Tag Archives: 2003

32/64 Bit drivers for Windows Printing

As it’s kind of tricky, here’s the process to get 32 and 64 bit drivers working for Windows 7 clients from a 32-bit Server 2003 print server.

First, sign into the print server. Download the HP 32 bit Universal PCL print driver
Run the self-extractor to unzip the printer drivers
Go to the properties of one of your printers
On the Advanced Tab, click the New Driver button
Choose the driver extracted earlier

Now got a Windows 7 64 bit client
Download the HP 64 bit Universal PCL print driver
Run the self-extractor to unzip the printer drivers
Browse to \[print server]
Click the “View Remote Printers” button just below the address  bar
Right click on the printer you installed the Universal driver for
Windows will tell you that no driver is available and ask if you’d like to install one.
Click yes and browse to the driver you extracted earlier
The printer should now install in Windows 7 64 bit

Finally, go back to the 2003 Server
Go to the properties of each printer
Under the advanced tab, click the dropdown list with the driver names
Choose the Universal PCL driver
This will automatically use both the 32 and 64 bit drivers

**UPDATE** The HP Universal driver may mess with your default tray and tray paper settings

**UPDATE 2** It turns out that the Universal driver is setting the wrong paper type which is the cause of the default tray problems.
To fix this:
Go to the printer properties then Printing Preferences
Go to the Paper/Quality tab
Make sure Paper Type is unspecified