HP LASERJET 4 PLUS ON WINDOWS 10

[mjdembov]

After installing Windows 10 this morning, my trusted Laserjet 4 Plus printer has stopped working.

Whereas the Settings, Devices, Printers and Scanner menu shows ERROR under the printer name, there is no further information as to how to correct the error, other than to remove the printer.  I've removed it and reinstalled twice, but to no avail.

Any suggestions PLEASE

Many thanks

[davidzuts]

You are trying to use a printer from old dos days with the lastest windows operating system so you may be out of luck.  Odds are your system does not have a parallel port and you are using a parallel to usb converter.  That is where the problem probably exists.  You will probably have to find a usb to parallel adapter that is certified for windows 10.  Another option if the computer is a desktop and has expansion slots would be to get a parallel card that will fit in one of the slots and add it to the printer and then connect the printer using the parallel port which should work.

[mjdembov]

Thank you very much for your response.

I am using a parallel to USB converter.

I will look to see if I can find one that it Windows 10 certified.

I am grateful for your help.

[rfk15n]

I have just converted from Win 7 to Win 10. I have a Laser Jet 4 and used a USB/Parallel adapter cable.

Have printer on, and hooked upto the USB port on your computer.

Goto Printers & Devices, and select install printer.

The computer, in my case, did not detect the printer.

I selected, my device is not listed.

I then selected manually install printer.

When you do this it will give you several options. Use, virtual usb port.

Click next, and the computer will install the printer using the resident drivers left over from your previous windows iteration, mine was windows 7.

Click finish and print a test page.

You should be good to go

[Texaway]

Windows 7 was the last version that had access to an HP printer driver. Windows 8 did not and the problem has not been fixed in Windows 10. I use a modern motherboard H87 that has a parallel port header but without a driver it doesn't help. I have tried using several monochrome HP drivers but non worked. HP could give us a generic PCL5 driver but don't, wanting you to buy new.

[Pushkin1]

I have had the same set up as you have -- Windows 7, LaserJet 4.  I was following your suggestions, but lost you when you said to "use virtual USB port."  There is nothing like that in the instructions I was reading.  What do you mean?

[Pushkin1]

How do you determine if a usb to parallel adapter "is certified for windows 10"? 

[Pushkin1]

rfk15n is brilliant!!!!!  Like rfk15n, I moved from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and have a LaserJet 4.  I just didn't understand the part of his/her instruction about the "virtual usb port."  Eventually, the Microsoft people helped me.  What rfk15n was saying was that, when you are manually installing the printer (LaserJet 4 or 4 Plus), you will have a choice to make about ports.  I kept blowing past that.  Don't blow past it, but click on the choices in the port area.  That's where you will find the "virtual usb."  Click on that.  Then click on the LaserJet 4 or 4 Plus in the list that Windows 10 provides, as appropriate for your printer.  When you click to print the test page, it should work like a charm.  (I kept getting error messages and couldn't get my printer to work before I got the port problem fixed.)  You do NOT need to get any kind of special parallel USB converter that is "windows 10 certified."  It is all in the port you click.

[Boppop]

This worked for me.

Thanks to whomever posted about using the virtual port. 

I moved from Windows XP to Windows 8 and now to Windows 10.

My HP Laserjet 4 plus could not work with Windows 8 until I realized I needed a parallel port which I got from the big box eletronic store. I think it installed some new drivers but eventually it worked. 

Thankfully I didn't have to wait to update this just now.  A quick google search brought me to this thread and just like that the problem is fixed. 

Thanks again. 

I created an account to say this. 

[Boppop]

Oops sorry, I didn't move from Windows XP, I had that before I got a new computer with Windows 8.