USB Port Driver Error When Printer Is Connected

ddiaz_2012

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May 21, 2009
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Greetings, everyone! I recently bought a new computer and I've been slowly installing software that I had on my old pc as their use arose. Just now, I've finally had to install my printer, however, it seems to be unrecognizable. When plugged in, it is not recognized at all, I checked under Devices and Printers and it only shows up as a "USB Component Device." My OS is Windows 8.1 64-bit and the printer is a Brother MFC-3670N.

I've downloaded the drivers from the website and tried to install them (I also tried the disc, but it's outdated and redirects me to the website), uninstalling the drivers for the usb component device, updating the drivers, and installing optional windows updates but nothing seems to fix it. I even installed the printer's drivers via the advanced printer set-up but still nothing.

I tried different USB ports, different USB cables; I'm starting to think the issue might be Windows 8, but is it fixable? :( I tested to see if it was the printer (doubted it) by connecting it back to my old pc, but nope; still works with my old pc
 
Solution
2 things.

Is the printer compatible with Win 8? I did a search on Brother's site and it did not find the model you listed.
Did you follow the direction for the order in which to connect it? Most printer setups need to be done with the driver setup first, then connect the printer. Doing things the other way will create a kind of fake USB port for the printer that can be tough to delete.
 

ddiaz_2012

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May 21, 2009
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By default I would assume not since it Win8 wasn't around back then, but the drivers for it do exist on the website. And yeah, that's entirely my bad, I was sleepy and messed up the order of the numbers.. Here's the link to the support page on their website.

The application to install the drivers said to wait until directed to plug in the printer and turn it on, which I did, but when the time came I wasn't able to progress; I waited until that step to connect the printer and turn it on but it wasn't recognizing that I had connected it, at all. Yeah, I mostly did the advanced set up as a sort of last effort to see if it could help my pc recognize the printer but it still didn't seem to work.
 


It seems you already tried a lot of things already, did you check Brother support pages or their techs? Maybe try a BIOS update on the motherboard and check for a chipset driver.
 
Solution

ddiaz_2012

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May 21, 2009
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I picked your answer as the solution accidentally.. xD Oh well. I think maybe it's the printer that has outdated firmware, I believe I should be able to update it through my old computer and then Win8 will be able to recognize it. If not, then I'll try to handle it through their tech support; I was mostly avoiding it because it'll take me a while to try and locate all the info I need (serial code and whatnot) so they'll help me. Either way. I'll try updating any hardware drivers that are out of date too. Thanks for the help. :)

EDIT: Outdated firmware was definitely the issue. -.- I should have known. Oh well, at least it's finally fixed.