8840DN printer with Windows 7

Dewey78

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Nov 8, 2010
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Hello,
I'm trying to use a Brother MFC-8840DN printer with Windows 7. The printer is in really good shape and I would hate to throw it out because my computers are now Windows 7.
Neither Brother nor Windows has a driver on their website. Is there any emulation software, hardware or some way to be able to print from a Windows 7 computer to the printer?
I've seen a little on Windows 7 "XP mode". Would that solve my problem? How would I use Office 2010 to print over XP mode?
 
Solution
you can try the Vista 64-bit drivers by clicking on Have Disk buton. most of the time they work.

Also instate of Have Disk try the Windows Update button which will go out and downloads the latest Printer Drivers List.

Dewey78

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Nov 8, 2010
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The IP address is known, the problem is there are no drivers for a MFC-8840DN in Windows 7. The last Full Driver & Software Package available was for Vista 64bit version.
Now I haven't been able to read about the "XP mode" in Windows 7, but I'm hoping this would be an option.
The drawback to this may be I'll have to install my Office 2010 in XP mode, I don't know.
One other thing. The only software package on the Brother's website for the 8840 in Windows 7 is something called BRAdmin Professional. This is something else I need to research to see if it can resolve my issue.
 

Dewey78

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Nov 8, 2010
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Thanks Emerald,
You just verified something I was considering after reading another thread below. I would not have thought a Vista 64bit version would work for a Windows 7 machine, but it's worth a try.
I'm a Network Engineer now so I'm not up to date on the latest Windows setups. One thing I do remember with Windows NT and 2000, mixing version drivers was not a good thing so this is new territory for me. It will be great if it works.
I'll leave this thread open until I verify it and share the results with everyone else.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/12722-63-windows-problems-installing-printers
 

Dewey78

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Nov 8, 2010
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Emerald,
You've got the TALENT! Configuring a VISTA driver on a Windows 7 computer worked.
This would have never worked in the old days. I appreciate you responding to my post and having the know how.
Once I get past this year I need to get my MCSE updated.


Best Wishes,

David
 

Stephen Rose

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Aug 13, 2013
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Dewey- I know it has been a long time since you posted and resolved this problem, but I now have a new laptop running Win7Pro and need to connect to my Brother MFC-8840D. I see you used the Vista 64bit driver, which would be great BUT this is where the hangup comes.

The MFC-8840D is hard connected to a machine running XPsp3 via an LPT port. The XP machine is on the home network. So, to be able to print from the laptop, I connect via the network to the XP machine and then this is how I would print. When I open my Network icon, I see the XP machine AND if I click on it, I see the HDD AND the MFC-8840D. The issue is that the drivers to run the MFC-8840D are not on the Win7Pro machine, so I cannot print to it. I tried downloading the Generic drivers available on the Brother site but they will not install.

I see you installed the Vista 64bit drivers and they worked for you. My question is how to use these to connect over my home network to the MFC-8840D and get them to work.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
steve rose



laptop connects