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Vista vs. my NEC Superscript 870 Printer
By DanB | February 28, 2007
Microsoft Vista has no native support for my NEC Superscript 870. What is the solution? Install the printer using the HP LaserJet IIP driver. The downside to this is your printer will only print at 300 DPI instead of 600 DPI.
You will also lose all of the cool tools you had with the printer under Windows 98 and before. That right you lost a lot of functionality by moving to Windows 2K, Windows XP, or Windows Vista if you used this printer. So what to do? Install FinePrint. FinePrint gives you back all of the print options you had and more. In fact I have used FinePrint as my default printer on systems in the past. It just works great.
So how do you install your NEC printer as an HP printer?
First open your Control Panel and click Printers. Now click “Add a Printer”. Specify if you printer is Local (plugged in to your computer) or on the Network (plugged in to a different computer). We are assuming you have a Local printer.
Next specify the port. Usually you can just take the default here. Now you will be presented with a list of available printer drivers with manufacturers on the left and printer models on the right.
Under manufacturers choose “HP”. Then on the right scroll down and find the “HP LaserJet IIP”. It will probably show up just after the “Laserjet IIIP”. Click next and follow the instructions to complet installing your printer.
Next do yourself a huge favor. Download and install FinePrint:
With FinePrint installed I think you will be quite happy with your SuperScript 870 under Windows Vista.
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Topics: Technology, Vista |
18 Responses to “Vista vs. my NEC Superscript 870 Printer”
Comments
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March 18th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Used instructions to add SuperScript 870 printer under Windows Vista. Used the HP LaserJet IIP printer option. Document sent to the printer via a Linksys printserver. Remained in print queue trying to print, but then error msg. Loaded Fine Print, but unless the document prints, I don’t see how FinePrint helps.
March 19th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Not sure about the network problem. FinePrint was an attempt to get back the full funtionality of the original NEC Superscript 870 print driver. Multiple per sheet, Watermarks, and all the rest. That is all that FinePrint does.
For your networking go into your Printer properties - Start / Control Panel / Printers then right-click the printer, pick the “Ports” tab.
First make sure you have the network port selected. If not select it and try the test. If it is selected you may need to specify the port by I.P. address instead of name. Click “Configure Port” and you will see a box for “Printer Name or I.P. Address”.
You will need to refer to your Linksys documentation to determine the I.P. address it is using.
Hope that helps.
March 31st, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Dan,
Are you saying that with FinePrint
you were able to get full 600 DPI with your Super Script 870 on a Vista OS? If so, how do you set FinePrint to do this?
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:49 am
Ken ~
No I was referring to FinePrint restoring my ability to print multiple pages per sheet, booklets, watermarks, etc.
The original NEC SuperScript 870 driver let you do all those things and more.
I seem to remember the 600 dpi being a function of Adobe PrintGear which is not being updated and will not be updated.
~ Dan
April 4th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Dan, thanks for the NEC 870 tip for Vista. Drove me nuts trying to fix that. Much appreciated.
April 5th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hugh,
You are welcome. It drove me nuts too. The only rub at this point is having my printouts limited to 300 dpi.
I didn’t think this a big deal until I printed some items from an old Windows 98 machine in 600 dpi. The small print was much easier to read.
~ Dan
April 20th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
I’ve followed the directions above and i’m still getting an error page when I try to print. It won’t print out a test page or anything. Any clues on what I could be missing? Thanks
April 21st, 2007 at 11:46 am
Mimi ~
Not sure what is happening with your system. We need a bit more detail. What specific error are you seeing? Have you gone through the troubleshooter in Windows? Give us a bit more detail.
~ Dan
April 27th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Dan,
I have inherited a SuperScript 870, I was able to make it work as a network printer. Now it stopped and doing anything requires a password which was not passed on to me and noway to find out. Do you know how to reset the password to null without having the old one?
If you have any ideas, much appreciated.
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:23 am
Felix ~
Not sure what you are seeing but it may be a setting in Windows. Depending on the version of Windows you use all of that can be quite flaky.
I would try just setting the printer up again.
~ Dan
July 4th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I got the NEC SuperScript 870 working perfectly in Windows Vista with good features (600×600 DPI res. and N-up page printing). In Vista, right click on the Add Printer window and select “Run as Administrator”, THEN “Add a Printer”. I’m running mine off a D-Link DP-300u ethernet print server (that part of the setup is the same as WinXP). When you get to the part when you actually pick the driver, insert your old WinXP install CDROM, and browse to the \i386 directory and click Open. You will get a new list of digitally signed XP drivers. Select the NEC SuperScript 870 and you are back in business.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:09 am
“Insert your old WinXP install CDROM, and browse to the \i386 directory and click Open. You will get a new list of digitally signed XP drivers. Select the NEC SuperScript 870 and you are back in business.”
Did work for me, cool
November 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Also have Nec870 plugged at printserver but it does not work for me :
1. right click on the Add Printer window and select “Run as Administrator”, THEN “Add a Printer”
2. old WinXP install CDROM, and browse to the \i386 directory and click Open
-> My Problem Unidrvui.dll was not found…
3. I Had an old Partion with XP and Nec870 and browsed to D:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32×86\3\
where its found.
after this printer is working. You have to find this Unidrvui.dll and (maybe its dependencies) on http://www.dll-files.com/
Maybe it helps others to integrate this fine old printer
November 27th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
WOW, followed the instructions to install as HP laserjet IIP, and it worked perfectly.
Just wanted to say thanks- you saved me from having to buy a new printer.
December 28th, 2007 at 3:22 am
I’ve got the 870 running on the hp driver– thanks for that.
I looked for the i386 directory on my cd, but it’s pre-XP, and I couldn’t find it.
I next tried to use the unidrvui.dll download, but I don’t know what to do with it, now that it’s here.
Can anyone offer a suggestion? I’d love to get my printer back up to 600dpi.
March 15th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Dan: your instructions were crystal clear and everything worked perfectly. I now can resume using my 870, which has been a fantastic printer and I am very grateful for your help. I downloaded FinePrint (trial ver) with no problem - but, I did not notice a difference (maybe I am lucky and my 870, altho 9 years old, still works like new). FinePrint, at a cost of $50 for the real s/w, was not worth it for me. Thx again - I appreciate it.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Thanks! Saved me some major trouble. You have to love the internet for instant info.
G
June 14th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Dude that is awesome thanks, and BTW dont bother with a test page just print what you need to and it will work fine