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I can't find a Windows 98 driver for my Epson SX130 printer. The oldest OS it has drivers for is Windows XP. I have medical equipment that only works on Windows 98, and no updates are available for my software,

Is there a way to use Windows XP drivers on Windows 98?

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    No, there is no way to install a windows XP driver or even Windows 2000 driver on a windows 98 installation
    – Ramhound
    Apr 21, 2014 at 2:20
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    No you can't do that, because Windows 98 used a very different kernel (e.g. DOS). 2000 and XP are based on NT. Any chance you have another computer on your local network? You might be able to use that as a print server. Apr 21, 2014 at 2:45
  • @ElliottFrisch even with a print server you'd still need some kind of driver. It's a tricky situation.
    – nhinkle
    Apr 21, 2014 at 4:20
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    @nhinkle I didn't mean to imply otherwise. But it might be possible to do a PostScript compatible translation, e.g. with Samba. I don't have a Epson SX130, but I do have some old PostScript printers and they worked under Windows 98 (as far as I remember). Or maybe it supports PCL. IDK. Apr 21, 2014 at 4:30

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No. The architecture and kernel of pre-NT windows was very different than NT. Drivers are not compatible.

What you might try is finding a print to file option, then set up an automated script to then send the file across a network connection to a computer that is capable of printing the file.

You should do this over an internal only connection, as a window 95 computer should never be exposed to the internet.

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  • i've already tried that solution, but the software (of the equipments ) doesn't allow that, it prints directly to the printer
    – seddik
    Apr 21, 2014 at 12:38
  • Find a virtual printer device that prints to file then.
    – Cellivar
    Apr 21, 2014 at 16:27
  • Via WDM, some drivers can work on both 9x and NT versions of Windows, but generally only in a forward compatible way. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Driver_Model - Any device built since 2003-2004 or so is almost certainly not going to work.
    – LawrenceC
    Apr 6, 2015 at 22:03
  • That's likely going to be in the wrong direction. A driver written for Windows XP will be relying on more up to date access that simply doesn't exist in Windows 98. It might be remotely possible for a Windows 98 driver to work in XP. This is all moot, of course, as both operating systems are completely EOL by Microsoft and replacements should be actively sought.
    – Cellivar
    Apr 6, 2015 at 22:07

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