Windows Vista Security: Praxisorientierte Sicherheit für Profis

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Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Setting Up Printers, Scanners, and Fax

Machines

12

Not unlike many offices, scattered about my office is a jumbled assortment of print-

ers, scanners, and fax machines. Getting these devices—some of them more than a

few years old—to work with Windows Vista wasn’t a picnic. Here are some of the

problems I encountered along the way:

• A software installation disk would not install the device because Windows Vista

wasn’t a supported operating system.

• A setup program used a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) that was incompati-

ble with my computer’s configuration.

• A setup program worked correctly but configured the device incorrectly.

Because of problems such as these, you might find that getting your printers, scan-

ners, and fax machines to work with Windows Vista is a frustrating experience, and

this is why in this chapter I’ll give you a quick and easy workaround for each of these

problems, and more. In addition, I have to let Windows Vista off the hook on this

one. The underlying problems I encountered weren’t Windows Vista’s fault. The

problems were the fault of setup programs and drivers that weren’t designed for

Windows Vista—not unlike many of the setup programs and drivers you’ll probably

use with your printers, scanners, and fax machines as well.

Installing Printers, Scanners, and Fax Machines

To Windows Vista, printers, scanners, and fax machines are all pretty much the

same thing. Windows Vista prints to and accepts input from any of these devices in

similar ways. What sets these devices apart, however, is the way they are connected.

Printers, scanners, and fax machines can be either physically attached or network-

attached. A physically attached device is connected directly to your computer with a

serial, parallel, or USB cable. A network-attached device is connected directly to your

network and accessed remotely rather than directly.