Parallel Port Drivers

The parallel port is an interface that is commonly used in computer systems to connect various peripherals. Most people associate the parallel port with connecting a printer, so it is commonly also known as the printer port. Though the USB port has effectively replaced it in modern consumer computers, it is still widely used for many specialized applications. It is the use of parallel port drivers that allows the computer to effectively communicate with the device that the parallel port is connected to.

Parallel port drivers contain the instructions that the computer uses to communicate to whatever device is connected to the parallel port, be it a printer or otherwise. Without them, the computer cannot make use of your peripherals. The type of parallel port drivers you will need depends not only on your operating system, but on the type of parallel port your computer uses. For example, you will use different parallel port drivers for one that is motherboard-based as opposed to one that is on an expansion card.

The parallel printer drivers also determine the resources and addresses that your operating system is going to assign to that particular parallel port. One of the most common problems people have when they are configuring a driver is the use of incorrect values in the driver configuration. For a primary parallel port, the most common IRQ value is 7 and the most common port is 0x3bc.

When the parallel drivers are corrupted or missing, the end result is a failure of communication with your peripheral. This can take various forms, from a total lack of connectivity to corrupted data being passed across the interface. For example, if you have corrupt parallel port drivers, the image that your printer puts out may be garbled or illegible. If the driver is missing, it will not be able to transmit at all.

When your parallel printer drivers are missing, the only solution is to locate them either on the driver disk that came with your hardware or on the manufacturer’s website, and then install them into your operating system. The exact procedure for doing so will vary depending on which operating system you are running, but the manufacturer will usually contain and executable file that will do most of the installation for you.

In the case of corrupt parallel port drivers, the primary troubleshooting method is going to be very similar. However, before you install the new drivers, you must first uninstall the old ones. Failing to do so results in your computer thinking that you have more than one parallel port installed, which will not solve the problem and can potentially make the repair more time-consuming.

If all else fails, contacting the manufacturer is a good way to find additional help when you need to troubleshoot the parallel port on your computer. They may have updated drivers available, a support forum where problems are shared, or a history of the same problem you are having and a known way of fixing it.