I am sure by now - printers are the most challenging and insanity-inducing area of information technology. There are ten bajillion drivers from which to choose and at least four ways of connecting computers to the printer.
Today I tried to connect an old (grayscale) HP LaserJet 4000 printer to my shiny new Windows 8.1 PC via a parallel card that I had to add because nobody uses parallel ports anymore. The drivers seemed to install themselves successfully after wrecking one hibernated state and then scribbling all over my mouse settings. I plugged in the printer and... nothing. The test page wouldn't print and all Windows would do was display an "out of paper" message despite there being no data activity on the printer end.
I then installed some manufacturer drivers from a mini DVD that came with the card. Those completely wiped the LPT1 port out of Device Manager. The printer continued to not work. (I do know for sure that it can print because it successfully outputted a printer configuration report page.) I tried installing drivers from other places. No dice, though the device did reappear in Device Manager.
Telecom used to be the hardest thing in IT. Now, it's printers. I'll continue trying to deal with this tomorrow.
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