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I have a Windows 10 machine with an old HP printer (laserjet 1012) that requires manual driver installation. Every single time there's a major Windows update it

I have a Windows 10 machine with an old HP printer (laserjet 1012) that requires manual driver installation. Every single time there's a major Windows update it blows away the driver and I have to install the driver again. Extremely annoying.

mobilio 6y ago
Get one Raspberry Pi, connect there printer, setup printer as network and forget about issues.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  I think his point is that he shouldn't have to do that and I agree with that. System updates have been a mostly solved problem since Windows XP (or maybe earlier) and I don't recall updates outright deleting installed software until Windows 10 came out. Windows 10 obviously uses a different update model (it's essentially a full OS reinstall) but this model should've been developed taking into account the requirements of the old one, and I think "leave installed software/drivers alone" is a very important one. Releasing a half-baked implementation that is worse than the old one is very sloppy. To the eyes of the user it doesn't matter how "good" the underlying details is (I guess the new model does have some advantages on a technical level), if it wipes out existing software and makes certain peripherals not work it's an overall negative and shouldn't have been released.
  - nullify88 6y ago
    I believe the issue is that since the printer is so old, there is no driver available for Windows 10. Checking the HP site, the latest is for Vista from 2008, so dragons are to be expected when you run with drivers on an OS that isnt listed as being compatible with significant architectural changes. I dont think its fair to blame the OS here and in this case you may get a better experience, and maybe security (removing those old HP background processes running with elevated privileges) using microsofts generic postscript printer drivers.
    - Nextgrid 6y ago
      The problem here doesn't seem to be the driver. The driver appears to be working once installed. The problem is that the driver gets removed every time a major system update is installed. The update system used to be fine in this regard and they decided to rewrite it in such a way that it doesn't keep existing drivers even if they appear to be compatible.
      - chinhodado 6y ago
        Exactly. The driver once installed works perfectly. It's Windows update blowing it away that is the problem.
        nullify88 6y ago
        > https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10 https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10 As stated in a previous comment, you're installing drivers for another model of printer. So I find it unreasonable to believe there wont be problems down the line even if they appear to be working. HP has a Universal Print Driver that will support your printer and be compatible with Windows 10 with out resorting to installing drivers meant for another printer. Not exactly a high prority test case for Microsoft.
        Nextgrid 6y ago
        > you're installing drivers for another model of printer That shouldn't be the OS's decision to make. The user wanted his machine to install something, and the something even worked fine after install. Are you advocating for the OS deleting files/software that it considers "wrong" without explicitly asking the user? Besides that, the driver appears to be fully compatible because it works fine once reinstalled. It would be one thing if the driver just stopped working (because the printing driver API changed, which is fair enough for a decades-old printer), but in this case it's not about API incompatibility but a broken update system.
        chinhodado 6y ago
- bshep 6y ago
  Makes me think someone ( not it ) could develop a device that turns any printer into a network printer and takes care of the driver mess for you. if it can be made for $50-100 i think it would be a great product.
chadaustin 6y ago
The LaserJet 1012 was such a great printer! I think we spent $100 on ours back in 2004 and it lasted with frequent use until last year.
mehrdadn 6y ago
Try '/MigrateDrivers None' when upgrading (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-command-line-options#migratedrivers https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufactur...).
seiferteric 6y ago
I have the same printer. I didn't even know you could get it to work in windows anymore! I only use it in Linux and Mac. I thought I saw on HPs website there solution for Windows was to get a new printer lol.
- chinhodado 6y ago
  Here are the steps I did to install the driver on Windows 10: https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10 https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10

mobilio 6y ago

Get one Raspberry Pi, connect there printer, setup printer as network and forget about issues.

Nextgrid 6y ago
I think his point is that he shouldn't have to do that and I agree with that. System updates have been a mostly solved problem since Windows XP (or maybe earlier) and I don't recall updates outright deleting installed software until Windows 10 came out. Windows 10 obviously uses a different update model (it's essentially a full OS reinstall) but this model should've been developed taking into account the requirements of the old one, and I think "leave installed software/drivers alone" is a very important one. Releasing a half-baked implementation that is worse than the old one is very sloppy. To the eyes of the user it doesn't matter how "good" the underlying details is (I guess the new model does have some advantages on a technical level), if it wipes out existing software and makes certain peripherals not work it's an overall negative and shouldn't have been released.
- nullify88 6y ago
  I believe the issue is that since the printer is so old, there is no driver available for Windows 10. Checking the HP site, the latest is for Vista from 2008, so dragons are to be expected when you run with drivers on an OS that isnt listed as being compatible with significant architectural changes. I dont think its fair to blame the OS here and in this case you may get a better experience, and maybe security (removing those old HP background processes running with elevated privileges) using microsofts generic postscript printer drivers.
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    The problem here doesn't seem to be the driver. The driver appears to be working once installed. The problem is that the driver gets removed every time a major system update is installed. The update system used to be fine in this regard and they decided to rewrite it in such a way that it doesn't keep existing drivers even if they appear to be compatible.
    - chinhodado 6y ago
      Exactly. The driver once installed works perfectly. It's Windows update blowing it away that is the problem.
      - nullify88 6y ago
        > https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10 https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10 As stated in a previous comment, you're installing drivers for another model of printer. So I find it unreasonable to believe there wont be problems down the line even if they appear to be working. HP has a Universal Print Driver that will support your printer and be compatible with Windows 10 with out resorting to installing drivers meant for another printer. Not exactly a high prority test case for Microsoft.
        Nextgrid 6y ago
        > you're installing drivers for another model of printer That shouldn't be the OS's decision to make. The user wanted his machine to install something, and the something even worked fine after install. Are you advocating for the OS deleting files/software that it considers "wrong" without explicitly asking the user? Besides that, the driver appears to be fully compatible because it works fine once reinstalled. It would be one thing if the driver just stopped working (because the printing driver API changed, which is fair enough for a decades-old printer), but in this case it's not about API incompatibility but a broken update system.
        chinhodado 6y ago
bshep 6y ago
Makes me think someone ( not it ) could develop a device that turns any printer into a network printer and takes care of the driver mess for you. if it can be made for $50-100 i think it would be a great product.

chadaustin 6y ago

The LaserJet 1012 was such a great printer! I think we spent $100 on ours back in 2004 and it lasted with frequent use until last year.

mehrdadn 6y ago

Try '/MigrateDrivers None' when upgrading (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-command-line-options#migratedrivers https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufactur...).

seiferteric 6y ago

I have the same printer. I didn't even know you could get it to work in windows anymore! I only use it in Linux and Mac. I thought I saw on HPs website there solution for Windows was to get a new printer lol.

chinhodado 6y ago
Here are the steps I did to install the driver on Windows 10: https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10 https://kb.ucla.edu/articles/hp-laserjet-1012-and-windows-10