Help connecting printer

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Dec 31, 2012
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I have an old inkjet printer that is durable, portable and prints wonderfully well in color; for connectivity it has only a USB port. At home I subscribe to a DSL service and I would like to access the printer from both my notebook and desktop computers. When I travel I would like to connect it to my notebook with a USB cable.

My desktop is running Windows 7, Home Premium, SP1, 32-bit. My notebook is running Windows Vista, Home Premium, SP2, 32-bit The firmware on the printer is up-to-date. I downloaded the recommended driver for my desktop computer and for my notebook computer. What else should I have done before beginning the installation?

When I made the installation I responded to all the Wizard's questions. The printer worked wonderfully well for awhile, now when I try to print a message comes onto my screen, "Communications Not Available" The printer cannot communicate with the computer. Please turn on "Enable Bidirectional Communication" setting in the printer properties dialog.

I went to Devices and Printers, right clicked on the printer's icon and left clicked on Printers properties, a screen appeared with a menu bar that had 6 tabs: General, Sharing, Ports, Advanced, Color Management, Security. I looked under each tab for Bidirectional communications and found nothing.

Next I checked Programs and Features, a program was there with the printer mfg's name on it, but the size and version fields were empty. I thought that was odd. I looked in the root directory on the System drive and found a folder with the printer manufacturer's name on it. Inside the folder there was a subfolder that said Drivers and inside that subfolder was a subfolder with the printer's name on it that included the file Setup.exe. Also on the System directory root In the folder for Program Files there was a folder for the printer. Inside the folder appeared files that seem appropriate for operating the printer.

How do I enable bidirectional Communication?
 

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