[DMouseYD]

I am trying to install a Dell Printer A960 and I get the error "no vaild INF files. unable to install" I have gone to the Dell website but to no avail. Can someone tell me what to do or where to look?

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Welcome to G2G

It sounds like you may be using the wrong driver (ie one that's meant for XP or 2000 instead of 98). Unfortunately Dell do not provide a windows 98 driver for this printer.

However, it is worth knowing that the Dell A960 is in fact a re-badged Lexmark x6170. Unfortunately Lexmark do not provide a windows 98 driver on their website either. Therefore you will have to use a more convoluted method to obtain it.....

Go to driverguide.com and create an account with them (it's free). Once that's done, you can log into their website using the email address you gave them & your password.
Next, go to the 'drivers' section. Select the device type (i.e printer) then select Lexmark as the manufacturer. In the search box type x6170 & click search.

This will bring up a list of drivers - look for a windows 98 driver & if possible, select one that's a 'DriverGuide Tech Upload' as these have the best chance of working. Click on download & follow the instructions. Remember to select the 'download to hard drive' option, not CD.

[Samm]

Welcome to G2G

It sounds like you may be using the wrong driver (ie one that's meant for XP or 2000 instead of 98). Unfortunately Dell do not provide a windows 98 driver for this printer.

However, it is worth knowing that the Dell A960 is in fact a re-badged Lexmark x6170. Unfortunately Lexmark do not provide a windows 98 driver on their website either. Therefore you will have to use a more convoluted method to obtain it.....

Go to driverguide.com and create an account with them (it's free). Once that's done, you can log into their website using the email address you gave them & your password.
Next, go to the 'drivers' section. Select the device type (i.e printer) then select Lexmark as the manufacturer. In the search box type x6170 & click search.

This will bring up a list of drivers - look for a windows 98 driver & if possible, select one that's a 'DriverGuide Tech Upload' as these have the best chance of working. Click on download & follow the instructions. Remember to select the 'download to hard drive' option, not CD.

[DMouseYD]

Thank you Samm for your information. I went to the driverguide.com site and downloaded the driver for Windows 98. All was going well until I tried to install the driver. It said that my printer wasn't hooked up correctly. I checked the USB cable and it is fine - I then checked the power plug and it was fine. I pushed and made sure that they were all tightly in. The printer has power also. So I cancelled out of that and thought I would try it again and again - all was going well this time until I went to unzip the file. I got another error - Can't create output file: c\lxk6100drivers\WIN_9x\ENGLISH\lxbfstp.exe. I am ready to just give up!! This is the second printer that I have had issues with - I am beginning to think it's my system and not the printers.... any suggestions on what a new computer would work for me?? LOL

[Samm]

Just try once moren but follow these instructions:

Go to Start -> Settings -> Printers and delete any printers that are listed in there.
Go to Start -> settings -> control panel -> add/remove programs. If there's any Dell or Lexmark printer software in there, then uninstall it.
Go to My Computer, double click on the C drive icon, and delete the folder lxk6100drivers

Next, make sure the printer is NOT connected to the computer, then reboot the computer.

After the reboot, try to install the Lexmark driver again. Do not re-connect the printer until it tells you to (or until the driver install tries to detect the printer, whichever comes first).

[DMouseYD]

I did exactly what you told me to do.. deleted the files - tried it again - got passed the error and it then when it said that it can't detect the printer I plugged in the USB cord and it still doesn't recognize it.

[Samm]

Obviously check the connections at both ends of the cable & make sure the printer is turned on, but apart from that, have you tried connecting it to a different USB port on the computer?

Also, while I think of it, are you using Windows 98 Second Edition? If you need to check, then go to Start -> settings -> control panel -> system. The operating system will be listed there

Edited by Samm, 30 November 2007 - 09:23 PM.

[DMouseYD]

Yes I did try both USB ports on the back of the computer - I had the same thought. But it didn't work. Yes I have Windows 98 Second Edition. Yes I made sure that all the connections were tight. Do you think that maybe the USB cable is bad?

[Samm]

Yes, that's certainly a possibility. Do you have another cable you could test the printer with?

[DMouseYD]

I tried a differnt - working - USB cable and this time it actually let me get to the installation screen but then again when asked to plug in the cable to the printer, it didn't recognize it again... I can't even add the prtiner to my system. It doesn't have the Lexmark type in there to choose from. I tried to do this again last night and I can't find the correct model. But then I remembered that you told me to delete any if they were in there to begin with. So I didn't go any further.

[Samm]

That's right, the Windows 98 printer driver database won't contain any Lexmark drivers by default, only the ones you've installed (which so far, you haven't been able to).

Can you just check this for me please:
Go to: Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager
Look for any devices that have either a red 'x' or a yellow & black '!' next to them. Also, expand the USB Controller branch & let me know exactly what's listed there. If there is also a Printer branch, then do the same with that.

[DMouseYD]

Well, I would love to do that for you but when I went to turn on my computer last night - the monitor won't work now ~ : ( I at first thought it was the video card but I know now it's not. When I turn on the computer the stand-by light comes on the monitor - it won't trun green - so I hit the power button thinking that it was off and it shut off. I then turned it back on and the light went green and then made a small click and went to stand-by again. I did this several times to make sure that I wasn't doing something wrong and it did it every time. I actually had someone give me a monitor that they weren't using so that I could get the information you need. So when I hook that up - I will let you know. * someone shoot me now * lol

[DMouseYD]

No I didn't fall off the face of the earth - LOL - 8 days later - much technical support from my co-workers - and one burnt out processor later - I am in the process of buying a new computer ~~ Apparently the fan that was in my computer wasn't working enough to cool the processor - hence day after day usage on this has burnt it out. As far as my printer issue we found that Windows 98 couldn't handle what I was trying to do. I did have Windows 2000 put on the computer to try and to no avail ~ again ~ I couldn't even boot it up since the processor had died.... so I think it was just that Windows 98 was the underlying issue in all of my printer problems......

Thank you for all your help!! I know that if I do need help again ~ I will come back here - you have been very attentive and very helpful.. Thanks again!!!!

[Samm]

You're very welcome. Good luck with the new system