Don"t waste the parallel port on your inkjet, laser, or high speed printer. This cable uses the USB port on your PC or hub, so your parallel port remains free for a zip drive or scanner. Forget the hassles of IRQ sharing by adapting your printer to USB. If you have multiple printers, you can eliminate the need for a switchbox by connecting each printer to a USB port. The device is fully transparent to the user, and is ideal for true bi-directional communication. This adapter auto-negotiates hardware recognition for faster protocol setup, and is fully plug-and-play compatible. Connector 1: USB Type A Male Connector 2: Centronics 36 Male System Reqs • Requires Microsoft® Windows® 98, ME®, 2000, XP, Vista® or Windows 7. • Please make sure this item is used only with printers. It cannot be guaranteed that any other devices other than printers, such as multi-function printer/scanner/faxes, tapes drives, zip drives, or other non-standard parallel devices will work with this unit.