Solved Alternative for HP Printer driver?

robdb2

New Member
Messages
4
Location
Watertown, MA
I recently got a new HP laptop with Windows 8. I have an old HP Photosmart 1315 printer that I'd like to use with the laptop. Unfortunately, there is no driver at the HP website that works with this OS and printer. HP's only suggestion is to buy a new printer.

I had a similar problem finding a driver for my old laptop and OS, Windows Vista. At the time, I read online that I could use a different HP driver and get the same results. I forget the driver (HP 900 series?), but it worked fine.

Has anyone found an alternative HP driver for my printer and Windows 8? Any solution or direction would be great.

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Unfortunately, HP has abandoned some of their older products. I was lucky enough to find a Windows 7 driver for my Laserjet 1018 and Laserjet 6L which happened to work on Windows 8. The HP site says that a Windows 8 driver for the 1018 is "coming in late 2012". But that didn't happen...

In the case of the Photosmart 1315, it looks like their last driver was for Windows XP. So you might have to be in the market for a new Photosmart printer. Fortunately, their low-end inkjets come cheap. It's always the ink that gets you. When I moved from a Desktop to a Laptop running Windows 8, I wanted a wireless printer and I picked up a multifunction HP inkjet, wireless, for 50 bucks.

So the short answer is that the software and hardware folks are all in cahoots with one another to get you to keep upgrading. :p

[UPDATE]
I found this forum post at HP (photosmart 1315 drivers for windows 7 - HP Support Forum - 171014) that seems to say an HP Deskjet 990C driver could work. A driver is available for Windows 8 for that printer (models 990cm, 990cxi, 990cse, not sure which the best choice would be), which might work for you.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 / Win 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo T510 / HP ProBook 4540S
    CPU
    Intel i5-510m / Intel i3-3110m
    Memory
    4GB / 8GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
Hey robdb2, did you get a chance to try that out? Wondering if it worked for you...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 / Win 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo T510 / HP ProBook 4540S
    CPU
    Intel i5-510m / Intel i3-3110m
    Memory
    4GB / 8GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
No worries. I totally understand. Life is way more than printer drivers. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 / Win 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo T510 / HP ProBook 4540S
    CPU
    Intel i5-510m / Intel i3-3110m
    Memory
    4GB / 8GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
mbratch, I went through that link you provided and did some further researching. I found the link below. For some reason, I didn't have 990c driver already installed, but it looks like the HP Deskjet 450 works just as well. Just printed a test page, looks good, although my 1315 printer still thinks it's printing.

How to Assign Alternate Print Drivers in Different Versions ... - HP Support Forum - 1957011

All in all, I'm disappointed that HP couldn't find the time to create a driver for my printer, since these alternate drivers seem to be a great go-by. But thanks, mbratch, for pointing me in the right direction! I have a working 1315 printer for Windows 8!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Yea! Sounds good. :)

I think HP must have some manner in which they're prioritizing all of their printers. And they've abandoned some older models. They have so many...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7 / Win 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo T510 / HP ProBook 4540S
    CPU
    Intel i5-510m / Intel i3-3110m
    Memory
    4GB / 8GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
The easiest way to get your HP 1315 printer to work in Windows 7 is to just download the HP Officejet 6100 Series printer from the control panel (where HP printers are available) and the HP 1315 will automatically work.

Searching for drivers are pain staking whereas just downloading the 6100 printer is an easy thing to do. Let me know if it works for you. Both our Windows 7 systems readily accepted the 6100 printer instantly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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