Proxy Unsupported Printers

I have an older LaserJet 1000 that HP has sunsetted. It is our workhorse at home for everyday printing. It is a host based printer…meaning it needs to be attached a computer to spool and print. We have its USB cable plugged into our Windows Home Server as a shared network device. My wife got a new 64bit PC, Windows7. I was shocked when I realized that she couldn’t connect. No 64 bit drivers are available.

As an alternative, I installed a shared PDF printer on our WHS.

1. Install PDFCreator on the workstation/server that is still supported by your printer. Make sure you select “Server” when you install.
2. Run PDFCreator Options
3. Turn on AutoSave
   
   I specified a temp directory that was UNC because this was on a WHS.
4. Turn on AutoPrint
   
5. Under Printers, Share the PDF Printer
   
   I renamed it to be the model that I was proxying. Also, make sure to include x64 bit drivers.
6. From the new unsupported workstation, add the new PDF Printer that was shared.

Every so often, you might need to delete out the temp PDF’s that it creates. You will lose some options that are printer specific but it general it works perfectly.