How to determine the printer driver version when troubleshooting Office for Mac printing issues (188848)


The information in this article applies to:

  • the operating system: Mac OS X
  • the operating system: Mac OS 9.0
  • the operating system: Mac OS 8.0
  • the operating system: Mac OS 7.0
  • the operating system: Mac OS 6.x
  • Microsoft Entourage 2001 for Mac
  • Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Office v. X for Mac
  • Microsoft Office 2001 for Mac
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Macintosh
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Word 2001 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q188848

SYMPTOMS

When you troubleshoot printing issues, you may need to know which version of the printer driver you are using. The "Resolution" section of this article explains three different methods that you can use to obtain the driver version in Mac OS 9 (the first two of which you can use from the desktop). Th "Resolution" section also explains a method that you can use to obtain the driver version in Mac OS X.

RESOLUTION

Mac OS 9

Method 1: Obtain the Driver Version from the Page Setup Dialog Box

  1. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
  2. Look at the numbers to the left of the OK button.

    These numbers represent the version of the currently selected printer driver.

Method 2: Obtain the Driver Version from the Print Dialog Box

  1. On the File menu, click Print.

    NOTE: If you are in the Finder, click Print Desktop instead.
  2. Look at the numbers to the left of the OK button.

    These numbers represent the version of the currently selected printer driver.

Method 3: Obtain the Driver Version Directly from the File

  1. Open the System:Extensions folder.
  2. Click the printer driver icon.
  3. On the File menu, click Get Info.

    The printer driver version appears in the Version section of the dialog box.

Mac OS X

Method 1: Obtain the Driver Version from the Printer Setup Utility

  1. Double -click the hard disk where OS X is installed, double-click Applications, double-click Utilities, and then double-click Printer Setup Utility.
  2. Click the printer that you are using, and then click Show Info.
The printer driver version appears under Driver Version. If you are using a networked printer, the driver version may not appear.

MORE INFORMATION

In earlier versions of the Mac OS, printer driver selections are made through a desk accessory called the Chooser. The Chooser displays the icons of currently available drivers. To select a driver, click its icon in the Chooser.

The Chooser looks in the Extensions folder to build the list of available drivers. To disable (or enable) a driver, remove it from (or add it to) the Extensions folder. If you are running System 7.5.x or a later version, use Extensions Manager to disable or enable a driver.

Note There is no Chooser or Extension Manager in Mac OS X.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/4/2005
Keywords:kbinfo kbprint KB188848
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.