Prior to upgrading to Windows 10 yesterday, I was graciously informed by the updater that my all-in-one printer – a Panasonic KX-MB271 – wasn’t compatible. I appreciated knowing this up front. I also was disappointed because the printer has seen low use and I have extra toner cartridges for it. Still, I chose to go with the upgrade (pluses outweighing this one minus).

Sure enough, I couldn’t print. However, I opened Device Manager and manually selected the drivers for the printer and scanner. This required drilling down into some specific folders, e.g. D:panasonicMFSDriversObjectPrinterWin7VistaXp_x64GDI for the printer. But it worked. The printer is back in business.

Although…when I rebuild my work desk I will probably find a new home for it and park a Wi-Fi/networkable printer in the nearby storeroom where my router and cable modem live.

Note: You can use http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/CompatCenter/Home to check for compatible devices. However, it definitely works best if you have the specific part number, e.g. kx-mb271 rather than kxmb271. And, as this post points out, never take it for granted that you’re SOL.