Resolved New printer driver can't be found

I have an HP Officejet 5600 all in one printer (etc) which is playing up. Following such poor help as comes with the machine I get to reinstall the software, My disc which came with the machine is not designed for Windows 7 and I get nowhere. I thought that Windows 7 is supposed to search for and find a new driver ? but I haven't found how to do this.
The official HP site doesn't list my model anymore, and the sites which promise new drivers all end up scanning my PC , finding no problems with drivers - at least not for printers - and demanding money before I can get any further.
Any advice before I throw it away and go and buy something new which won't be HP ?

 

helpful - as always - I'll go and look now ( my eyes have been trained to ignore mention of Vista, but I'll switch off the default mode for a time).

 

If you connect your printer to computer, Win 7 would try to install driver for it. It could be a generic driver but may work.

Vista driver, as already suggested by Steve, is other possibility.

 

I had the same problem. I ended up getting a new printer. That solved the problem.

 

And where did you dump the old printer ? We could have a catastrophe on our hands if we start changing peripherals with every iteration of OS.

 

Being stored in the basement. Gave it to my daughter. Plus it was time for a new one. Had the old one since 2002. She just wanted it for faxing. Yes the new one is an HP Photosmart C8180.

 

I found a Vista driver, but after I got it downloaded and ready to install, Norton told me they didn't recommend it ; no point in buying a guard dog and then ignoring the barking ! So I'm back to square one here.
Actually I am so fed up with HP that the solution of dumping it and maybe buying one of the Kodak ones advertised as saviung me 70% of my ink cost appeals to me ;you see, I have another one of the HP printers too - an A3 job for doing top quality photography - takes 7 ink cartrtridges and a second mortgage to replace them - and HP have now smartly installed new software which blandly tells me that this or that colour is past its date and I should dump it and buy a new supply. Is their one of those smilie icons going "grrr..." ?
But we can mark this as resolved, I'll do that.

 

Good luck.