The nice feature about the HP Laserjet 1100 is that the driver for this printer is built in to Windows XP.
We’ll now be selecting an appropriate driver. In the list of ports, select “USB001 (Virtual printer port for USB)”, and then select “Next”.Ħ. Ensure the ratio box next to “Use the following port:” is selected. Here you’ll need to select our newly created port.
Select the ratio button next to, “Local printer attached to this computer” and make sure the box next to “Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer” is unchecked, then select “Next”.ĥ. Go to the Printers folder located in Start: Control Panel: Printers and Faxes, and then click on “Add a Printer” or go to File: Add Printer.ģ.
You should hear a audible sound that new hardware has been found along with a new bubble dialog box that says, “USB Printing Support”.Ģ. Connect the USB to Parallel adapter to your windows XP computer. They will not work with other parallel devices.ġ. Also, they do not work with anything other than printers. Please note: These adapters will work with Multi-Function or All-In-One printers, but only for printing (in other words, they won’t allow you to use the faxing or scanning functions). Then, you’ll need to install the individual printer drivers, most of which are built into Windows XP.
If you’re using Windows XP or Vista, the USB drivers install automatically. Simply attach the USB to parallel cable to the mini-centronics adapter and plug each end to the printer and computer. Installation is very easy and straightforward. If you find that your new computer doesn’t have a standard parallel port, this USB to Mini-Centronics (IEEE 1284-C or IEEE 1284C) combo cable set is perfect to connect these older printers to a USB only computer. Most printer companies used this type of connection making it universal and easy to find a cable to connect up to your computer.įor this tutorial, I’ll be using a standard Windows XP operating system and connecting it to an HP LaserJet 1100 printer using these products.
The other type of parallel port is a standard 36-pin centronics connection. From testing, it’s doesn’t appear to be any faster then a standard parallel cable or offer any other benefits besides HP selling their special cables. I’m not sure as to why HP decided to use this form of connection because no other printer company used it, and HP continued to incorporate this type of connection up to the newer HP Color LaserJet 4600 series. It looks somewhat like a small SCSI connector. The first is typically called a mini-centronics (Small C-type connector – HP p/n C2946A) connector. To give a fair background, HP made mainly 2 different types of parallel printer ports.
I guess you could say, this is a guide on how to by or make an HP LaserJet 1100 printer cable or HP LaserJet 4600 printer cable. Whether it be that HP computer or the new Dell laptop, it’s easy to connect older printers to these new computer systems giving them a new life and saving you money of purchasing new computers. One of the most asked about question I receive is about connecting older HP LaserJet printers to new computers. Please see the updated USB to Parallel article with Windows 7 instructions. This tutorial allows you to connect a Windows XP based computer to one of these HP printers: Note: This post contains Amazon links as an Amazon Associate, may earn money from qualifying purchases.