Win8 / Win10 driver for Laserjet 4Plus

[fkim1401]

Updated drivers to make Laserjet 4 Plus printers compatible with Windows 8.1 (64-bit) have not been made available.  (I and an IT expert at my firm tried all the available generic drivers and none worked).  I also will soon be upgrading to Windows 10 where I will likely have the same problem.  

Does anyone know a solution for this?  Is there anyway to ask HP to update the relevant drivers?  My printer is a workhorse and I don't see a good reason to pass it to landfill for want of a driver!  Thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

HP is not supporting any device made prior to Aug 2013 for W10.

The only suggestion I can offer is to try the W7 x64 driver from Microsoft as follows if you have not tried this...

Download and save the 6th driver on the list from the link below (64 bit).

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=Laserjet%204%20Plus

Download and install this free file utility.  The 2nd item at the top of the page is for 64 bit.

http://www.7-zip.org/

After you install 7-zip, right click on the driver file you downloaded and select 7-Zip from the list of items on the menu.

Have 7-Zip Extract to: and let it extract the file into its driver folder.  You might get some funky message, but ignore it.

Once that is done, add your printer via the add printer wizard and click on Have Disk, browse to the driver folder 7-Zip created\prnhp001, and select the HP LaserJet 4 Plus printer from the list, and see if the driver installs that way.

[fkim1401]

Thanks very much Paul!   For some reason it took me several tries to get it to work, but the printer has now been saved from the landfill.  Much appreciated!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[Dulasync]

Downloaded and choose "Have Disk" to install it, but got the following message:

"The folder you specified doesn't contain a compatible software driver for your device. If the folder contains a driver, make sure it is designed to work with Windows for x64-based systems"

[Paul_Tikkanen]

It appears that Microsoft reordered the driver files between the time my original reply was posted, and yesterday.

You now need to use the 6th file on the list.

[Chris94103]

I finally had to update to a Windows 10 laptop yesterday.  As a result I spent several hours last night trying to enable printing to my legacy HP Laserjet 6P which has been my home printer for many years.  None of the suggestions I found online worked for me.  YMMV but what ended up finally working for me was using Windows' Add a Printer, and on the printer/driver selection screen clicking the "Windows Update" button (can take a few minutes to load the additional printer options), and then selecting an HP Laserjet Printer that supports PCL 5e (shown in the printer name).  

Based on the background info that I read here:  http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html

I think this should likely work for the legacy HP Laserjet 4, 5 and 6 series printers that used the PCL 5e language.

Some things I tried that did not work included the HP PCL6 universal print driver which was issuing commands not recognized by my printer.  And most of the other drivers I found would not even load into Windows 10 with the popup error message that they were not compatible.  While it appears from this thread that Paul_Tikkanen's prior suggestion has worked for many people to use a driver from the Windows Update Catalog, I did also try all those drivers first, and none were accepted by Windows 10, so it is possible something has changed such that those no longer load.

Hope this is helpful to other trying to keep their trusty old HP printers in service!

[SwampeastMike]

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Based on the background info that I read here:  http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html

I think this should likely work for the legacy HP Laserjet 4, 5 and 6 series printers that used the PCL 5e language.

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GREAT  WORK!!!!

Using your suggestion I was FINALLY able to get my trusty LaserJet 4Plus working again after an operating system reload.  I've been trying for weeks and spent hours!  I haven't tested the accessories (like duplexer and envelope feeder yet) but at least I got the test page to print.

[joeculhane]

I have a new laptop with Windows 10 and I need print drivers for Laserjet 4 and Laserjet 4plus.

I set up the 4plus with a driver for 3050pcl5.  The test page and printing from adobe and QBooks is fine.  However, Microsoft Office products won't print properly.  A one page document will print one line of jumbled characters across the top of the page, then continue to feed pages with the same....