One of our customers came to us the other day reporting problems trying to set up his Primera colour label printer with his Windows 7 computer. Put  simply, the drivers and software supplied on the CD didn’t work.

The simple resolution to the problem is to download the latest version of the drivers and software from Primera’s website.

• Click here to download the Primera drivers
• Click here to download the latest Nice Label SE Software
  

Click here for a step by step guide on installing the windows 7 drivers

Over time, the new versions of the software and drivers should start to appear on the CD’s that are supplied with Primera colour printers. Until then, if you’re looking to purchase a Windows 7 computer or are looking to upgrade to Windows 7, it is worth following the links above to ensure your printer continues to work post update.

If you require further information about this, please do not hesitate to contact AM Labels on 01536 414222.

Updates 11th May 2010:

Zebra has released Zebra Designer V2 fully compatible with Windows 7. Click on the links below to download the latest versions of the software:

ZebraDesigner Pro V2

• Zebra Designer V2 (Free Edition)
• Zebra Designer Pro V2 (Demo Edition – Will work for 30 days)

Zebra Designer V2 is fully compatible with label designs made in V1, if you have Zebra Designer Pro V1 you will need to click here to purchase ZebraDesigner Pro V2 after the 30 day trial to enable printing in Windows 7.

Operating System Support:
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, Windows Vista, Windows 7

Updates 8th February 2010:

Further tests and confirmation from Zebra conclude that although the Zebra Designer driver will print a Windows test page in Windows 7, once Zebra Designer software has been opened the software will automatically keep asking you to add a new driver (even if one is installed).

Specifically the software runs up to the splash screen and then requests the user install a zebra designer driver. The driver wizard will then run successfully, upon which point Zebra Designer will restart and will again prompt to install a Zebra Designer driver. Currently there is no way to prevent this request from appearing, additionally, the software can not progress past this point unless a driver is installed, making the software unusable.

We also tested Zebra Designer using Windows 7′s compatibility feature (modes tested, Windows Vista, Windows Vista with service pack 2, Windows XP, Windows XP with service pack 3), but found that this caused the software to out right crash when started.

To conclude the current Zebra Designer driver will work with Windows 7 but there is no way to successfully start Zebra Designer within Windows 7 due to its inability to check for drivers successfully therefore rendering Zebra Designer unusable. Zebra have confirmed that they will be releasing a newer version of Zebra Designer that is compatible with Windows 7, unfortunately this is not due until April – May 2010.

If you can’t wait until then, the only alternative is to buy a copy of Nicelabel which is compatible with Windows 7 and will automatically open the Zebra Designer label formats (.lbl) that are automatically saved on your computer in C:\Program Files\ZebraDesigner\samples\Labels.

For the future, Windows 7 support is planned for the ZebraDesigner driver and ZebraDesigner software, this post will be updated when there is more news or updates. There are no plans for Windows 7 compatibility using the Zebra Universal Driver (ZUD).