Ricoh notices

[KenB]

Howdy,

I just saw on the Ricoh public download page that printer drivers for Windows XP will no longer be posted as of April 9, 2015.

That means if you even think you may need them, get them while they're still there.

A word to the wise would be to download all of them and put them in some sort of library. That way, should you need them in a pinch, you'll have them.

I've never been a fan of keeping copies of drivers, as they change so frequently, but I think it's safe to say there will be no new versions of XP drivers coming out.

[bob marley]

Re: Ricoh notices

Thank u for this information

[sandmanmac]

Re: Ricoh notices

Thanks Ken.
But I never even really consider the OS, and just keep a 32bit and 64bit version of driver for the machines I deal with.
Ricoh uses the same driver files (if you compare Filesize/ Release date / Version #) throughout ALL of the OS's.
Frankly, I don't even pay much attention to the model #'s most of the time;
For example, When I upgrade a machine, I often just rename the printer on the Server/PC's, and don't even bother with changing the driver, since PCL is PCL .....Although, I always set the port to LPR now, after the printing problem I was discussing with you in the 'Connectivity' forum'
That said, I'm also a bit lazy, and mostly dealing with simple / small workgroups.

[anothertech]

Re: Ricoh notices

Thanks Ken.
But I never even really consider the OS, and just keep a 32bit and 64bit version of driver for the machines I deal with.
Ricoh uses the same driver files (if you compare Filesize/ Release date / Version #) throughout ALL of the OS's.
Frankly, I don't even pay much attention to the model #'s most of the time;
For example, When I upgrade a machine, I often just rename the printer on the Server/PC's, and don't even bother with changing the driver, since PCL is PCL .....Although, I always set the port to LPR now, after the printing problem I was discussing with you in the 'Connectivity' forum'
That said, I'm also a bit lazy, and mostly dealing with simple / small workgroups.

I think you have got to consider the OS, the don't think the win7 driver will load on XP

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh notices

I do the same as Sandy. I have also found that the PCL Mini driver is helpful if you have a customer with an old old machine they want to continue to use but 64 bit drivers are not available. For those who feel they have to download the driver for the OS they are using, I have done extensive checking in the past and found that all 32 bit drivers for a model were the same version, download size, creation date and, most importantly, the same file name.

[KenB]

Re: Ricoh notices

Not sure exactly what the issue was, or even if it is related, but last year we had an account trade in 15 MP161s for MP301s.

All workstations were XP 32 bit.

They did not update the drivers, as the new machines were so similar.

The MP301s started throwing SC899 codes almost immediately.

Once they changed drivers the problem was almost completely eliminated.

I say "almost" because SC899 is such a common problem these days... for lotsa reasons.

[KenB]

Re: Ricoh notices

I do the same as Sandy. I have also found that the PCL Mini driver is helpful if you have a customer with an old old machine they want to continue to use but 64 bit drivers are not available. For those who feel they have to download the driver for the OS they are using, I have done extensive checking in the past and found that all 32 bit drivers for a model were the same version, download size, creation date and, most importantly, the same file name.

I like using the mini driver where the application wants do do all the work.

I had a law firm a few years back that used WordPerfect (as so many of them do), and they would print 40 - 50 page jobs where some pages were duplexed, others not.

The PCL 5 and 6 drivers failed. The machines had no PostScript options.

The alternative would have been to insert blank pages in each file. Needless to say, that was not going to happen.

I tried the PCL 5 mini driver and BINGO! Instant success.

[KenB]

Re: Ricoh notices

Sorry, I wasn't trying to set off any alarms or cause widespread panic.

I do, however, anticipate at least a few calls from customers asking why they can't find XP drivers, and that we owe them.

Just tryin' to be prepared, that's all.

[Tonerbomb]

Re: Ricoh notices

Sorry, I wasn't trying to set off any alarms or cause widespread panic.

I do, however, anticipate at least a few calls from customers asking why they can't find XP drivers, and that we owe them.

Just tryin' to be prepared, that's all.

I just checked the Ricoh driver web page and it's now comes up as 404 not available thanks to KenB.............

[KenB]

Re: Ricoh notices

I just checked the Ricoh driver web page and it's now comes up as 404 not available thanks to KenB.............

Yep, I broke it.

And you're quite welcome!

[rthonpm]

Re: Ricoh notices

The drivers packaged by Ricoh generally are the same package for every OS: the only difference is usually a DLL file that loads for that particular OS. Even after April 9, the drivers will likely load, especially since Server 2003 is still supported for a few more months, and it shares the same kernel as XP (NT 5.x for both).

If anything, Ricoh is just taking the DLL's out of the next driver version, or they're just removing the OS as an option. If it's the latter, then any other Windows driver for a 32-bit OS should work.

Sent from my BlackBerry using the Android app.