We bought a USB to Parallel adapter to make an old printer work. It worked great. However, the computer was missing a lot of drivers. I searched for the motherboard online and got the drivers for everything. I installed them all, and it make sound, network, and all that good stuff work properly. However, afterwards, the printer wouldn't print. Over the past few hours, I have tried uninstalling the printer, changing the printer port, ensuring that it's online, and so on. I tried the printer on an old computer using the original parallel connection, and it works fine, but then I installed the adapter on it, like the new computer it wouldn't communicate with the printer. The thing is, I don't even get an error, so I'm certain the port is set right (USB001). I even tried the install disc with it to install the drivers for the adapter (which I didn't need when it was working before), only to do absolutely nothing for it and continue to not work. Why would installing drivers for the hardware in the computer make the USB/Parallel adapter stop working? Is there any way I can get this cable working without undoing the driver installs? Is there an alternative that I can try? I looked at some PCI cards with parallel ports on them online, but reviews seem to always be mixed on those things, some people claiming that they don't work with all printers or all OS's. I would like some reliable solution if there is one. Any suggestions on this subject would be a big help.
I assume you've already uninstalled the drivers for the adapter (and possibly the printer!) and then restarting the computer? If not, try that (and then install whichever drivers you had back when the printer worked). Is it possible that the USB-to-parallel adapter itself is malfunctioning? Could you see if there is another parallel device that you could use to test the adapter. I hesitate to suggest that the drivers for usb-to-parallel adapter (or possibly the printer drivers!) are incompatible with other device drivers on the system (they have become FAR better at preventing that kind of shit than they used to be), but that also might be a problem - I seem to recall back in the old days that such a situation was common enough. And yes, I realize that there really isn't a reason for the adapter to all-of-a-sudden fail, but if it was of inferior make or perhaps the batch it was made in was defective or something, that could cause early product failure. It's just, you know the printer works, and you know both computers are working fine, perhaps it's the connection that isn't functional? Also: Try it in more than one USB port. The left front USB port on my computer does not work with my bluetooth dongle, but recognizes external storage just fine, for example. Perhaps there is a similar problem with the USB port you're trying?
