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Installing on Windows 10? Head here: Installing the HP LaserJet 1012 on Windows 10

I have an old HP LaserJet 1012 that is a real workhorse and I wanted to see if I could get it installed on Windows 8.1

HP LaserJet 1012

HP LaserJet 1012

Pro. The HP forums say it’s not possible, but it’s actually pretty easy to do.  Here’s how:

 

  1. Plug in the HP LaserJet 1012 via USB cable. Windows will try to install it and it will ultimately fail.  You’ll be able to see it in the device manager, but you wont be able to print.
  2. Download the Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit) driver for the HP LaserJet 1012.  We’ll use the Vista 64-bit version on Windows 8 with no issues.
  3. Extract the ZIP archive and make a note of the location on your hard drive.
  4. Hit Control-Q to launch the search charm and type in “Devices and Printers”
  5. Click on the “Add a printer” button
  6. Click on “The printer that I want isn’t listed”
  7. Select the radio button for “Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings”
  8. Select the radio button for “Use an existing port” and then select “DOT4_001” from the dropdown. Click “Next”.
  9. Click “Have Disk”
  10. Browse to the location you noted in Step 2 and click “Ok”
  11. Select “HP LaserJet 1012 HB” and then click “Next”
  12. Give the printer a name, click next, accept any security warnings, etc.

Your printer is installed!

Update 2/24/2014: The only thing that I’ve noticed that does not print correctly are text-based watermarks in Word 2013.  It seems to want to print every other letter on the first page and the opposite set of letters on the next page.  I can live with this.