actually it usually varies from printer to printer and from manufacturer. It is pretty normal that they give you a direction sheet to follow so if that is for sure what that one says then that should be how they want you to do it. But I have no way of knowing for sure. Do you happen to have the instruction guide? Sometimes on the actual cd when you first put it in there are some guides that you can read that tell you step by step how to proceed, you might try the cd and see if you see any how to directions. Just to make sure nothing gets messed up on your pc it would be a good idea for you to make are real simple restore point so if something should go awry you can just go right back to that place in time before you added the printer. To do that in xp click on start> all programs> accessories> system tools> system restore> create a restore point, name it something like prior to printer install then follow the instructions for a quick restore point to be created, that is all there is to it. Now if something messes up with the install of the printer you just follow those directions again and choose to restore your pc to a previous time and from that list pick the one you created with the name you choose and follow the directions for your pc to go right back to how it was before you started any of this. it will tell you to reboot the pc in that process. Anyway hope some of that helped and good luck.

So why not ignore the parts of your current printer you do not need and use the rest? There is not much of a market for used printers, unless you already have a buyer of course. Buying another while you have a useable one seems odd. Watch for sales, just a couple of weeks ago there were some Canons on sale for under $40. No idea where now but it was a great deal at the time and with the depressed economy bargains will pop up occasionally. There are 83 here, all between $50 and $100. Notice the 'Reviews'? click on any row of stars to read the reports of actual users to aid your search. I personally like HP or Canon. In a thread a few weeks ago a couple of users spoke highly of recent Lexmarks so perhaps they have smartened up somwhat.

I have 4 all-in-one printers (and 2 laser printers)--all HP, and I love them all. If I were in the market for an all-in-one for under $100, I would probably get an HP Photosmart C4480-- $99.99. It is like one that I got almost 2 years ago, and absolutely love. The "photosmart" means there are slots for camera photo cards. A wonderful feature! Here's the link to the write-up about it. If you have any questions, just holler. Here is a link that might be useful: HP Photosmart C4480

" I can't imagine why any canon printer wouldn't have drivers for newer OS." It's the same reason why Microsoft cuts off updates/support for old Windows versions after a set number of years, why Apple does the same for old OS versions (and even cuts them off from the iTunes store so that apps can't be updated or new ones added ), etc. Products aren't supported forever, rather only for a fixed period of time. New hardware and software versions aren't necessarily backwards compatible (ie, some can't or don't always work with old components) and so that new drivers might be disproportionately difficult to do. I remember some years ago, the industry standard protocol for scanners changed and i had to buy a new one when I got a new PC. There have been a number of protocols and standards that have been dropped over the years and replaced, thus orphaning the hardware that uses the standard that's gone out of favor. The end of driver support for new OS's is similar.