Canon i550 cannot print

You will need a Serial to USB converter dongle that you can buy from a local shop as Dell Inspiron 560 does not have serial ports. Also your disc with the printer driver will not work as it must have got drivers for Windows XP on it and as I assume this is a new computer then it will have Windows 7 operating system.
You can download the drivers from:- http://canon.driversdown.com/Canon-driver-list/s_355_1.shtml
Thanks. If this was helpful then kindly rate me.

My i550 Canon Printer will not print colour, black only. Colour cart. are full. Computer checked out OK. Driver is OK. All 3 colours stopped printing at the same time. linda gal16

I've not worked with one of these cables before, but here's what I would do: Right-click on the printer icon and go to properties. You'll be looking for the tab that says "ports." Open that tab and see what port the computer thinks it's using for the printer. Chances it says it's using a parallel port, but it is in fact, using a USB port. I can't tell you which to choose without looking at what you see, but I think you might find one that makes reference to a USB port with a parallel connection of some type. Try clicking on that and see if your situation improves.

The answer is yes! You can have as many printing deveces as you want. If you are out of USB ports, purchase a USB hub (please plug the printer directly into a USB port to have the device recognized) then load the drivers. If you don’t have the drivers google “epson r2880 driver” and you will be good to go. You will have to select a default printer in ‘Settings’ but you will be prompted each time you print. Happy computing! Doogie

Normal 0 Normal 0 Driver could be corrupt.
Disconnect the printer or at least be sure it is turned off. I'd do both and reinstall the CD software program that came with the printer. When the software program asks you to connect the printer to the USB port, do so and it should again work properly.
Hope this helps. Bud

Does this Laptop have a docking station? If so then on the back of the docking station should be a parallel port.

Is you laptop connected to a router/firewall/switch? Then you can get a device that will make the printer become networkable and connect to you firewall switch...this unit is called HP jetdirect. It will make your parralel printer become more useful and connected to the network.

Problem is the printer is "old school" and the laptop is "new school", the JetDirect will bridge this...

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} USB to Parallel conversion requires translation by XP and Vista's 'hardware interleave' software as well as the USB device manufacturers driver. The software package just doesn't work well with older peripherals that use legacy parallel or serial com ports. Too many sloppy layers.

THE BEST WAY to add an LPT printer port to your laptop is to use a PCMCIA to Parallel adapter card.
The PC Card slot provides access to the laptop's data bus, and the PC Card adapter easily sets up as a native LPT port within almost any OS.

There is no delay, or connection problems as I've seen in so many complaints about USB to Parallel or Legacy Serial adapters. Printing is Instant.

PCMCIA is a mature standard, and works seamlessly with XP and Vista, and almost any other OS.

PARALLEL is the old standard fast data protocol. IEEE 1284 ECP mode up to 1.5 Mbps.
The BJC-80 and the BJC-85 have the same print speed. The BJC-85 just added USB.

INFRARED is ver 1.0 on the BJC-80, and printing is a bit slower at 115.2 kbps. Even the BJC-85 with its higher IRDA transfer rating and a laptop's built-in IR port, the XP print spooler has problems with it, and can hang if printing more than one page, and especially with more than one document. It will not scan.

I use IR for printing single pages only with either the BJC-80 or BJC-85.
USB to IRDA adapters work fine, and are less expensive $5-6 than
PCMCIA to Parallel adapters, $20-25.

I have tested and used several PCMCIA adapters from different manufacturers, and they all work perfectly as a hot-pluggable, instant LPT and/or Legacy Serial port for my laptops.
TIPS:
After installing the PC Card driver, check Device Manager for the LPT port number.
Install the printer manually from the list of printers, and select the proper LPT port.
Most laptops have two PCMCIA slots. If you change slots, the adapter card driver may reinstall, and assign the next available LPT port, LPT2.

To scan with the BJC-80, you must have an LPT port.
The PC Card adapter also allows the use of the IS-12 scanner cartridge within XP or Vista.
Within Vista, set the Canon ISScan software to run in Windows 98 compatibility mode, to allow use of the TWAIN driver.

Download the driver from Canon website, look at support page.
What operating system are you using ?

Purchase a PCMCIA parallel port adapter. the USB to parallel adapters are a pain to set up and are flakey at best. The PC card adapter provides a native parallel port to laptops without one, and works perfectly in ALL cases, even with the scanner cartridge. In Vista, the printer may then be manually installed from its list of printers, and set to use the new LPT port.

Try installing the latest driver: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=SupportDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=230&modelid=7998