Folks unable to use their old printers after upgrading to Windows 7 could find a solution with one of the new OS’s features:
Windows XP compatibility mode.
The tool allows users to run XP within Windows 7 as a virtual PC, allowing full functionality for any application that works on XP.
The solution was suggested by several readers commenting on our previous story “Windows 7: My #@$%* printer won’t work.” Says reader Ian:
“Windows 7 Professional and above allows the opportunity to run Windows XP as a virtual-pc, free of charge so that applications that run only in windows XP and lower can still be used.”
Reader Matt adds: “If anyone’s in a real crunch, they can download a free copy of Windows XP from Microsoft, and run it within Windows 7 in ‘Windows XP compatibility mode’. Compatibility mode allows you to map to all of your USB devices, and hard drives, so the XP OS has access to everything that Windows7 does.”
It might not be the optimal work-around, but it will keep older devices usable until new drivers are available.
Download XP Mode from Microsoft’s Web site here.
