720 printer drivers for Vista 64-bit?

Since I don't see any Vista 64-bit drivers offered for this antique printer, I guess you have to find a printer that has 64-bit drivers. If you have a business, your can probably write off this new pinter.

HI CVHBauman, I am working with the Windows Vista Outreach Team, and would like to help. I am not Tech Support but I would like look into this for you. I can say that the 64-bit Vista is a great OS but it is the designed as the “new” generation of technology, but much of the older hardware/software that’s out there has been designed around 32-bit archectecture and may not be compatible with 64-bit Vista. If you have a lot of this “legacy” hardware or software, it may be in your best interest to re-install Vista, but the 32-bit version instead. I know its sounds a bit drastic but you should have both versions on your Vista install Disks, and this might be the best option for you if you are working with other Legacy products around your office. Or as PudgyOne suggested, perhaps upgrade your printer to a newer model that supports the 64bit technology. I hope that helps.

 

Rick
Windows Outreach Team

 

Hi, RickR,

Thank you for your reply.  As I replied to the other Rick, this is a home, not an office, and if we can't get this printer to talk to Vista nicely, it's not a huge deal.  Reinstalling 32-bit really isn't an option for us, since we then "lose" 1 GB of memory, since 32-bit won't see more than 3 GB.  This printer driver is the only issue we've run across so far.  I found a work-around for my HP LaserJet 1022n and Vista, and that's the printer my son is more likely to need on a regular basis.

 

I just didn't want to try the 32-bit driver if it wasn't going to work, and possibly foul things up on the computer.  With school just getting underway, doing a reinstall to clean up that mess is more trouble than it's worth.  But I appreciate your offer of help and suggestions.

 

Christine 

Sorry, Rick, but this is one of our "newer" printers. :smileywink:  The "antique" is the Deskjet 500 still kicking around here.  I'm not running a business, though we could probably justify it through our son's Education Savings Account.  We can work around the issue if it's not possible for him to print to that printer from the Vista machine.  I appreciate your feedback, however.

 

Christine 

I'm sorry. I thought it was an antique. I had a printer like that in 2001. I now had a Dell Photo AIO Printer 964 but it doesn't have Vista 64-bit drivers. If I were getting another printer, I guess I'd consider one that would work for all operating systems and it would need to have wireless capabilities and/or be able to be used with a wireless print server.

 

I got spoiled. :smileywink:

 

Sorry once again,

No offense taken at all!  I tend to treat our computers and peripherals like our cars--buy one (though actually my dad got this printer for free when he bought a new Dell in Jan. 2005) for the "long haul" and run it until it dies--or in the case of a computer, until it doesn't do what I need it to do.  We end up with a new computer every 3 years, but still keep the old ones around for more mundane tasks (with 4 kids, there was always more than one person needing a computer and/or internet access).  When the 720's output deteriorates, or when I need better color printing, I'll upgrade and obviusly get a 64-bit Vista-compatible printer.

 

Anyway, no need to apologize.  I do appreciate the feedback, even if it's not an answer I particularly want.  :smileyvery-happy: 

 

Christine 

This could be a longshot but the printer was probably made by Lexmark. I was doing some digging and it may or may not work. Most of the time it doesn't but I'd give it a try anyway. Try this driver.

Hi Christine, your welcome, as for the difference in RAM between the two versions of Windows I am not sure that would be an issue. 32-bit can only recognize up to 2 gigs but can run on far less. If you did decide to choose that option there a number of things that you can do to “tune” vista get more performance from in the way of speed. In addition you can utiliize a feature in Vista called “Ready Boost” which uses a common USB memory stick as additonal Memory (RAM) and you can get quite a bit out of that. But I understand that all that can be daunting, and you may not want to deal with that. (the same tuneing and readyboost works with 64-bit as well) If you need any help on any other issues please ask.
 
Rick

My Vista machine already has 4 GB installed, so I certainly want to be able to utilize what's already there.

 

Anyway, as I was Googling to pinpoint which Lexmark printer the 720 was based off of, I decided to see if there was any other information on the internet for the 720 and Vista 64-bit. I located another forum, with a similar question. The reply listed 2 links for drivers, one 32-bit and this one for 64-bit:

 

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R149373&SystemID=PRN_INKJET_720&servicetag=&os=WV64&osl=en&deviceid=7087&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=40&fileid=198392

 

Since it took me to a Dell download page, and it showed compatibility with Vista 64-bit, I figured it couldn't hurt. The driver downloaded and seemed to install fine. I could "see" the Dell 720 on the XP desktop, but couldn't get it to print--the status in the printer tools said it couldn't communicate. I unplugged the printer from the other desktop and moved it to the Vista machine. It was recognized and could print a test page when connected directly by USB. I didn't try to see if either XP computer could see it and print to it. I don't really have a space near the Vista machine to give it a "home" there.

 

So I found success of some sort, but it's still not able to communicate when accessed through the network. I've posted a question to the other forum to see if there's something else I need to set up differently, or if it will only work with a direct USB connection. No reply from there yet (the original post was May, 2008). But I thought I'd update here, while I waited. FWIW, I was unable to find the page for the 64-bit download through the Dell driver search--even when I had a good idea of the path I should have followed. I didn't include the link to 32-bit driver, since that was accessible through the Dell web site.

 

I appreciate the help and replies to my question. If I get further information from the other forum, I'll post it here. I may still try to see if a Lexmark driver will allow network communication to that printer.

 

Christine

 

 

Maybe this will work

 

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

Choose Add a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name. Type in the \\computer name\printer name ie. My computer's name is basement and the printer name is Dellprinter so I typed in \\basement\Dellprinter

Try these settings in your wireless router, you'll be surprised how well it helps you to communicate with all the wireless devices.

 

 

Update the firmware in your wireless router. Manufacturer's website, make & Model needed.

Broadcast SSID(You may want to change this to make it easier to connect)

Use WPA Security. Most wireless devices work best with this type of security.

Mixed b and g mode(n if available)

Use channels 1, 6 or 11. Most devices work better on these channels.

Save and exit. Power everything off for 30 seconds. Power everything back on, wait 30 seconds, now try to connect.

I finally was able to check that today. Actually, the Vista desktop showed a port for that printer, but I followed your instructions and created a new one, using the drivers "already installed" (its recommendation). Everything completed and I got the "success" window, with the "print test page button". Clicking it sent a document to the printer (which appears in the queue), but after an appropriate time of "not printing" it, the computer came back with a "communication not available" widow. And that I should:

1. ensure the printer is on (yes)

2. disconnect and reconnect the printer's power cable

3. disconnect and reconnect the USB cable

(I didn't do #2 or #3--the printer works with a test page from the laptop, so I'm assuming those are ok)

4. check firewall settings to be sure it's not blocked (obviously it's not blocked on the desktop the printer is connected to, since I could print from my laptop, and I checked the settings on the Vista--file and printer sharing is turned on, as is the Dell Photo 720 item)

5. restart printer (ok, I didn't restart it today, but I had several times when I was working on it the other day, so I don't really think that's it.

 

Various links on the internet suggest that communication problems arise if the printer had been installed on an XP system that was being upgraded to Vista without first uninstalling the printer in XP. That's not the case here, because this was a clean Vista install. But for the sake of completeness and obsessiveness, I uninstalled all 3 iterations of the Dell printer (the first network one, the direct USB one, and the network one I just installed), restarted the computer, the downloaded and ran the uninstall patch found here:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WLH&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=PRN_INKJET_720&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WLH&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=PRN_INKJET_720&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WLH&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=PRN_INKJET_720&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

 

just to be safe, and restarted the computer after that. Presumably that should remove all traces of bad driver installation. I downloaded the 64-bit driver again, installing that. Again the installation finished, but no better luck with printing over the network. The local port is there, with the correct computer and printer name, bi-directional printing is turned on, neither machine has its firewall blocking it. I followed the troubleshooting wizard (from the download page, on the left, I think), and everyhing I've either tried or tried then, but no change.

 

Thanks for your continued efforts and ideas, though.

Christine