Fig 1.0 Begin your search for the hardware's Driver Installation file by going to the hardware manufacturer's website
| DOWNLOAD A DRIVER INSTALLATION FILE |
In the previous section I explained that software driver files (known as Drivers) are the core files that allow a piece of hardware only to be installed
and that they can be downloaded from the internet, usually in .zip (compressed) file format or as a Driver Installation file in .exe (executable/launchable)
file format that contains between 2 and 25 files. An .exe driver installation file (i.e. drivers.exe) might install the hardware for you, if it contains
a Setup.exe file, or it may just decompress itself to reveal the 2-25 files. An .exe file of this type is normally just a .zip file that once decompressed
launches a setup.exe file automatically. A .zip file on the other hand (i.e. drivers.zip) normally contains the 2-25 files only without a setup.exe file.
In this section I am going to show you how to download a Driver Installation file (i.e. drivers.exe) from the internet. The example is good for those
occasions whereby you do not have a Driver Installation CD for your hardware, or you do but its actual driver files are now old and/or incompatible with
your new hardware and/or new operating system (i.e. Windows 7). In my scenario I have a driver installation cd for my Canon LBP2900i printer but it is
old and meant for Windows Vista and Windows XP only. Now that I have installed Windows 7 I need to get the latest driver files (drivers) for the printer
in order for it to work correctly and be 100% compatible with Windows 7.
The first place to look for your hardware's Driver Installation file (i.e. drivers.exe or drivers.zip) is on the hardware manufacturer's website. In my case on the Canon website. Normally you start your search for the driver installation file by going to the company's .COM website first (i.e. www.canon.com) to see if they have a localized version of their website (i.e. www.canon.fr for a French version). This is so that your search and the website's wording can be in your own language, which makes navigation of the website easier. However. I already know there is a UK version of the Canon website so I began by going to www.canon.co.uk first.
When you are on the index (main) web page of the hardware manufacturer's website the first thing to look for is a text link or menu-item called SUPPORT,
DRIVER DOWNLOADS, DRIVERS & SUPPORT or something of that nature. When you have found it, click on it. You should then be directed to a Support and/or
Drivers web page.
In Fig 1.0 above Canon have a text link underneath their Quick Links menu called DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE AND USER MANUALS. If you hover over that text link the
status bar, at the bottom of the Internet Explorer window, states that the text link is going to redirect you to a sub-folder called software that is on
their www.canon-europe.com website. This is just a link to their main software web page - The URL is actually http://www.canon-europe.com/software/ but
they have used a sub-domain called http://software.canon-europe.com. A sub-domain is just a short way of using a domain name. This basically means the
text link is not a direct link to the driver installation file itself, which in turns means there is something more to be done before the driver
installation file can be downloaded.
After clicking on the DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE AND USER MANUALS text link (Fig 1.0 above) you are then redirected, as mentioned above, to the main software web
page at http://software.canon-europe.com (Fig 1.1 above). This can be verified by looking at the Address Bar edit box of internet explorer (or whatever
web browser you are using). Its full pathname (proper URL) would be something like http://www.europe-canon.com/software/index.asp but you would not know
this for sure unless you maximize your web browser's window or it is displayed in full inside the Address Bar edit box. The reason I bring this to your
attention is because you should always make yourself aware of URL, Website Address and Text Link redirection in order to avoid Fake websites. Fake
websites that take your credit card details and/or download a virus file for example. Here I am only downloading a free driver installation file, but the
principal is the same. Be aware.
When you arrive on the software web page you are presented with many Hardware Device, SELECT YOUR PRODUCT, options. In this example (above) though I am
only needing a Printer driver installation file, therefore I only need to select my printer from the PRINTERS drop-down menu. At this stage it is very
important to select the correct product. Meaning. I have a choice of i-SENSYS LBP-2900 and LASER SHOT LBP2900. I know my printer has LBP2900i on its
cover so I play safe and select the i-SENSYS LBP-2900 menu-item.
I later found out that both of these options would of been okay because they use the same driver files, which is a very common situation. Another common situation is for a manufacturer to bring out the next model whereby its driver files also works with the previous model. However. Caution must always be used in situations like this because installing incorrect driver files can damage Windows, your Printer and more importantly The Registry.
A good support website, like this one, will always give you a choice of search. For example. They will always give you a Hardware Products drop-down menu as well as a Manual SEARCH edit box and/or a Product/Model Number SEARCH edit box. Meaning. A product might be great but when it breaks you need a good support website/service. So make it a habit to check a products support website/service, if any, before buying the product. A couple of minutes doing this might save your hardware product's life one day!
After selecting your product from the list of drop-down menus (Fig 1.1 above) you are then sent to that product's specific web page (above) whereby you
need to specify the OPERATING SYSTEM (i.e. Windows 7) that the actual driver files will be installed on - The operating system of the computer with the
hardware device on it. After that you need to specify which LANGUAGE you want the drivers file to be in (i.e. English) before clicking on the SUBMIT
button (below).
Windows 7 should be the Operating System you select, but if you are downloading the driver installation file for a computer running the Windows XP
operating system then you should select Windows XP of course. The Language I selected was English. If you need the driver installation file's instructions
to be in French for example you should select French. In some driver installation files they have a hardware Error Message file in the selected language
as well, so that the operating system (i.e. Windows 7) can report a hardware error to you in the selected language. Therefore, select the best language
for those using your computer and not just the language you know. When you have selected your operating system and language click on the SUBMIT button to
continue.
One thing to note well here is that after selecting your product (Fig 1.1 above) the next page (Fig 1.2 above) automatically displays a text link to the default driver installation file, and other default software, that Canon thinks will suit your hardware (i.e. Printer Driver For Linux - Fig 1.2 above). However. This is only a default suggestion by Canon. So always manually select your Operating System and Language before clicking on the SUBMIT button.
With the correct Operating System and Language selected the next page (above) gives you a text link to the driver installation file. Simply click on it to take you to the actual download page (below). From there, click on the Driver Installation File, DOWNLOADS, text link to continue. Doing so will bring you to the License Agreement page (Fig 1.6 below).
Having clicked on the driver installation file's download link, called LBP2900_R112_V302_Win_x32_EN_7.exe (Fig 1.5 above), you are then presented with a Software License Agreement that needs reading carefully. Although license agreements in general tend to contain useless information, they usually explain Copyright issues and/or Usage issues that clarify who can and cannot use the software. So if, for example, you are told that a certain piece of software is Free and/or Free-To-Use you may want to clarify this by reading the license agreement. Some websites do not allow you to continue, by fading out (ghosting) the DOWNLOAD button, until you have read (scrolled down) the license agreement. In this example I read through the license agreement very carefully, put a tick next to the I ACCEPT option and then clicked on the DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE button to continue.
Clicking on the DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE button (Fig 1.6 above) activates internet explorer's Information Bar (Fig 1.7 above). The information bar is explained in the Information Bar section). In this example the information bar has blocked the downloading of the driver installation file until I click on the information bar and then select DOWNLOAD FILE from its drop-down menu (Fig 1.8 above). After clicking on DOWNLOAD FILE a Security Warning message requester appeared asking me if I wanted to RUN (execute/launch) the driver installation file or SAVE it onto my computer. I chose to SAVE it, which then brought up the SAVE AS File Requester (Fig 1.12 below).
The normal behaviour of the SAVE AS file requester, when downloading something from the internet, is to set its pathname to your DOWNLOADS folder. This
keeps everything nice and tidy as you will always know where to find your downloaded files. However. If you want to save to a Flash Drive or Floppy Disk
for example you will need to navigate the SAVE AS file requester to it (see the Path Names section
for an example). The SAVE AS file requester can be expanded into Folder view by clicking on the BROWSE FOLDERS button.
In this example I am downloading to the default DOWNLOADS folder, but ideally you should either download to a more meaningful folder (such as Canon Drivers)
or move the downloaded driver installation file into a more meaningful folder. A good reason for doing this is because sometimes a different driver
installation file download will have the same filename (i.e. drivers.exe). To download, into the same DOWNLOADS folder, another file called drivers.exe
means you are always going to be asked "drivers.exe already exists in this folder. Do you want to overwrite (replace) it with this new download?".
Therefore a better solution is to create a separate folder for each download, beforehand. That way you know what the drivers.exe file is because you know
which folder it came from.
Once your, preferred, Downloads folder has been set click on the SAVE button (Fig 1.12 above) to continue. A progress window will then appear with a green
percentage (progress) guage running through it. Also on the progress window is a Tick/Check Box option called CLOSE THIS DIALOG BOX WHEN DOWNLOAD COMPLETES.
Putting a tick next to this option means the progress window will automatically close once the driver installation file has been downloaded (Fig 1.13
below).
If you prefer to leave the progress window open, after the driver installation file has been downloaded, leave the option unticked (Fig 1.14).
Doing so will allow you to use the OPEN FOLDER button to open your, preferred, Downloads folder. I would not recommend this though as you will still have
to click on the progress window's CLOSE button to close the window, whereas having the progress window close automatically means you can then manually
open your, preferred, Downloads folder (Fig 1.15) whenever it pleases you.
The above might of seemed long winded just to download a driver installation file (i.e. 11 steps to follow) but that is the reality. The first two steps
were needed just to find the Downloads web page. The four steps in Figures 1.2 to 1.4 were needed so that the correct driver installation file could be
found. And the other five steps were needed to complete the actual file downloading process, which included a license agreement step and some security
issue steps.
At the end of the day, if you want your hardware working you will have to look for its Driver Installation File. The above was easy because I was using
hardware from a well-known company, but if I was using hardware from an unknown company that did not have a website for example it would not be that easy.
I would have to search the internet in the hope that I could find a website that has my hardware's driver installation file on it and allow me to download
it for free.
Sometimes it is near impossible to find certain driver installation files - You could be searching for days or weeks before giving up!! So
my top tip is ALWAYS buy from a well-known manufacturer, even if you pay a little more for the hardware, and make sure they have a website that supports
the hardware you buy. Another tip is to download the driver installation files for both Windows Vista and Windows 7, just in case you need to install the
hardware on a computer with one or both of these operating systems.
Now that the driver installation file has been downloaded into your preferred Downloads folder the next thing to do is to Extract the actual Driver Files inside it, which may include a Setup.exe file. You will not know this until you see what is extracted. In preparation for the extraction I have created a folder for the extracted files to go inside, called LBP2900, even though those extracted files will be contained within their own folder called LBP2900_R112_V302_Win_x32_EN_7 (named after the driver installation file). So the LBP2900_R112_V302_Win_x32_EN_7 folder will now be inside my LBP2900 folder, which in turn is inside the DOWNLOADS folder.
| EXTRACT THE DRIVER INSTALLATION FILE |
To begin extracting the actual driver files, from within the LBP2900_R112_V302_Win_x32_EN_7.exe driver installation file, you first need to open your DOWNLOADS folder (or whichever folder you used in the download process) and then double click on the downloaded driver installation file. In this example the LBP2900_R112_V302_Win_x32_EN_7.exe file. Doing so will bring up a Security Warning message requester that asks you if you want to RUN (execute/launch) the downloaded driver installation file.
Clicking on RUN button will execute/launch the driver installation file, which in this example is a Self-Extracting .zip file. This means it was created by a compression (zip) program that Canon used to compress (shrink) the many driver files into one driver installation file before that zip file was then made into a self-extracting .exe file. Meaning. When you double click on the driver installation file the Zip Wizard (program) helps you to decompress (expand/extract) the compressed driver files within the driver installation file, to a folder of your choice. So after clicking on the RUN button (above) the first window of the Zip Wizard will appear.
Normally with a self-extracting driver installation file you just click on the UNZIP button to extract (decompress/expand) the actual driver files into the current folder or a folder that has already been named/chosen by the Zip Wizard. In this case into the DOWNLOADS folder. However. In this example I am going to extract into the LBP2900 Drivers folder instead, the folder I created earlier. Therefore I need to click on the BROWSE button (Fig 2.1 above), and not the UNZIP button, in order to select my preferred Extraction folder (Yoingco >> DOWNLOADS >> LBP2900 Drivers). Clicking on the BROWSE button brings up the Browse For Folders folder requester.
Once a preferred extraction folder has been located, for the extraction (decompression/expansion) of the actual driver files, click on the OK button of the Browse For Folders folder requester to continue (Fig 2.2 above). This will insert the selected/preferred extraction folder's path name into the UNZIP TO FOLDER edit box on the Zip Wizard window, replacing the old path name of .\.
Now that the folder used for the extraction (decompression/expansion/unzipping) of the actual driver files has been BROWSEd for and located, the next thing to do is click on the UNZIP button. Unzip is just more confusing terminology used to mean decompress, extract, expand and so on. Likewise. Zip is terminology for Compress, Shrink and so on.
After clicking on the UNZIP button (Fig 2.3 above) the Zip Wizard starts to unzip (extract/decompress) the actual driver files into your preferred folder
(Fig 2.4 above). When this is done you are notified (Figures 2.5 and 2.6 above) and should then click on the CLOSE and OK buttons respectively to close
the Zip Wizard's window and therefore complete the extraction process.
In this example 122 driver files were successfully extracted (decompressed/unzipped), from the driver installation file, into my preferred folder (below).
There is a Setup.exe file in the folder, to install my printer, but the self-extracting driver installation file had no option to RUN (execute/launch)
the Setup.exe file once all the driver files had been successfully extracted. Its job was to extract only. Therefore I will have to double click on the
Setup.exe file in order to RUN it, as opposed to it being automatically RUN after extraction. Some self-extractors do automatically RUN the Setup.exe
file for you.
Hovering over or selecting the Setup.exe file can reveal details of its creation and/or version/revision numbers. The version number, and revision number, are important because you can instantly tell if you have already installed that particular set of driver files before. In Fig 1.5 above the version number and revision number are given in the title of each download link, as well as in the file name, but this is not always true for every download website you go to. Hence why you should either hover over or select the Setup.exe file to display details about it. Version Number and Revision Number are explained in the Free Downloads section.
| RUN THE SETUP FILE |
If a self-extractor (zip wizard) does not automatically RUN (execute/launch) the Setup.exe after extraction you will have to RUN the Setup.exe file
yourself by double clicking on it (Fig 2.6 above). One of the main jobs of the Setup.exe file is to install (move/copy) only the needed driver files
into the necessary Windows 7 (system) folders. Needed; meaning there could be other, printer, driver files inside your preferred extraction/downloads
folder.
Sometimes companies group many different, printer, driver files together before creating the driver installation file. This is so that their
website is not clogged up with too many, printer, driver links for example. One, printer, driver link might do their whole printer range for example.
The downside of this is that you will be downloading a bigger driver installation file because it contains other, unneeded, driver files. That is why
setup.exe only installs the needed driver files for your hardware.
Another job of setup.exe is to register the driver files with Windows 7, so that Windows 7 knows which driver files to reinstall or uninstall if something
bad happens. For example. If your computer has a bad crash, for whatever reason(s), Windows 7 might have to reinstall your hardware's driver files. It
will not look in your preferred extraction folder first though, it will look inside its own System folders first. If it cannot find any driver files, due
to the bad crash for example, it will then consider looking inside your preferred extraction folder. It may ask you to browse for its location first
though.
After clicking on the Setup.exe file the installation process for your hardware should be simple. Here is the example for my printer. Note: I have not
plugged the printer into the USB Socket yet. This will be done shortly.
When the above installation process completes you may be asked to RESTART MY COMPUTER NOW by clicking on the RESTART button. In the above example I
unticked the RESTART MY COMPUTER NOW option which then gave me an EXIT button instead. This means I can exit the installation window and restart the
computer later, as normal, because the installation process has completed regardless of a computer restart. The printer will work fine. A restart is
normally for additional Registry entries (system registration details) and/or for additional services to be started. Basically, if your printer works
without a restart that's fine, but if it doesn't work simply restart the computer.
One thing to check for, once your printer has been completely installed (with or without a restart), is that it is the Default Printer. You can do this
by going to the DEVICES AND PRINTERS control panel. Right click over your newly installed printer and then select the SET AS DEFAULT PRINTER menu-item
(below). This will then make your newly installed printer the default printer (Fig 3.6).
Going back the website address (url) of the manufacturer's website. You can avoid a lot of the steps above, in general, by taking a note of the url of
the actual driver installation file download web page. For example. I could of cut out the first two steps by going straight to
http://software.canon-europe.com/products/0010419.asp. With other websites you can cut out more steps if they have a unique url for each web page you
visit. In other words. If an actual driver installation file download url (web page) is at http://www.company.com/products/printers/K984/Drivers.exe,
that is what you would enter directly into internet explorer's Address Bar edit box. Therefore, you would get the file download without the steps in
between.
In the next section I will show you how to install a WebCam using its Installation CD and Custom Settings.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
