infoTECH Feature

August 10, 2010

Tackling Windows 7 Hardware Compatibility Issues

Are you planning to move to Windows 7 at your organization? If so, you probably already know that one of the biggest challenges in any upgrade is resolving compatibility issues, not just with software but also with hardware. IT professionals sometimes have to deal with a bunch of cranky devices and components that may not play nicely with the new OS.

The problem mostly applies to older printers, scanners, and other peripherals for which manufacturers may not have written Windows 7 specific drivers. But it can also span to newer components. I bought a new Netgear (News - Alert) router early this year to discover that the company had no Windows 7 driver ready and only supported XP and Vista. After I upgraded my PC from Vista to Windows 7, I had to force it to use a generic Wi-Fi driver, which never quite worked properly. Months later, Netgear finally released a Windows 7 driver, and the router has performed fine since then.

Depending on your environment, compatibility issues can be tricky when jumping to Windows 7. Those of you already running Windows Vista should face fewer issues as many components can use Vista drivers under Windows 7. But clearly that’s not always the case as I learned with my Netgear router. Those of you still on Windows XP could bump into a greater number of hardware incompatibilities since XP drivers won’t work under Windows 7.

Also, any of you eyeing the 64-bit version of Windows 7 may run into additional issues with devices that have 32-bit drivers but not 64-bit ones. A 64-bit operating system requires 64-bit hardware drivers.

Okay, so how do you know if a peripheral will operate under Windows 7? One of the first and best resources to check is Microsoft’s (News - Alert) own Windows 7 Compatibility Center. This website lets you search for and browse software and hardware to see what items are compatible with the new OS. The hardware section includes printers, scanners, cameras, storage devices, network cards, and a host of other components.

The Compatibility Center will tell you if the device is compatible with Windows 7, both 32-bit and 64-bit. If so, it provides a link to the manufacturer’s website where you can download the specific driver for that device. If not, it directs you to the manufacturer’s general driver site where you can search yourself. You’ll also find a link to Microsoft’s own Answers forum site where you can swap messages with other users about the device in question.

What if Microsoft tells you that your device isn’t supported under Windows 7? You do have a few options.

One option is to look for and try the Windows Vista version of the driver. In many cases, the Vista driver for a printer or scanner may work just fine under Windows 7. Of course, your mileage may vary, so you’ll need to test this out on your own.

Another option is to use the Windows 7 driver for a different but related model. For example, I have an older HP Laserjet for which no Windows 7 drivers exist. But Microsoft does include drivers for newer Laserjet printers with Windows 7. To run my printer under 64-bit Windows 7, I simply selected a similar Laserjet driver. But even this can be a case of trial and error. The initial driver I tried printed standard documents and Web pages, but it would not print PDF files. I ran a search for PDF printing problems and included the name of my printer. After checking a few different search results, I found a suggestion to use a different Laserjet driver, which allowed me to print PDFs along with standard documents.

Finally, if your peripheral won’t work under Windows 7 no matter how many tricks and tweaks you try, then it may be time to purchase a newer device if your budget allows. Just make sure it’s Windows 7 compatible before you buy it.


Lance Whitney is a journalist, IT consultant, and Web Developer with almost 20 years of experience in the IT world. To read more of Lance's articles, please visit his columnist page

Edited by Juliana Kenny
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