Manually add a network multifunction printer?

Hi, I have a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit PC connected to a home network with other PCs connected. Additionally, there's a network printer (HP Officejet 6310xi) that available on the network. Now when I had my XP PC on the network, I was able to access the printer's printing, scanning and faxing resources via the control software (HP Solution) which worked fine, but it took a great deal of space and resources. Now I have a Windows 7 system, I really don't want to tie up resources with this control software, however, when I use the device wizard, all I find is the printer resource. I am frustrated with HP's only solution is to install the control program and no other way to scan or fax over the network. Isn't there a way to manually install a network device? I mean, technically, you can manually install a network printer with Windows, but why not a network scanner or network fax machine?

While all those devices are all in one device they realistically are seen as separate devices by any OS which is why each needs its own driver and software package to work. If you had each one individually you'd have to do this and they would take up more physical space, the plus side of an all in one is it sits in a single device footprint but it still needs to have the software and drivers loaded for the OS to recognize them.

Hi again, thanks for the replies. Yeah, typing in an IP address shows allow you to access the printer which (through the browser), lets you run the scan feature from my PC, but there are some issues that go with that like there isn't much control you have with scanning from the IP address (just preview and then scan, nothing fancy, just very basic). And for anyone who's wondering, the HP support site for the all-in-one printer offers the software (full package) to download... buying the Windows 7 drivers CD only offers the same full package, no individual drivers as I'd hoped. The 'full package' software that HP offers tends to become unstable more often than any other program which ends up in reinstallations, but I guess I will just have to deal with them until I upgrade to another multi-function device with stable drivers.

kegobeer said:

If you can find a refurbished Canon MX850, I highly recommend it. The software and drivers are solid, and it's a great multifunction device.

Agree with this, I have the 820 iteration and it is very solid with the drivers.