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Finishing hem of rug on the big loom in preparation for a new warp. Distracted by Gary's problems with his new laptop. Getting it to connect to a network printer was much more of an issue than it should have been. Seems that Windows 7 will only load drivers for newer HP deskjet printers from Windows Update. You can't install them from CD or by download from HP's web site. Since the printer in question is attached by USB to a Windows XP workstation and shared over Windows networking, there is no way to get the driver installed.
The only answer that worked was to unplug the USB cable from the XP machine and plug it directly into the laptop. This gets the driver downloaded from Windows Update. Then you have to manually edit the printer configuration to connect it to a network port. Only after that can you unplug the USB cable (otherwise the printer driver seems to erase itself.) This is incredibly boneheaded, HP and Microsoft. You are saying that someone who has no internet connection cannot install a new HP deskjet printer at all. Apparently it isn't allowed. You also appear to be saying that you "forgot" that printing over a small local network has always been supported by Windows. Well, it does work once you figure it out, but absolutely nothing on the HP support site tells you how to do this. All they do is tell you how to install the printer as a local USB device, assuming of course that you have an internet connection to download the driver. No internet? OK, then, no driver, no printer for you.
Red went to obedience class tonight. I took a bunch of photos but haven't offloaded them yet. I didn't want to use the flash, so they may be blurry. They looked OK on the camera's viewscreen though.
Tomorrow the warping can begin. And it's supposed to snow, possibly 3 inches or more, so it will be a good day to stay home and get it done.
The only answer that worked was to unplug the USB cable from the XP machine and plug it directly into the laptop. This gets the driver downloaded from Windows Update. Then you have to manually edit the printer configuration to connect it to a network port. Only after that can you unplug the USB cable (otherwise the printer driver seems to erase itself.) This is incredibly boneheaded, HP and Microsoft. You are saying that someone who has no internet connection cannot install a new HP deskjet printer at all. Apparently it isn't allowed. You also appear to be saying that you "forgot" that printing over a small local network has always been supported by Windows. Well, it does work once you figure it out, but absolutely nothing on the HP support site tells you how to do this. All they do is tell you how to install the printer as a local USB device, assuming of course that you have an internet connection to download the driver. No internet? OK, then, no driver, no printer for you.
Red went to obedience class tonight. I took a bunch of photos but haven't offloaded them yet. I didn't want to use the flash, so they may be blurry. They looked OK on the camera's viewscreen though.
Tomorrow the warping can begin. And it's supposed to snow, possibly 3 inches or more, so it will be a good day to stay home and get it done.
