need help sharing a Canon printer on Windows 7

[Sleepy]

Hi guys n gals

I have a home network here of 3 PCs - mine was Vista Home Premium 32 - my
brother's still Vista 32 - my sister's Win XP 32.
I have a Canon iP4500 printer which I shared over the LAN (and it was easy
to do so) but I've upgraded to Windows 7 64bit
and setting up the printer sharing is a nightmare. I've emailed Canon and
they replied that the ip4500 is not a network printer (whatever that means!)
and pointed me to a file download. No instructions were included so I
downloaded and ran the file but I see no difference at all - no extra
options and still no printer sharing.

Obviously I've sent Canon and rather terse reply - I've got a camera,
printer and scanner from them and this is the first time Ive had to trouble
them for help and this is the level of support I get!

Can you guys help please?

 

[Sleepy]

Just to clarify the Canon iP4500 is connected by USB to your comp which is
now running Win 7.

Are you wireless or wired LAN.

A network printer is one that either connects to the LAN by wire or has a
warless card inside so it needs no physical connection from any comp.

How is yours connected.

thanks Jef - yes the iP4500 is connected to my PC by USB cable and the
network is wired via a Linksys router.
I've 64 bit drivers installed that came with Win7 and there is an option to
install x86 drivers but when I try that option and browse to the
Installation CD that came with the Printer I hit a brick wall - it just
cannot find or install drivers. The file that Canon directed me to isnt a
driver file - its vaguely says something about added functionality but its
doesnt seem to do a damn thing.

 

[Sleepy]

driver for 7

http://software.canon-europe.com/software/0035869.asp?model=

Thanks but that's the file Canon support directed me to.
"This product is a module that expands the functionality of the printer
driver for Canon Inkjet printers as included in Windows 7."
Except it doesn't do damn thing as far as I can see and certainly doesn't
fix my problem.
Sorry - I'm just getting very frustrated with Windows 7. Im seeing very
little benefit of it over Vista
and so far several changes are for the worse. If I cannot sort this printer
problem out I'll probably end up ditching it and reinstalling Vista.

 

[Sleepy]

This is how I got Vista printing on an XP machine.

http://groups.google.com/group/comp...?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=metspitzer#fc07b7bb29b61a17

Thanks very much for all the help guys but I've finally given up and
reinstalled Vista. Got printer and file sharing going in 5 minutes easily.
I tried doing it from my machine with Win7 64bit and it simply wouldn't
accept the Canon 32bit driver because it came as self-installer that
wouldn't run
on a 64bit system. Approaching the problem from the other end - add Printer
and manually specifiy port threw up an error message that the server didn't
contain the correct driver. Canon were utterly useless - they gave a bog
standard reply to my first email which was worthless and when I replied with
even more detail they simply didn't reply. I even phoned Microsoft and spent
half an hour talking with a very pleasant Asian gentleman in Pakistan or
India who I constantly had to ask to repeat himself because I hadn't a clue
what he was saying.

The printer problem has been a real thorn but its not just that. I have a
Digital TV card and record programs (Emma, Defying Gravity, Have I got News
for You etc) and share them. The new Media Center (which I dont like at all)
records in MTV format which wont play back on my sisters XP machine so I'd
have to convert them manually to DVR-MS format which is a chore I just don't
need. Vista comes with Movie Maker which I can use to edit out the adverts
if I want to - with Windows 7 you have to download it separately from
Windows Live. I like to see at a glance what folders I have shared but with
Windows 7 they've taken that away by removing that icon.

So I'm back on Vista and wondering what to do about my £60 coaster.

 

[Fishface]

Canon were utterly useless - they gave a bog standard reply to my first
email which was worthless and when I replied with even more detail they
simply didn't reply. I even phoned Microsoft and spent half an hour talking
with a very pleasant Asian gentleman in Pakistan or India who I constantly
had to ask to repeat himself because I hadn't a clue what he was saying.

I don't think the problem is with Canon's drivers. The tech guys just don't
have a clue. I was impressed that they had a 64 bit driver for my Canon
S800 (circa 2001). HP doesn't have crap in the way of 64 bit drivers, even
for newer stuff. I had the Windows 7 beta installed in the summer, but my
disk crashed and I figured I'd just wait for the release. I bought a half-price
upgrade during the promotional period, but have yet to install. I will need to
get a new laser printer with 64 bit drivers, but I really don't print much, and
I could easily share a .PDF file with another computer on occasion.

First off, in Windows 7, the default workgroup name changed from
"Workgroup." I forget what it is now. Maybe the change happened in
Vista, I don't know. Make sure it's the same on all computers.

Second, I don't think you should be trying to install 32 bit drivers on 64 bit
computers, and vice versa.

And finally, I found this thread that seems like it might be helpful:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/237711-44-adding-network-printer-vista

I'll try sharing my Canon with my family when I get Windows 7 installed
again. I just might not tell them...

 

[Sleepy]

I don't think the problem is with Canon's drivers. The tech guys just
don't
have a clue. I was impressed that they had a 64 bit driver for my Canon
S800 (circa 2001). HP doesn't have crap in the way of 64 bit drivers,
even
for newer stuff. I had the Windows 7 beta installed in the summer, but my
disk crashed and I figured I'd just wait for the release. I bought a
half-price
upgrade during the promotional period, but have yet to install. I will
need to
get a new laser printer with 64 bit drivers, but I really don't print
much, and
I could easily share a .PDF file with another computer on occasion.

First off, in Windows 7, the default workgroup name changed from
"Workgroup." I forget what it is now. Maybe the change happened in
Vista, I don't know. Make sure it's the same on all computers.

Homegroup is what you're thinking of - and it only works if all the PCs on
the network have Windows 7
installed - its a completely unnecessary feature that tries to force you
into upgrading all the PCs in a home.
No I stuck with the old method of using a WORKGROUP which worked fine for
sharing folders. All the PCs -
7, Vista and XP could see each other and share files - I dont need Microsoft
Homegroup to set up a simple
home LAN.

Also - when you open Windows Explorer you see Favorite folders and Libraries
(which are essentially the same thing)
and then Homegroup and further down Network - it doubles up on stuff and is
messy.

Second, I don't think you should be trying to install 32 bit drivers on 64
bit
computers, and vice versa.

Well you'd be wrong - there's a box below the Sharing section to add
"Additional Drivers"
and when you select it you then see tick boxes for 'Ithanium drivers'
(whatever those are)
'X64 drivers' (ticked) and 'X86 drivers' (unticked) - so the option to add
32bit drivers is there.

What I needed was the 32 bit drivers for my 12 month old printer unpacked in
one folder
so I can select install x86 drivers and when Windows asks for the drivers I
browse to the folder - select the inf file
and bingo.

Except Canon don't provide their drivers like that anymore - no they come in
a self-installing exe which won't run on a 64bit system.

And finally, I found this thread that seems like it might be helpful:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/237711-44-adding-network-printer-vista

I'll try sharing my Canon with my family when I get Windows 7 installed
again. I just might not tell them...

thanks but as I said - Im back on Vista and everything is set up and working
properly once again.
Im a PC and I sure as shit dont want Windows 7.

 

[Fishface]

Well you'd be wrong - there's a box below the Sharing section to add
"Additional Drivers" and when you select it you > then see tick boxes for
'Ithanium drivers' (whatever those are) 'X64 drivers' (ticked) and 'X86
drivers' (unticked) - so the option to add 32bit drivers is there.

Presumably for the other computers to "download" but can't they be
installed directly on the other computers? Well, I'll find out soon enough!

What I needed was the 32 bit drivers for my 12 month old printer unpacked
in one folder so I can select install x86 drivers and when Windows asks for
the drivers I browse to the folder - select the inf file and bingo.

Except Canon don't provide their drivers like that anymore - no they come
in a self-installing exe which won't run on a 64bit system.

The .exe doesn't run, but you do have access to the other computers. You
can download the program and run the install until the files are unzipped
into the TEMP directory and copy them from there. An unnecessary hoop,
but not insurmountable. And amazingly, 7-Zip, when instructed to open the
archive that same installation program finds only an .icm file, which is an ICC
Color profile.

thanks but as I said - Im back on Vista and everything is set up and working
properly once again. Im a PC and I sure as shit dont want Windows 7.

LOL! I'm a PC and I'm tired of waiting for virtual memory in XP. I have
8 GB of RAM that I actually want to use for some serious multitasking.
That's the ONLY reason I'm switching. Ain't there alway growing pains...

 

[Sleepy]

Presumably for the other computers to "download" but can't they be
installed directly on the other computers? Well, I'll find out soon
enough!

tried that but when I try to add a printer on the other machine and specify
a port they then want to download the drivers from the host machine and
throw up an error message that the host machine doesnt contain the correct
drivers (the 32bit ones)

I even ran the 32bit installer on the other machines first but Vista and XP
dont seem to know they have available drivers before
querying the host machine.

I did get a call back from Microsoft this morning (which surprised me - tech
support that calls you back to see how you're getting on - whatever next?!)
and I explained the problem and that Ive gone back to Vista. I did ask if I
could at some point reinstall Windows 7 but using the 32bit disc or was I
now commited to 64bit seeing as I'd used the key with the 64bit version and
activated it? They said I could use the 32bit version if I wanted to which
is a big relief.

So Im going to do some research on the issues that cropped up and maybe try
again with Windows 7 in a few weeks.

 

[Michael Cecil]

tried that but when I try to add a printer on the other machine and specify
a port they then want to download the drivers from the host machine and
throw up an error message that the host machine doesnt contain the correct
drivers (the 32bit ones)

I even ran the 32bit installer on the other machines first but Vista and XP
dont seem to know they have available drivers before
querying the host machine.

I did get a call back from Microsoft this morning (which surprised me - tech
support that calls you back to see how you're getting on - whatever next?!)
and I explained the problem and that Ive gone back to Vista. I did ask if I
could at some point reinstall Windows 7 but using the 32bit disc or was I
now commited to 64bit seeing as I'd used the key with the 64bit version and
activated it? They said I could use the 32bit version if I wanted to which
is a big relief.

So Im going to do some research on the issues that cropped up and maybe try
again with Windows 7 in a few weeks.

What I did in this situation was to browse the network for the printer,
then when it balked at the drivers I browsed to drivers folder I'd copied
off the original Canon CD, into the Win2000 folder and then into the x64
folder. Those drivers worked fine and now I can print across the network
from my W7 x64 machine to the Canon iP4500 on my Windows Server 2003
machine.

 

[Sleepy]

What I did in this situation was to browse the network for the printer,
then when it balked at the drivers I browsed to drivers folder I'd copied
off the original Canon CD, into the Win2000 folder and then into the x64
folder. Those drivers worked fine and now I can print across the network
from my W7 x64 machine to the Canon iP4500 on my Windows Server 2003
machine.

Thanks Michael but I tried that and the drivers on my Canon CD aren't
usable - they dont have complete suffix
ie .DL_ instead of .DLL

but if you have the 32bit drivers for the iP4500 could you kindly attach
them to an email ?
bpespley(removethis)@blueyonder.co.uk

I would be very grateful

 

[Fishface]

Thanks Michael but I tried that and the drivers on my Canon CD aren't usable - they dont have complete suffix
ie .DL_ instead of .DLL

You could probably expand them yourself:
http://www.computerhope.com/expandhl.htm

 

[Sleepy]

You could probably expand them yourself:
http://www.computerhope.com/expandhl.htm

perfect - if I'd known this a week ago I'd have had that printer up and
networked. Thanks.

 

[Sleepy]

perfect - if I'd known this a week ago I'd have had that printer up and
networked. Thanks.

LOL - I finally get a reply from Canon this morning and its the same shit
they gave me the first time that
this is not a network printer and they do not support it as such. I sent
back a reply explaining the answer
and threw a couple of choice adjectives too.