I have a Canon BJC-80 printer purchased a couple of years ago, and a
new Toshiba Satellite laptop with Windows XP home.  The printer
doesn't work with my computer, but it does work with my
(ex-?)girlfriend's computer which is also a Toshiba Satellite, but it
has XP Pro on it.  It also works fine with my older Satellite, which
has an older version of Windows on it.

I've spent a long time on Toshiba tech support, and concluded that the
darn thing was broke (the computer, not the relationship).  So I drove
it out to a Toshiba authorized repair place, and they plugged it into
several of their printers and gadgets, and concluded it worked
completely fine and that there were absolutely no problems with the
LPT1 parallel port etc. on the laptop.

So I'm left with a laptop that seems to work with every printer in the
world except the one that I happen to own.

I understand, perhaps mistakenly, that the XP printer driver that
installs when you select "Canon BJC-80" in the printer-install seems
to be some general device driver XP uses now but it doesn't work
properly with my printer.  I no longer have the driver disk that came
with the printer, and I've flopped around with the Canon web site
which, for my printer, simply says that with the XP general device
driver should work fine.

The $2 price is for specific information that will help me gripe and
whine more intelligently to my friends about my printer/laptop
problem.  I'll give a $5 tip for an answer that enables me to actually
use my printer (I already own a bunch of ink cartridges for this Canon
BJC-80, otherwise I'd go get a new printer).

Thanks for considering my question!

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Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 13 Apr 2003 08:15 PDT

Hi defaultuser,

You didn't mention what file you tried, was it BJ v397? 

BJC-80 (With Windows XP): Download file BJ v397
http://www.hotwinfiles.com/software_details.asp?r=1127&Sid=SOFT258/Nov2001

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Clarification of Question by defaultuser-ga on 15 Apr 2003 04:42 PDT

Thanks for your attention to my question.  I tried the printer wizard
file that comes with XP.  I also tried the file you mention (BJv397),
but XP doesn't allow one to install it (when copying files to the
windows folder, it says "whoa, no way!").  Any thoughts?

---

Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 15 Apr 2003 08:19 PDT

Hi again defaultuser,

My previous link must be in error about including Windows XP as
compatible - according to Canon it is not:
http://www.expressresponse.com/cgi-bin/progsnp/canon/srchjnnp?search_type=vdocument&search_input=prt0156.htm&session_id=1050419169.18654.8&search_erproduct=BJC%2d80

You could try calling Canon:
http://www.usa.canon.com/html/conCprSupport.jsp?type=phone&modelid=7998&pname=BJC-80&item=7996&qc=true

I'm sorry - perhaps another researcher will have a work-around.
hummer

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Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 15 Apr 2003 08:55 PDT

Hi Defaultuser,

I'm interested to help you but I need you to verify again to be sure:

Are you sure the printer, using the same LPT printer cable, works fine
on other computers?

Are you sure that your Toshiba Satellite with WinXP home is working
properly with other printers?

If the answer to this question is YES, the problem would be any of the
following:

Printer driver
Software conflict or incompatibility,
Configuration error

-Feilong

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Clarification of Question by defaultuser-ga on 15 Apr 2003 19:49 PDT

Hi Feilong, here are the answers to your questions:

"Are you sure the printer, using the same LPT printer cable, works
fine
on other computers?" YES, PRINTER + CABLE EVEN WORK FINE ON OTHER
TOSHIBA SATELLITE 1905 COMPUTERS WITH XP HOME ON THEM.
 
"Are you sure that your Toshiba Satellite with WinXP home is working
properly with other printers?"  YES, IT WORKED FINE ON AN EPSON AND ON
AN NEC.

I went through some steps with the Toshiba telelphone-support folks
and actually visited a Toshiba-service place, and both concluded after
some prodding that my port was working fine, and that my configuration
was fine.  If I recall we went into some special screen upon start-up
and told the computer to reset to default configuration or something
of the sort.

I'm trying to see about the driver, and I don't know anything about
software conflicts/incompatibility with regard to window's
relationship with my printer.

Thanks, feilong, for giving this some thought.  I wish I could be more
helpful in providing you info, but I'm about at the limits of my
computer saavy.

Its a real zinger.  The computer, printer, and cable all work fine
independent of eachother!  Have a great day.

Hi Defaultuser,

Thanks for your verification and reply to my questions. I visited a
canon site regarding BJC-80 printer driver install on WinXP. It says:

"BJ Printer with Windows XP?
The driver for this model is included with Windows XP. The driver
should be installed via the "ADD PRINTER WIZARD" feature of Windows
XP.
Please note that the original Microsoft Windows XP CDROM may be
required to conduct the installation process.
Posted: Thursday October 11 2001, 15:01:24"

Canon BJC-80 Printer Drivers Page
http://www.canon.com.au/products/printers/colour_bj_printers/bjc80_drivers.html

Since you said you already tried but failed to make the printer work
on your system using the method described above, I am going to give
you several possible workarounds. FOR EACH of these possible
solutions, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO UNINSTALL whatever previous BJC-80
printer drivers you have installed in your system. Here are the
possible solutions:

Option 1) Use the same method for the "ADD PRINTER WIZARD" feature of
Windows XP Home. Follow the instructions properly. I'm asking you to
repeat this after making sure that you clear any previous BJC-80
printer drivers because it is possible that something has gone wrong
with the installation.

Option 2) Use the same method for the "ADD PRINTER WIZARD" feature of
Windows XP but when prompted for the XP Home CD, use the Pro version
instead. See if this works.

Option 3) Download "Canon NT4.0 BJ Driver v2.50GB" from this page:

Download Library - BJC-80
http://www.canon.com.au/products/printers/colour_bj_printers/bjc80_drivers.html

Install this NT driver. XP architecture is somewhat similar to WinNT
and it is possible to use this driver version for your WinXP. If this
works, expect that some features may not function correctly but at
least, you can finally use the printer.

Option 4) The suggestion made by my colleague, Hummer-ga, is a
possible solution. Download "BJ_v397.exe" from this page:

Download Library - BJC-80
http://www.usa.canon.com/html/conCprDriversTypeSystemV2.jsp?minisite=10000&type=Software&prodref=PS&subtype=Software&group_id=-1&level2catq=AllCats&x=2section=0&item=111&modelid=7998&section=10273&pname=BJC-80

Extract the files to a folder. Don't use the "PRNT5UPD.EXE" to install
the printer. Manually install and if given an option to choose, select
WinME. WinME architecture is also somewhat similar to XP and it is
possible to use this driver version for your WinXP. Like the above, if
this works, expect that some features may not function correctly but
at least, you can finally use the printer.

I tried but I wasn't able to find a Windows 2000 driver for your
printer. If you can find one, you can use it. If none of these work,
I'm sorry, but these are the only resources I can find for your
printer.


Search strategy:

Direct search for BJC-80 drivers in Canon sites.


I hope this helps you. Should you have any comments/questions, please
feel free to post your clarification before rating this and I'll
attend to you as soon as possible. Thanks for asking.

Best regards,
Feilong

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Request for Answer Clarification by defaultuser-ga on 16 Apr 2003 05:56 PDT

Hi Feilong,

Option 1) no favorable result

Option 2) I don't have have access to XP Pro.  I didn't even get an XP
home on cd when I bought the computer!

Option 3) I get a "printer driver was not installed, operation could
not be completed" message at the end of the process.

Option 4) I don't know what you mean by manually install the driver.

Anyhow, I think we've given this the old college-try, and I appreciate
your additional ideas.  You've certainly provided me with some info
that lets me gripe more intelligently with friends about my plight,
but the printer still doesn't work.  I'd be content to close the
question with a great rating, and go get a new plug-and-play printer. 
What would you like to do at this juncture?

---

Clarification of Answer by feilong-ga on 16 Apr 2003 06:18 PDT

Hi Defaultuser,

Thanks for your clarification. You know what, if you click on my name
handle, you will see that I have solved a lot of computer problems in
the past. I really, really want to help you.

"Option 3) I get a "printer driver was not installed, operation could
not be completed" message at the end of the process."

The reason is you don't have the CD in the first place. As much as
possible, don't buy a printer yet. I was intending to save you some
dollars that's why I tried to help you. Since you didn't get to do
option 2 because you don't have the CD, try to search for a friend of
yours who has a copy and borrow it. Try to ask your local computer
store to help you install the driver manually. They may have an XP CD.
What i mean by "manually" is, not using a setup.exe or an install.exe
or any other similar setup programs to install the driver. You need to
install the printer using the "inf" files. I'm sure a techie friend of
yours or the local computer technician knows this procedure.

"I'd be content to close the question with a great rating, and go get
a new plug-and-play printer. What would you like to do at this
juncture?"

Thanks. The decision is yours. Like I said, I really want to help you.
Make sure you do option 2 first before you finally decide on getting a
new printer. Thanks again Defaultuser. I hope you use our services
again next time.

Best regards,
Feilong