I have tried dsperber's method, but there is not a "USB001 virtual printer port for USB". What am I missing?
Ok... I'm probably unintentionally confusing things because of the way Windows works relative to hosting shared printers that are USB-connected locally to the host machine, with "client" machines on the network.
In other words it's just a bit complicated, since the host and client machines can either both be 32-bit, or 64-bit, or one (host or client) can be 32-bit and the other (client or host) can be 64. Complicating things even further is whether host and client machines are both WinXP, or both Win7, or mixed WinXP and Win7. Depending on the arrangement, implementing just where the proper driver for host and client live will vary... and as you can suspect there's quite a bit of variation here, depending on the structure of your host/client setup.
What's important is that both WinXP and Win7 support locally USB-connected printers that in addition to being usable "locally" for printing directly from the host machine, can also be set up to be "shared" and thus available to other "client" machines on the network.
And print requests from any client machine are sent to the host machine (through the "virtual USB001 port) where the printing obviously occurs, using print drivers that reside on the client machine.
Second, the technique for getting the proper print driver for and installed on the client machine depends on whether both client and host are 32-bit or 64-bit, or if they're mixed, and whether both machines are WinXP or Win7 or a mix.
Third, both 64-bit WinXP and 64-bit Win7 support the ability to have TWO printer drivers installed on the host machine: one is for local printing from the host machine as well as for 64-bit client machines, and the second is for 32-bit client machines (of the same Windows type). That second 32-bit driver is physically installed on the host machine but simply gets "shipped" over to a connecting 32-bit client machine (of the same Windows type) when the shared printer "connection" (from client, in the ADD PRINTER dialog on the client machine, pointing to the network shared printer on the host machine) is first set up established.
Now, in the absence of a compatible host/client Windows configuration where the 64-bit host machine's 32-bit driver is "shippable (i.e. usable)" to a 32-bit client machine of the same Windows type, or where there is a 32-bit [WinXP] host machine trying to share a USB-connected printer with a 64-bit [Win7] client machine, an alternative arrangement can be used to install the proper printer driver right on the client machine itself... DURING THE "CONNECTION" DIALOG which identifies the shared printer on the network host machine.
Alternatively it can be installed on the client machine "standalone", as if the USB-connected printer was "local" to the client machine, and then pointed to as the driver to use when setting up the "connection" to the network shared printer on the true host machine where the USB-connected printer actually lives.
I'm honestly not trying to over-complicate this beyond what is the truth. It's simply how to get the "shared" printer implemented successfully involving both host and client machines that can exist in a very hybrid and mixed environment.
So, here's my suggested recipe one more time... and this time I'm VERY certain it should work for you. By the way, the fact that you don't currently have a "USB001 virtual USB port" probably is because you've never actually had a true USB printer installed on that machine, so there's been no USB001 port created previously. But I think you can probably "ADD NEW PORT" instead of "USE EXISTING PORT", and you should then be able to add a USB001 virtual USB printer port.
Nevertheless, this slightly modified approach should probably work for you as it did for me, in my experiment using my own slightly reversed setup from yours, where I have a Canon Pro9000 printer locally USB-attached on a 64-bit Win7 host machine on the network. I want to "share" that printer and make it usable on my 32-bit WinXP machine but there is no 32-bit WinXP compatible driver installed on my 64-bit Win7 machine. So, I have to go through "gyrations" to install the 32-bit WinXP driver on the 32-bit WinXP client machine, but point to the "shared" Canon Pro9000 printer on the 64-bit Win7 host machine... during the "ADD NEW PRINTER" dialog on the 32-bit WinXP machine.
Ok. Here goes. Now my example is "backwards" from your situation, just because of how I'm running this demonstration. In other words the "shared" printer I'm trying to add is USB-connected on my 64-bit Win7 host machine, and I'm trying to "ADD PRINTER" for that "shared" printer on my 32-bit WinXP client machine... thus requiring me to manually install the driver on the 32-bit WinXP client machine, although I will be using it to print on the "shared" printer of the 64-it Win7 host machine.
Your story is the reverse, but you can just do everything I describe below... IN REVERSE (hope that doesn't hopelessly confuse things for you). Believe me, although the screenshots that follow are from WinXP, believe me they are essentially an exact duplicate in Win7. So you should be able to start the "ADD PRINTER" dialog in 64-bit Win7 and then point to the "shared" printer on your 32-bit WinXP host machine to which the printer is USB-connected, and then navigate to the right-click WinRAR-expanded "DRIVER" folder (or its equivalent for your HP printer) from the downloaded 64-bit Win7 printer driver EXE file.
I am assuming you've already gone to the HP support site using
the link I previously posted for you, where the correct printer driver self-expanding/self-running EXE file is available for download (just as my Canon file was). And you can right-click on it and manually expand it (say with WinRAR), just as my Canon file was expanded. And you'll then see a DRIVER file inside of the expanded folder structure... just as there was with my Canon story.
Just start... it will all become intuitive and obvious.
(1) I went to the Canon web site and downloaded driver package for 32-bit WinXP. This file is actually a self-expanding EXE that when you RUN it will expand, and then run the SETUP.EXE inside of it to install the driver locally (as a new printer object) on the 32-bit WinXP system.
However, you can also right-click on the downloaded EXE, and use WinRAR (or WinZIP, etc.) to expand the file manually into a target folder (or folder structure).
In the case of this particular Canon driver installer file for the Pro9000, the expanded folder structure includes a sub-folder named "DRIVER" which is where they've placed the necessary INF and related driver files, if you wanted to MANUALLY INSTALL THE DRIVER YOURSELF (or utilize for special purposes, as we have in your current situation)... instead of using the SETUP.EXE to do the whole local printer object install automatically.
In other words in my current example I have a unique situation, where the "shared" printer is on the 64-bit Win7 host machine elsewhere on the network, and I just want to be able to install the 32-bit WinXP driver on the 32-bit WinXP client machine when asked for it during the "ADD PRINTER" dialog.
Ok... that "DRIVER folder in that WinRAR-expanded folder structure of the Canon-provided downloaded driver installer file is where the INF driver file lives that I will be pointing to when asked for it. Again, I right-clicked on the downloaded self-expanding/self-running EXE driver installer file from Canon for 32-bit WinXP for the Pro9000 printer, and used WinRAR to expand it.
(2) I then started the "ADD PRINTER" dialog on my 32-bit WinXP. What now is slightly modified from my original recipe is that I want you to add a "network printer", and not a "local printer". This will allow you to see that "shared" printer currently USB-hosted on your 32-bit WinXP host machine. When you push NEXT, that would normally be the moment at which the host machine wants to "ship" the proper driver to the client machine, assuming the host actually has the proper client driver available for shipping. In my case (and your case when you get there) the host didn't have the proper driver available (either wrong Windows, or 32-bit vs. 64-bit dilemma), so it asks you to point to where that driver can be found... for installation locally on the client machine!!!
That's the goal, to install the proper driver on the client machine while pointing to the network "shared" printer on the host machine.
So... here is the sequence of things as I saw them on WinXP. You will see the same (or very very similar) sequence of things on Win7 when you do it for yourself, in your setup and with your HP printer and expanded driver folder.
(a) Start the "ADD PRINTER" dialog on 32-bit WinXP client machine. I'm wanting to add a new printer object for my Canon Pro9000 printer which is USB-connected and "shared" on my 64-bit Win7 host machine.
(b) Instead of my previous direction to "add a local" printer, I now want you to push the "add a network printer".
(c) check the "browse for printer", which will examine all network "shared" printers and present them (along with their host machine names... in my case \\DFW is that 64-bit Win7 host machine):
(D) All the network "shared" printers should appear, but in the case of WinXP I actually had to expand the line showing the \\DFW network host machine to see its "shared" printers. I think think this is changed with Win7 and the expansion is automatic, so that you already see all available network "shared" printers properly without further action on your part:
(e) The "add printer" dialog on WinXP (client) is now going to request from Win7 (host) that the proper print driver be "shipped over"... if available.
(f) Unfortunately, the proper 32-bit WinXP driver is NOT available for shipment from the 64-bit Win7 host over to the 32-bit WinXP client. I'm going to push the OK button to continue, allowing me to manually navigate the dialog to where the 32-bit WinXP INF file for the printer lives (from my downloaded and expanded EXE installer file from Canon as described earlier)
(g) Since I have already downloaded the proper 32-bit WinXP driver from the Canon site, and manually expanded that self-expanding EXE into folders including that "DRIVER" folder where the required INF driver file lives for the Pro9000 printer, I push the OK button and navigate to that DRIVER folder:
(h) I then push the OPEN button with the proper folder selected. It's not necessary to select a particular INF file (if more than one is present). All that is needed is to point to the folder, and all of the INF files will be examined and the total set of printer names which correspond to all of these INF files will be presented. You can then choose the particular printer name/file you want to install.
(i) The driver INF file will control the rest of the driver install process, and lots of files will be copied from the DRIVER folder to your system.
(j) At the end of the printer driver install process (onto the client machine), you will be asked if you want to set this to the "default printer" on that client machine. You reply as you want.
(k) Now the process is complete, and the 32-bit WinXP printer driver has been installed on the 32-bit WinXP client machine, but printing on the "shared" USB-connected printer that lives on the 64-bit Win7 host machine on the network.
I assure you... you can do exactly the same thing IN REVERSE on your own setup, but initiating the ADD PRINTER dialog on your 64-bit Win7 client machine, adding a "network printer" which will show the "shared" printer hosted by your 32-bit WinXP host machine, you will select that printer and receive a "driver not available for shipping" message to which you will respond OK so that you can manually navigate to the equivalent of my DRIVER folder (from the manually expanded folder structure produced by WinRAR on the downloaded 64-bit WinXP driver installer EXE file from HP for your printer driver) where the needed INF file(s) live.
The rest is obvious.
Let me know if this finally works for you.
By default Windows always loads the LPT1 port
