If you have HP Printers then you might need to install the drivers from them at some point in time. While printers do come with the drivers on a disc, or some have the drivers embedded in a hard drive that is accessible when you plug in the USB connection, sometimes it is necessary to get the drivers for your printers or other HP products online. This can be a daunting task because of the huge variety of products that the company offers. Here are some tips on how to get and install HP printer drivers when you need to get them from the internet.

A driver is software that is required to run a component of your computer. Much of your computer’s hardware and internal components require drivers, but you generally don’t notice them as much because they come installed with whatever operating system that you are using. However, your printers also need drivers and they are usually installed separately unless your printer came bundled with your computer. Your first step in finding your HP printer drivers is to go to the HP website at www.hp.com and click on the link at the top that says “Support and Drivers”.

You can choose to either allow HP to detect automatically which devices you have that need drivers, or you can enter you product number and search for the right software. The automatic detection sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t so you may be forced to enter in your product number.

Your product number will be located somewhere on your HP printer, and is usually a series of letters and numbers, although it may just be numbers. You can also just enter your product name in if you know it. For instance, OfficeJet Pro 8000.

Once you have gotten to your product, which may require you choosing yours from a list that HP will give you after you type in your product name, you will have to choose which operating system that you are running, for instance Windows 7 or Windows XP.

Then you will get to a page that will ask you to choose what kind of drivers that you want to install. There may be a list that includes items like Order a CD-ROM, Drivers, Firmware Updates and Software. Most of the time you will want to to click the plus sign next to drivers.

There may be several options under the driver plus sign but usually the first option is the basic driver which is all you need to make your printer work. However, there may be extra software like photo editing or other HP bundled programs that you may want, in which case you will choose one of the other driver packages.

Finally, you will be taken to a page that says download. Click the button and follow the instructions.

Once the driver has been installed, it is a good idea to restart your computer and try your printer out to see if it works.