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Gents,

I have been unable to install this thermo-printer on a new Windows 7 laptop:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-portable-printer-Thermal-Line-Mini-printer-gwp-80-portable-printer-mini-light-simple-USB-port/1560601015.html

Win 7 does not automatically recognize / install it when USB connection is made.
Win 7 does not auto-run / auto-install the drivers from supplied CD.

Good ideas appreciated!

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If Windows 7 will not pick up an 80mm thermal printer over USB, the fix is usually: get the USB printing class driver loaded first, then point Windows at the printer’s INF. On Win7 the built‑in usbprint.sys handles USB printer enumeration; some units also expose a DOT4 (IEEE‑1284.4) bus and your driver will not bind until that layer finishes installing. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick workflow that has worked well for generic POS/receipt printers:

  • Connect the printer directly to a laptop USB 2.0 port (no hubs), power it on, then open Device Manager and choose Action > Scan for hardware changes. If you see Unknown device, right‑click > Update driver > Search automatically so Windows loads its USB Printing Support. (learn.microsoft.com)

  • Install the vendor driver manually if the CD setup will not run: Control Panel > Devices and Printers > Add a printer > Add a local printer > select USB001 (Virtual printer port for USB) when it appears > Have Disk and browse to the printer’s INF. As a fallback test, you can choose Generic/Text Only to verify basic text output, then swap to the vendor driver afterward. (learn.microsoft.com)

  • Prefer command‑line staging if the INF is finicky: run an elevated Command Prompt and install the driver directly from the CD or extracted folder:

    pnputil -i -a D:\Drivers\*.inf

    This adds the driver to the store and installs it on matching hardware. (learn.microsoft.com)

  • If the device shows up under Ports (COM & LPT), install the USB‑to‑serial driver the printer uses (common chips are Prolific PL2303 and WCH CH340/CH341), then select that COM port in the printer’s Properties. Use the official driver pages only. (prolific.com.tw)

  • On 64‑bit Win7, unsigned vendor INFs may require one boot with F8 > Disable Driver Signature Enforcement to complete installation. (learn.microsoft.com)

Nice catch by noticing the IEEE‑1284 piece appearing first — once that underlying bus/USB layer is in place, the printer driver install typically succeeds. (support.microsoft.com)

Member Avatar for dusk2dawm

... then - automagically - it started installing IEEE-1284 controller upon which W7 accepted the supplied software.

Lest's be happy :)

Edited by dusk2dawm
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