IHV to make the printer drivers available. To make your need for a particular driver known to Microsoft, please see step 3 in the "What If Microsoft Does Not Have the Printer Driver?" section below.

For a list of the latest Windows NT 4.0 drivers, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For a list of these drivers, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

G E T W N T D L

NOTE: This query will not work on TechNet or the Web.

Other locations of the printer drivers are as follows:

• Internet (anonymous FTP)
  ftp.microsoft.com (ftp://ftp.microsoft.com)
  Change to the Softlib/Mslfiles folder, and then get filename.exe.
• Microsoft's World Wide Web Site on the Internet
  
  On the www.microsoft.com (http://www.microsoft.com) home page, click the Support icon, click Knowledge Base, click to select the product, type kbfile filename.exe, and then click GO! Open the article, and click the button to download the file.

If the printer drivers are not on the locations listed above, determine if the print device supports PostScript. Nearly all PostScript print devices ship with a PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file that can be used to add support for the print device. Microsoft does not support PPD files from OEM vendors. Contact your manufacturer for information about PPD files for your postscript printer.

For additional information about how to install a PPD file in Windows NT 3.51, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

What If Microsoft Does Not Have the Printer Driver?

If Microsoft does not have the printer driver:

1. Find a printer driver emulation that can provide the correct output. If your printer is a new model, you may want to try the driver for the previous model.
2. Contact the printer manufacturer to see if they have a Windows printer driver. Some printer manufacturers do develop drivers for Windows.