Windows 7: HP Laserjet 1200 No Go on Network

Unable to get an HP Laserjet 1200 printer set up over my network. Running Windows 7 Professional 64 bit.

I can see then printer when browsing network for printer but Windows insists on searching Windows Update, striking out and when browsing for other files I can't get any other HP *.inf files (both 32 & 64bit) I downloaded to take without crashing with errors.



I connected the printer directly to my PC with a USB cable and Windows instantly recognized it and installed a driver for it. But still can't connect with it's hooked up on another workstation. Yes, it's set up for sharing on the other network PC. Any ideas?

Which 1200 do you have - the 1200, 1200n, or 1200se?

I have the Laserjet 1200

And the printer is connected to another workstation and shared out? What operating system does the other workstation use?

Have you tried creating a local printer port, like this:

Start the Add a printer wizard.
Choose Add a local printer.
Click on Create a new port. Use Local Port.
In the Enter a Port Name box, type the path to the printer:
\\(computer name)\(printer name)

I'm away from my Windows 7 computer, so I posted the Vista instructions for adding a local printer port. See if that works.

Kegobeer I owe you a beer! Your instructions worked like a charm.

Not sure why Windows 7 wouldn't connect to the printer normally as it did with with Vista. The machine I am connecting to the printer through is a XP pro machine.

Thanks, problem solved!

But it will not last. You have a host printer - no good on a network.

Glad I could help.

kegobeer, Your the Man!! This thread helped me out greatly!! Thanks.

I have a new computer running Windows 7 64-bit and just installed my HP Laserjet 1200 on it. In the Devices and Printers window, it is identified as "HP LaserJet 1200 Series PCL 5". I need to share the printer with several computers running Win XP 32-bit on our family network, but couldn't do it because of the driver mismatch (just got an error message). So I downloaded the HP Laserjet 1200/1220 PCL 5e driver for Win XP from the HP website and extracted all the files to a new folder on the Windows 7 computer, including the hpbf311i.inf file. However, when I clicked on the "Additional Drivers..." button in the Sharing tab of the printer property box and tried to add the hpbf311i.inf file, I got an error message (something about the architecture being wrong).

SOLUTION (for me at least): The printer name in the .inf file must be EXACTLY the same as printer name in the Windows 7 Devices and Printers window or the driver will not install. I edited the following lines in the .inf file

; Localizable Strings
[Strings]
Printer1="HP LaserJet 1200 Series PCL 5e"
Printer2="HP LaserJet 1200 Series PCL 5e"
DiskID1="HP LaserJet 1200 Series Drivers Disk"

to

; Localizable Strings
[Strings]
Printer1="HP LaserJet 1200 Series PCL 5"
Printer2="HP LaserJet 1200 Series PCL 5"
DiskID1="HP LaserJet 1200 Series Drivers Disk"

and resaved the file. I could then successfully install the driver on the Windows 7 system using the modified hpbf311i.inf file. Adding the Laserjet 1200 to the other networked computers running Win XP then went off without a hitch.

Same here.. that worked great for this same printer. I was connecting my 32 bit XP Laptop to my new Windows 7 64 bit machine with this same Laserjet printer shared.

thanks a lot!