Problems installing printer

Question

Problems installing printer

Nick Perks 0

Hello. New working laptop running Windows 11. All good, except can't install printer. The printer is a fairly old Canon, which works absolutely fine with another newish laptop. It connects via wire and USB. The USB port works fine for other accessories (e.g. mouse). I have downloaded a fresh copy of the Canon driver from the Canon website and it is in the Downloads folder.

When I look for printer automatically via the Windows function it does not find it. When I try to install manually, the laptop can 'see' the Canon in the choice of ports. However, at the next step 'Install printer driver...' there is no Canon option. When I try 'Windows Update' it does not find any new drivers. Same if I try 'Have disc' (even if I point this to the downloads folder).

I have done a complete reinstall of Windows 11. No change.

Any help appreciated. It feels like Windows is not finding the driver and / or not finding the printer.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Nick Perks 0

In case helpful to others, I now believe that the issue is that the laptop is running on ARM64 and there is no compatible driver from Canon for this.

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Answer 2

Alvise Cervellati 6,880 Independent Advisor

Hi @Nick Perks ,

Can you share the exact Canon printer model, please?

First, with the printer connected to the laptop, press Win + X and open Device Manager. Check whether you see the printer, an Unknown Device, or any device with a yellow exclamation mark. This could indicate that Windows is detecting the USB device but does not have the correct driver

I would also recommend uninstalling any Canon printer software or drivers currently installed on the laptop. Then restart Windows and install the driver downloaded from the official Canon website. Do not connect the printer via USB until the Canon installation software specifically asks you to connect it. This is important because some Canon installers need to create the printer port and register the driver correctly during the installation process

If the installer still cannot detect the printer, let us know the exact printer model and what appears in Device Manager when you connect it. We can then check whether Windows is detecting the USB device correctly or whether the issue is specifically related to the printer driver

Let me know what you find.

Elvis

Nick Perks 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T15:41:55.1233333+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. It is an i-Sensys LBP3010. I'll try what you suggest, but see also my comment above.
Alvise Cervellati 6,880 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-23T15:50:33.8266667+00:00

Since you confirmed that the laptop is ARM64, I think we have identified the cause.

The Canon i-SENSYS LBP3010 is an older printer that uses Canon's CAPT printer driver. Unfortunately, Canon does not provide an ARM64 version of this driver for the LBP3010.

This explains why Windows can detect the printer and even show the USB port, but cannot find a compatible Canon driver when you try to install it. The fact that Windows Update does not offer one is also expected in this situation.

I would not recommend trying to force-install the x64 CAPT driver, as it is not designed for Windows ARM64 and is unlikely to work correctly.

If you need to keep using this printer, the practical options would be to connect it to another Windows x64 PC and share it over the network, or use another printer that has native Windows ARM64 support or works with Microsoft's built-in/Mopria printing support.

So in this case, I don't think reinstalling Windows or repeatedly downloading the Canon driver will solve the problem. The limitation is the printer driver architecture

Thank you for the feedback

Elvis
Nick Perks 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T15:53:11.0933333+00:00

Thanks for your wisdom. It's very annoying, but at least I understand the problem now!
Alvise Cervellati 6,880 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-23T16:30:26.3333333+00:00

You're welcome

Check these thread about some model compatible with ARM64

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5951632/what-printers-are-arm-compatible
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5561586/need-a-printer-to-work-with-windows-11-and-snapdra