canon W6200 driver

Hi,
I am hoping i can get some help,
we have just upgraded a couple of our cad machines, and they are running windows7, unfortunately windows7 doesn't seem to have a driver for our canon W6200 plotter.
i have tried several different drivers but none work.
Is there a way to get around this?? whilst cannon and windows catchup???

i look forward to your response.

Regards
Geoff

gcdennis, welcome to the forum! That's a $3,500 printer you have there, and not extremely old, either. Canon is the worst for producing drivers for Windows 7. No kidding, the very worst. In order for me to assist you in the best way, I need some information from you. What version of Windows 7 do you have, Home Premium or Professional? 32 or 64 bit? The amount of RAM that you have? The answers to these is critical to the direction that I point you in. I look forward to assisting you, please provide the requested info, we'll go from there.

Hi, thanks for responding catilley1092,

we are running windows 7 professional
64 bit
8Gb of ram

i look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards
Geoff

Thanks for the quick response, Geoff. For Professional & up users (that's us), Microsoft has a free program that allows you to run your older software/hardware. Windows Virtual PC with XP Mode has your name written on it. Type in "Windows Virtual PC", w/o the quotes, it will lead you from there. That is your best solution, Geoff. What you'll have is a pre-activated copy of XP Pro SP3. You'll need to install an Anti-Virus program of your choice. Microsoft has a good free one (MSE). Geoff, if you have anymore questions or concerns, post back. I have the same program on my desktop. Best of luck to you.

Hi,
So by doing this i will be able to print from my programs that are running in windows7 thru this virtual widows xp????

You should be able to. You have to have the program open and running at the time you want to print. You have a form of program sharing with this, the whole extent, I don't know. But this program was created by Microsoft for businesses (which is why you must have Pro or above to obtain it). It will take some playing around on your part to learn everything. I do know that there is file sharing, and at the very least, you can print from within XP Mode. OK, I'm back, had to switch from another OS to finish this post. I'm currently using the program now. Since my printer already works with Windows 7, the printer connection is integrated with XP Mode. Your printer, being that it doesn't work with Windows 7 by nature, you will have to install your printer through XP Mode, and anything that you want to print, the program that you're printing from must be installed within XP Mode. It's a good thing that you have plenty of RAM to spare. You can easily assign 4GB to it after install. But, being that there's integration here, you can try to print a document straight from Windows 7, give it a shot. But this program is your best bet to use the printer that you currently have. Any further questions, please post. I have done my very best to assist you, and hope it works well for you. You certainly have enough RAM to make it work.

ok, so here is the thing,
we have installed the virtual pc and xp mode.
we have installed the printer in xp mode and we can print from it
but we cant see the printer when trying to print from windows7
i have tried to create a sharing of the printer.

hi,
just wanted to let you know that what you have suggested has worked a treat.
well in a round about sort of way.
the bottom line is i can now print to my printer, all be it from a viewer program, but printing is now possible.
thanks heaps for your assistance
it is greatly appreciated

regards
Geoff

Geoff, it was a pleasure to be of assistance to you. There have been others in your situation (especially with Canon products), they refuse to publish 64 bit drivers for their products that five or more years old. This is BS! Spend $3,500 and get this kind of service from them. I hate to be so blunt on an open forum, but that's sorry as hell. But I'm glad that you're back in business, that's the good thing. Should you need further assistance, come back anytime.

I agree simply because of the expense, however if you upgrade an OS you must also be willing to upgrade hardware. If your hardware will not be supported on the new OS, then perhaps an older machine should still be used with the hardware. Manufacturers must look forward, if not they will find themselves in the past working with one bug after another trying to get their older hardware working correctly.