There's no driver for my printer. Now what?

[Shane_R]

How to install an Inkjet printer (i.e. Deskjet, Photosmart, Officejet, or PSC printers) on a Windows OS that doesn’t have an officially supported driver

With each new OS many printers get left behind and a driver is never written for these printers.  There is no guaranteed way to get these printers working with an OS that doesn’t have a driver for them, but in Windows, there is a chance that you can get it working.  These steps are only for an Inkjet printer.  A different generic driver would be used for Laserjet printers, and I will make a separate post covering that topic.  Note: This is not guaranteed to work.

To install a printer that doesn't have a driver for Windows XP in Windows XP:
1. Connect the device to the computer.
2. Windows will try to find a driver but won't be able to.
3. Close any notifications that come up.
4. Click on the Start menu.
5. Click on Control Panel.
6. Make sure you have it set to Classic View.
7. Open the Device Manager.
8. Click on View and select Show hidden.
9. You should see a device on the list with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.
10. Right-click on that device and select Install/Update driver.
11. A window will come up with 2 choices. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
12. On the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
13. On the next window, make sure the check-box next to "Show compatible hardware" is not selected.
14. In the Manufacturer list, select HP.
15. In the Model List, select the Deskjet 990c driver or the Deskjet 450 driver. 
16. Click Next.
17. Click Finish.
18. Try printing.

To install a printer that doesn't have a driver for Windows Server 2003 in Windows Server 2003:
1. Connect the device to the computer.
2. Windows will try to find a driver but won't be able to.
3. Close any notifications that come up.
4. Click on the Start menu.
5. Click on Control Panel.
6. Make sure you have it set to Classic View.
7. Open the Device Manager.
8. Click on View and select Show hidden.
9. You should see a device on the list with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.
10. Right-click on that device and select Install/Update driver.
11. A window will come up with 2 choices. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
12. On the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
13. On the next window, make sure the check-box next to "Show compatible hardware" is not selected.
14. In the Manufacturer list, select HP.
15. In the Model List, select the Deskjet 990c driver or the Deskjet 450 driver. 
16. Click Next.
17. Click Finish.
18. Try printing.

To install a printer that doesn't have a driver for Windows Vista in Windows Vista:
1. Connect the device to the computer.
2. Windows will try to find a driver but won't be able to.
3. Close any notifications that come up.
4. Click on the Start menu.
5. In the search box, type Device Manager.
6. Select Device Manager from the list.
7. Click on View and select Show hidden.
8. You should see a device on the list with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.
9. Right-click on that device and select Install/Update driver.
10. A window will come up with 2 choices. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
11. On the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
12. On the next window, make sure the check-box next to "Show compatible hardware" is not selected.
13. In the Manufacturer list, select HP.
14. In the Model List, select the Deskjet 990c driver, or the Deskjet 450 driver. 
15. Click Next.
16. Click Finish.
17. Try printing.

To install a printer that doesn't have a driver for Windows Server 2008 in Windows Server 2008:
1. Connect the device to the computer.
2. Windows will try to find a driver but won't be able to.
3. Close any notifications that come up.
4. Click on the Start menu.
5. In the search box, type Device Manager.
6. Select Device Manager from the list.
7. Click on View and select Show hidden.
8. You should see a device on the list with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.
9. Right-click on that device and select Install/Update driver.
10. A window will come up with 2 choices. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
11. On the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
12. On the next window, make sure the check-box next to "Show compatible hardware" is not selected.
13. In the Manufacturer list, select HP.
14. In the Model List, select the Deskjet 990c driver, or the Deskjet 450 driver. 
15. Click Next.
16. Click Finish.
17. Try printing.

To install a printer that doesn't have a driver for Windows 7 in Windows 7:
1. Connect the device to the computer.
2. Windows will try to find a driver but won't be able to.
3. Close any notifications that come up.
4. Click on the Start menu.
5. In the search box, type Device Manager.
6. Select Device Manager from the list.
7. Click on View and select Show hidden.
8. You should see a device on the list with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.
9. Right-click on that device and select Install/Update driver.
10. A window will come up with 2 choices. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
11. On the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
12. On the next window, make sure the check-box next to "Show compatible hardware" is not selected.
13. In the Manufacturer list, select HP.
14. In the Model List, select the Deskjet 990c driver, or the Deskjet 450 driver. 
15. Click Next.
16. Click Finish.
17. Try printing.

To install a printer that doesn't have a driver for Windows 8 in Windows 8:
1. Connect the device to the computer.
2. Windows will try to find a driver but won't be able to.
3. Close any notifications that come up.
4. Hold your mouse in the upper or lower right corner of the computer screen to bring up the charms bar. If you have a touch screen, you can slide your finger left starting from the right edge of the screen.
5. Click on Search.
6. Under the search box, click on settings.
7. In the search box, type Device Manager.
8. Select Device Manager from the list on the left.
9. Click on View and select Show hidden.
10. You should see a device on the list with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it.
11. Right-click on that device, and select Install/Update driver.
12. A window will come up with 2 choices. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
13. On the next window, select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
14. On the next window, make sure the check-box next to "Show compatible hardware" is not selected.
15. In the Manufacturer list, select HP.
16. In the Model List, select either the Deskjet PCL3 Class Driver, the Deskjet 990c driver, or the Deskjet 450 driver.  You can also try the Officejet PCL 3 Class Driver or the Photosmart PCL 3 Class Driver if the others are not working. 
17. Click Next.
18. Click Finish.
19. Try printing.

[Shane_R · Accepted solution]

Hope this helps.