Printer Drivers

For a piece of printer hardware to function with a PC (Personal Computer) or Mac, a special program is required. This custom written software is loaded on to the computer, usually from a CD or via a direct download from the original manufacturers website. As soon as the driver is installed the PC or Mac will search for the printer device (connected via USB, Ethernet Cable, Wireless (WiFi), or Bluetooth. Providing that the correct driver for the printer has been installed, the two pieces of hardware will successfully connect, allowing you to send data and print.
If the printer owner has lost the installation disc or they have upgraded to a later operating system (Microsoft Windows 7 etc.), they will need to locate and download the correct driver for the machine. Usually they are freely available from the manufacturer websites by clicking on the support and downloads sections. Links below...
Brother printer drivers page
Dell page
Canon software drivers page
Epson printer driver download search
HP support and downloads
Lexmark UK product support and downloads
Other printer manufacturer websites can be found by searching on Google for (maker name) followed by (printer driver). Look for the company website first and download from there. That way you know the file is the correct one and is safe. There should be no reason to use a third party website in the majority of cases, and no way should you pay for a driver.

Trouble-shooting

Question: You have installed the printer driver correctly but nothing prints out?
Answer: There is a possibility you have installed two copies of the same driver on to the machine you are sending print jobs to the wrong copy. After clicking print (in the printer properties bo), click on the down arrow and select the correct printer device. Go to printers and faxes section and delete one of the copies from the machine to avoid confusion in the future.