How to add 32-bit fax driver to 64-bit Windows Server 2008

There are many ways in which Microsoft makes the life of Windows Server administrators easier. You all all sorts of wizards, tools, procedures, etc. Than you have a small group of tasks that are nothing short of a nightmare. One of these is sharing a Fax on a 64 bit Windows Server 2008 (R2) and adding a 32-bit driver for it. This article will provide all you need to make it as easy as possible.

For start you need to get the 32-bit driver files. There are all sorts of ways to do it, but for simplicity you can just download the WS2008FaxDriver32bit.zip file from here. Export the contents of the ZIP file to a folder.

Next navigate to Start -> Devices and Printers, right click the Fax printer and select Printer Properties


Open the Sharing tab on the Fax Properties window, select the Share this printer option. Also make sure Render print jobs on client computer and List in the directory options are selected.

Follow by clicking on the Additional Drivers . . .  button. On the additional Drivers screen select the x86:  Type 3 – User Mode driver type and click OK.

When you click OK, you will be asked to browse to the driver files. Browse to the folder where you saved the files from the downloaded ZIP file.

Once you click OK, the selected driver will be installed and you will be taken back to the Fax properties screen.  You can close this by clicking OK.

With the last step you should be able now to connect to this shared Fax printer from all 32 and 64 bit client computers.

In category: Windows Server 2008
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