Dear readers, I’d like to take a moment this week to clarify any issues around technical questions that might be posted as comments on this blog. This is in response to a mention in NETWORKWORLD that refers to my blog. While they list hp blogs as “Cream of the Crop”, this article included the following quote:

“Some companies aren't as comfortable responding to customer complaints in a blog. HP LaserJet blogger Vince Ferraro answered numerous questions in July about printing problems that occurred when HP equipment was used on Microsoft Windows Vista. His blog posting, however, spurred HP to change its policy about responding to comments about product problems. The blogger now is prohibited from responding directly to comments that can be handled by customer service.”

Well, first I just want you to know that I did not get the corporate paddle to my backside. All is well in hp's blogosphere. I think there is a genuine concern that executive blogs don't turn into product support blogs and I agree with that approach. I have responded directly to many of the technical questions on my blog. I think it is important to provide responses to specific issues and these responses tended to be to those questions that a number of customers seemed to have in common. For instance, in realizing that many people were going to experience problems when trying to print from the Microsoft Vista operating system, I posted the following series:

1. Universal Adoption of Vista and Office 2007
2. New HP Universal Print Driver solves Vista Printing Problems for LaserJets
3. Laser Printing Problems using Microsoft Windows Vista
4. Microsoft Vista Printing Problems and the new HP UPD 4.0 Solution
5. One More Time: Vista Imaging & Printing Help

Update: I have tried to address many of these questions in my most recent post: Universal Print Driver continues to improve LaserJet printing with Vista.

I’ve received a lot of comments on the problems you’re having with your printers using Vista. While many of these questions have to do with products I don’t work on directly, I’ll answer all of the questions as well as I can and also refer you to other resources. The good news for HP LaserJet users is that the Universal Print Driver (UPD 3.1) solves most of the print driver problems for Microsoft Windows Vista. I’ll respond to your comments in the order I received them:

1. "I understand that this will work with laser printers. How about for inkjet printers? Do you have a list of printers that will work with Windows Vista now?" The UPD currently supports a number of Business Inkjet and Officejet devices. Find the complete list of HP devices supported within Windows Vista, including the inkjet devices, by clicking here.
2. "What are we supposed to do if our brand new Laserjet Printer P2015 is not on the list for the new Universal Print Driver?" The LaserJet P2015 is supported by the UPD. You can see the entire list of HP devices supported within Windows Vista by clicking this link.
3. "Searching for the above mentioned HP Managed Printing Administrator installation file to download. On itrc.hp.com there is a similar question posted many months ago, but without answer or any explanation why it cannot be found by searching the HP web site. Search only gives several documents, among them the Service Administration Guide. This guide mentions HPMPAINSTALL.MSI to download from www.hp.com. But from what part of the HP web site? An accurate link would be helpful." Thanks for highlighting this to me. You can download the HP Managed Printing Administration by clicking here.
4. "Downloaded all 3 UDP drivers and I have had issue's sharing a laserjet on a network. The HP is attached to a XP Home machine and am trying to print to it with a Vista machine. Seems to be a common problem with no easy answer. Got one? When I go to the sharing tab for the HP LaserJet there is no listing for Vista under Additional Drivers. It only shows XP and 2000. How do I know the drivers were installed correctly? I tried using the driver update tool on the Laserjet page and it hangs." I’m sorry to hear you’re having problems in your environment. It’s difficult to know precisely what is causing the problem without knowing more about your configuration, the HP device you are using, and how the device is connected to the network. The HP Universal Print Driver does not currently support all USB connections so if that is how your printer is connected, you’ll want to wait for a future UPD release. If you want to verify that the HP device is supported by the UPD or if you are not sure the driver installation was successful, you can click here to see the list of Vista supported devices and to download the UPD again. You are notified when an installation has been successful.
5. "Just wandering if anybody is having problem. I am trying to use the UPD 3.1 in Vista for HP LJ 4100 and 4050. (Have not tried anything else yet) Whenever I try to open the printer properties, it crashes Windows Explorer! I am able to open the printing preferences without a problem. Does anybody knows if this is a problem with the driver or my installation of Vista? FYI. I am using Vista Ent. Thanks. GT." This is a known issue and we're working with Microsoft on a fix.
6. "Has a driver been created to allow scanning as well? I have been able to print, but not scan on my HP LaserJet 3390. Any suggestions to solve this problem?" The HP Universal Print Driver is a printing solution. Scan drivers for the LaserJet 3390 shipped with the Vista operating system and provide basic scan functionality. A full scanning software solution will be available later this spring.
7. "I do not see the HP 7410 printer on the list of printers supported by the new driver. The driver loaded by Vista for this printer provides only rudimentary functions, defective duplexing, and no support for fax or scanning that I can determine. I cannot understand why you do not have an appropriate driver since Vista has been available since 11/06." I'm sorry, but The HP Universal Print Driver does not currently support PCL 3 devices, such as the HP 7410. For a complete list of HP devices that are supported within Windows Vista, click on this link.
8. "It appears that this driver soes not support the HP 7410 printer. The driver loaded by Vista does not appear to support proper duplexing, scanning, faxing from the computer and other important functions. When will a fully functioning driver be available? Vista has been out since 11/06." Unfortunately, The HP Universal Print Driver does not currently support PCL 3 devices, such as the HP 7410. For a complete list of HP devices that are supported within Windows Vista, click on this link.
9. "Hmm... Tried installing the drivers (PCL 6 and PS) on my Toshiba Laptop (Vista Business) - no problem. Managed to connect to my HP Color Laserjet 2840 - no problem. However, when I try to view the properties of the printer, the driver crashes Windows Explorer! Big problem :( Oh well, back to the drawing board." This is a known issue and we are working with Microsoft on a fix.
10. "I have a Photosmart2700 and according to the HP web site there are no VISTA drivers available? The printer is using a wireless network connection, and I have used the instructions available to make a printer definition. The definition looks correct, and it looks like the print is being sent to the printer, but it never actually gets there? Any suggestions?" The actual driver solution is located within the Vista operating system. You might try this process described for jobs that get stuck in the print queue, click here.
11. "Part of the problem that I'm having is that Vista does not want to "see" the LPT port I've installed (the PC does not come with one installed). Even when I can get it to do that, it will then not see the printer, my Laserjet 2100m. I'm running this, by the way, in a compaq 2180NX. One other think I'd love is a list of HP printers that support Postscript. Thanks for you opinion on this. Bob K." You should consider downloading the new UPD 3.1.
12. "The driver for my Laserjet 3015 all-in-one installed automatically in Vista. However, the HP software to control the machine settings no longer works so I can no longer control settings via my computer nor receive faxes to the computer. Will any updates of this software be posted?" You might consider downloading the new UPD 3.1.
13. "Dear Mr. Ferraro - I am extremely disappointed and surprised that HP is not developing VISTA drivers for the PHOTOSMART ink jet range. Was surprised that these drivers weren't incorporated directly into VISTA, as were MANY HP drivers, some for MUCH older models. The Photosmart range was extremely popular and were very capable/quality printers. I'm certain there are still tens/hundreds(s)(?) of thousands of these still in use. Even if HP developed a generic color/photo driver that still allowed you to use the printers in VISTA (even if it was missing some "extra" features), would at least be a reasonable effort to take care of your long-term customers. Abandoning these customers (and the thousands and thousands of printers still in good working order), just for getting with the times and upgrading to a state-of-the-art OS, is simply wasteful (to the environment) and neglectful (to your customers). Requiring customers (or even suggesting) that they need to purchase a new printer (on top of everything else), just because they upgraded their OS is not good customer service. I sincerely hope HP reconsiders their decision not to support the Photosmart series in Vista. I personally am looking forward to a PHOTOSMART P1100 driver. Let me know if you can look into this. For the time being, is there a work-around for the P1100 in VISTA (XP Driver with installation tweaks) or different HP color inkjet emulation? Thank you." You can download a Photosmart Print Driver by clicking here. You might have to contact HP online support for further help on Photosmart products.
14. "Purchased new HP machine with MS Vista; machine does not have parallel port to attach HP LaserJet 4. This may be a common problem for new machines lacking a parallel port. Does HP offer a parallel to USB cable adapter (with drivers) for MS Vista?" Believe it or not, when I have to make similar connections for my home system, I go down to my nearby Office Products Superstore and ask for such adapters.

I know you’re struggling with ramifications of adopting Windows Vista and hope I’ve answered your questions relative to HP LaserJet printers. Please feel free to comment back on your experiences in solving these problems for your LaserJet devices . . .

-Vince

Update: I have tried to address many of these questions in my most recent post: Universal Print Driver continues to improve LaserJet printing with Vista.

People who have adopted or are considering using Microsoft Windows Vista are trying to determine whether their printers are supported. While I touched on this subject in a previous blog, Universal Adoption of Vista and Office 2007, I believe that people now want to know whether the printers they already have in-use or are considering are currently supported with Vista print drivers (and, if not, when they will be).

The great news is that the new HP Universal Print Driver 3.1 for Windows takes care of the headaches involved with deploying Microsoft Windows Vista print drivers throughout your organization! To download the free Universal Print Driver software (UPD 3.1), click here. This means that every HP device supported by UPD 3.1 will have a single easily deployable print driver that works within the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.

You can verify whether your particular LaserJet is supported within UPD 3.1 by visiting this site. At last count there were 74 different LaserJet series devices supported by UPD, so there’s a high likelihood your's is supported by UPD 3.1. The primary benefits of using the HP Universal Print Driver still apply to UPD 3.1. Beyond working with Vista, you’ll find that adopting UPD 3.1 will:

• Make Printing Easier—providing one driver and one interface for users, improving satisfaction with the printing process and making it easier to print to almost any HP LaserJet in the office or on the road
• 
  
Save Time for IT departments—by freeing up staff, enabling broad device compatibility and helping to control color usage
• 
  
Reduce calls to the help desk and support—with real time print job, device and supplies status, end users can print without assistance

UPD 3.1 also supports Microsoft Windows--XP, XP Professional x64, 2000; 2003 Server (32/64 bit); Terminal Services and Citrix Presentation Server Environments. Installation of UPD 3.1 on any Windows PC is rather easy. A download and a few clicks will enable people to print to almost every HP printing device with HP PCL6, HP PCL5 or HP postscript level 2 and 3 emulation.

This is a lot easier than searching for whether your printer has a specific Vista driver available and downloading, testing and certifying a separate driver for each device you have. Adopting UPD 3.1 is much more streamlined than this legacy process!

For the enterprise, the HP UPD 3.1 supports tools that enable IT administrators to assign individual, group and job attributes. The HP Managed Printing Administrator or Active Directory templates allow IT administrators to easily define printing and device discovery privileges for users. You can manage printing by users or user group by identifying which printers they can use based on location or features, or who can print in color.

UPD 3.1 remains an excellent tool for business users to easily print to virtually any HP printing device with a few clicks, which is also especially advantageous for mobile users. IT staff can configure and designate printers for simple access by corporate and mobile users using the Managed Print Administration tool or Active Directory templates.

I know that this Windows Vista print driver picture has been stressful and I hope this clears up the confusion, at least for HP LaserJets. It will be interesting to see how quickly people adopt UPD 3.1, relative to Help Desk calls on Vista.

Feel free to leave me a comment on your experience with printing within Vista and how UPD 3.1 helped with this process . . .

To benefit from the HP UPD, HP itself deployed this solution in North America, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific regions. Including maintenance, power, support and other associated costs we figured out that print servers were costing approximately $2,900/month per server. We also estimated that HP had some IT people spending from 35% to 45% of their time installing and maintaining disparate print servers. Realized results from deploying the HP Universal Print Driver include:

• Deployment was over a 2 week period—half the time expected.
• A 20% reduction in Help Desk and printer-related support calls in the first 3 months.
• HP was able to “retire” 225 redundant print servers--enabling a savings of $7.8 million/year by deploying the HP UPD.
• 19 IT people gained back up to 45% of their time.

Our industry doesn't have anything close to the HP Universal Print Driver for Windows, version 3.0. The distant alternative is the generic Postscript driver by Xerox that has limited functionality and is only supported on Postscript devices. Some printer companies say they have a universal print driver, but in reality it is a collection of printer-specific drivers assembled and shipped on one “universal” CD. Whereas, the HP Universal Print Driver Series for Windows, version 3.0 supports HP PCL 6, HP PCL5, as well as HP postscript level 2 and 3 emulation. If you haven’t yet tested and deployed the HP Universal Print Driver, your organization may be wasting time and money.

The concept of the universal print driver is something that the technology guys in HP have been cooking up for years. As the marketing executive responsible for this part of the business, I can happily announce that dinner is now “served.”

The latest version of HP’s Universal Print Driver can be downloaded here, free.