Win 7 cant install additional 32 bit win xp print drivers for shared printer

Hi  

Umm you are running a 64 bit OS and trying to install additional 32 bit drivers...why ?

It wont work that way unless you are running the 32 bit printer in a Virtual MACHINE...

All the best Brett  

It seems my post wasn't clear enough, wo I will try again. To that end, I will assume your reference to a "32 bit printer". . . was meant to imply "32 bit print driver"

1. This network printer has been successfully shared on my network of 32 bit Win XP Pro PCs for a number of years.
2. My current "server" is running 64 bit Win 7 pro. Therefore the printer is correctly configured and prints locally with a 64-bit driver.
3. Just like in XP, upon sharing this printer on the network, there are advanced settings which allow additional drivers to automatically be available for networked computers running other operating systems.
4. One of the (3) optional driver selections is x86 windows. Upon making this selection, one is prompted to point to the .inf for the appropriate 32-bit print driver.
5. The print driver I pointed to is the same, and most current, HP 32-bit XP driver that has been installed on the networked XP PCs. I downloaded and expanded a fresh version from HP just to make sure I was using the most current one, which is how I determined it's the same version as the driver I have been successfully using with my retired 32-bit "server".
6. When that driver was unacceptable to Win 7, I downloaded HP's 32-bit Vista driver. The only choice is a universal driver, which would not be my choice. Upon expanding it, it contains a long list of .Inf files. I am not about to read everyone of them to figure out which one is for my printer. Further, I initially made the mistake of intalling a univeral driver for one of my other HP printers; it was cumbersome to the point of being useless.
7. Lacking a solution, my current strategy is to print to Acrobat and copy the output to Dropbox or just copy the source file to Dropbox. I could use VNC or Logmein to print remotely, but I don't live in a castle. . .

In summary, I have chosen the correct 32-bit driver for 64-bit Win 7 to auto-share with my 32 bit computers. Win 7 does not accept it.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Networking-...