Cant print from Vista through XP!!? driver not installed?!

K3Kircher

New Member
ok i just got a new computer here at work and its the Vista home premium 64 bit and so far i love it. i went to print through our local printer to which all of our xp computers go to and it says the driver isnt installed. so i put in the cd which told me that its not for my operating system. i read someone who said to hook the Printer which is the MFC-Brother 8860DN directly up to Vista computer and it would install the driver since it was built in. So i picked up this huge machine and carried it over to my desk and hooked it up and sure enough it instantly said installing driver and when it finished it said driver installed and i was able to print to it. well then i unplugged it and put the printer back i was hit with the same error message i got before saying the driver isnt installed. i'm going on 4 hours straight trying to fix this! help please!!!
 

My Computer

You first have to be able to see the printer on the XP machine - then you have to be able to connect to it - finally you have to be able to tell it which printer it is.

Since it automatically loaded the driver for the printer when it was connected locally, fixing this should be an easy task.


  1. First, connect to the XP machine.
  2. Next, connect to the printer.
  3. Next ask to use it - and when it asks to install the driver, select have disk
  4. Now, just manually find the manufacturer and then find the same driver as was installed when it was connected to your Vista machine locally (usually, like with HPs, it says something long the line of "HP DeskJet 7500 Series" - so select HP as the manufacturer, and then in the second column pick the DeskJet 7500 / DeskJet 7500 Series.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
ok i went to the network and connected to the computer and i can see the brother printer and when i click on it i get a message saying connecting to brother and then this pops up..."The server for the 'Brother MFC-8860DN USB Printer' printer does not have the correct printer driver installed. If you want to search for the proper driver, click OK. Otherwise, click Cancel and contact your network administrator or original equipment manufacturer for the correct printer driver." if you press cancel it does nothing, and then if you press OK it asks you to specify the location of the printer driver *.INF. when i looked for the brother printer driver it came up with the name like UNVDLL.dll or something to that effect. if i specify this driver it says that its not correct.
 

My Computer

You first have to be able to see the printer on the XP machine - then you have to be able to connect to it - finally you have to be able to tell it which printer it is.

Since it automatically loaded the driver for the printer when it was connected locally, fixing this should be an easy task.


  1. First, connect to the XP machine.
  2. Next, connect to the printer.
  3. Next ask to use it - and when it asks to install the driver, select have disk
  4. Now, just manually find the manufacturer and then find the same driver as was installed when it was connected to your Vista machine locally (usually, like with HPs, it says something long the line of "HP DeskJet 7500 Series" - so select HP as the manufacturer, and then in the second column pick the DeskJet 7500 / DeskJet 7500 Series.



oh also when i searched the installed printer drivers on my computer i got a list of the lexmark, canon, some other one and the brother. keep in mind that i can print to all these printers just not the brother. when i click on the brother driver properties it says the driver path and has descriptions of each one including the Driver File which is UNIDRV.DLL this is what i specified as the driver earlier and it says that its not correct.
 

My Computer

another way to try is if you still have the printer your list that worked when connected directly,is to go to that entry and change the port to the relevent network port so that vista uses the local driver and then redirects the output to a network port.

Right click on printer select properties then ports then add port select New tcp/ip port and complete the wizard. Have used this method for years for user access. should still work with vista.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest Release Preview
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G276HL 27", (DVi) + Samsung 39" HDTV (HDMI)
    Screen Resolution
    2 x 1920x1080 @50Hz
  • Manufacturer/Model
    Real World Computers (Custom by Me)
    CPU
    AMD FX8350 Vishera 8 Core @4GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A78L-M USB3
    Memory
    32GB [4x8GB] DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus nVidia GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 (2GB DDR5)
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xoner DG + SPDIF to 5.1 System + HDMI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" TV
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal
    Crucial CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SSD,
    Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH1 2TB,

    External (USB3)
    Seagate Backup+ Hub BK SCSI Disk 8TB
    2.5/3.5 Hot Swap Cradle, USB3 + eSata (client HDDs)
    NAS 4TB
    PSU
    Aerocool Templarius Imperator 750W 80+ Silver
    Case
    AeroCool X-Warrior Red Devil Tower
    Cooling
    Hyper103 CPU, Rear 120mm, Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm
    Internet Speed
    68 MB Down 18.5 MB Up
    Other Info
    Six Sensor Auto / Manual Digital cooling (Fan) control with Touch control Panel
another way to try is if you still have the printer your list that worked when connected directly,is to go to that entry and change the port to the relevent network port so that vista uses the local driver and then redirects the output to a network port.

Right click on printer select properties then ports then add port select New tcp/ip port and complete the wizard. Have used this method for years for user access. should still work with vista.


Well i tried this and it didnt work...unless i did something wrong. basically when it asks for the printer name or IP address, what do i put? i put the share name which is BrotherM but this wasnt correct.
 

My Computer

should be in the format \\servername\sharename
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest Release Preview
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G276HL 27", (DVi) + Samsung 39" HDTV (HDMI)
    Screen Resolution
    2 x 1920x1080 @50Hz
  • Manufacturer/Model
    Real World Computers (Custom by Me)
    CPU
    AMD FX8350 Vishera 8 Core @4GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A78L-M USB3
    Memory
    32GB [4x8GB] DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus nVidia GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 (2GB DDR5)
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xoner DG + SPDIF to 5.1 System + HDMI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" TV
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal
    Crucial CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SSD,
    Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH1 2TB,

    External (USB3)
    Seagate Backup+ Hub BK SCSI Disk 8TB
    2.5/3.5 Hot Swap Cradle, USB3 + eSata (client HDDs)
    NAS 4TB
    PSU
    Aerocool Templarius Imperator 750W 80+ Silver
    Case
    AeroCool X-Warrior Red Devil Tower
    Cooling
    Hyper103 CPU, Rear 120mm, Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm
    Internet Speed
    68 MB Down 18.5 MB Up
    Other Info
    Six Sensor Auto / Manual Digital cooling (Fan) control with Touch control Panel
Read this tutorial. Before installing the printer, download the printer driver from HP's website, and then start with step 1.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Extensa 5620-6396
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 5750
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT
    Sound Card
    Onboard Sound Card ~ Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop 15.4 LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1280*768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 320GB @5400 RPM
    Cooling
    Rocketfish USB Laptop Cooling Pad
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboars
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Wired Gaming Precision Mouse @ 2000 DPI
    Internet Speed
    Download: 4500 kb/s Upload: 500 kb/s
You first have to be able to see the printer on the XP machine - then you have to be able to connect to it - finally you have to be able to tell it which printer it is.

Since it automatically loaded the driver for the printer when it was connected locally, fixing this should be an easy task.


  1. First, connect to the XP machine.
  2. Next, connect to the printer.
  3. Next ask to use it - and when it asks to install the driver, select have disk
  4. Now, just manually find the manufacturer and then find the same driver as was installed when it was connected to your Vista machine locally (usually, like with HPs, it says something long the line of "HP DeskJet 7500 Series" - so select HP as the manufacturer, and then in the second column pick the DeskJet 7500 / DeskJet 7500 Series.



oh also when i searched the installed printer drivers on my computer i got a list of the lexmark, canon, some other one and the brother. keep in mind that i can print to all these printers just not the brother. when i click on the brother driver properties it says the driver path and has descriptions of each one including the Driver File which is UNIDRV.DLL this is what i specified as the driver earlier and it says that its not correct.

You don't search for Brother, because that is not what it is going to be named - however, you *can* just point to the C:\Windows\ directory and see if it finds the file automatically - if not, point to C:\Windows\System32 - if not then try C:\Windows\SysWOW64 directory. One of those three should have the required .INF file necessary for the printer to work as you have already installed it locally on your machine.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
You first have to be able to see the printer on the XP machine - then you have to be able to connect to it - finally you have to be able to tell it which printer it is.

Since it automatically loaded the driver for the printer when it was connected locally, fixing this should be an easy task.


  1. First, connect to the XP machine.
  2. Next, connect to the printer.
  3. Next ask to use it - and when it asks to install the driver, select have disk
  4. Now, just manually find the manufacturer and then find the same driver as was installed when it was connected to your Vista machine locally (usually, like with HPs, it says something long the line of "HP DeskJet 7500 Series" - so select HP as the manufacturer, and then in the second column pick the DeskJet 7500 / DeskJet 7500 Series.



oh also when i searched the installed printer drivers on my computer i got a list of the lexmark, canon, some other one and the brother. keep in mind that i can print to all these printers just not the brother. when i click on the brother driver properties it says the driver path and has descriptions of each one including the Driver File which is UNIDRV.DLL this is what i specified as the driver earlier and it says that its not correct.

You don't search for Brother, because that is not what it is going to be named - however, you *can* just point to the C:\Windows\ directory and see if it finds the file automatically - if not, point to C:\Windows\System32 - if not then try C:\Windows\SysWOW64 directory. One of those three should have the required .INF file necessary for the printer to work as you have already installed it locally on your machine.



well all works great now. :party:Thanks everyone for your help, i can finally sleep!
 

My Computer

Thanks- I got it but I used local port (rather than Standard TCP/IP) and it worked! The only difference is that I was trying to get the printer attached to my Vista computer to work on my XP laptop. Thanks again!
 

My Computer

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