Hooking up older HP 8550N printer

[cdunn]

I have a new (08) IBM Thinkpad Lenovo R61i with WindowsXP Professional, service pack 2.  The computer is 1.66 GHz with 1.99 mg Ram.  I am trying to hook up an HP 8550N printer.  The computer does not have a parallel port and the printer does not have USB.  I purchased a cable that converts, but it will not work.  The message says it is installed, but it will not print.

Is the better way to go a wireless router or is there some way to make this cable work?  The cable came with a cd, but it only has Win98 and Win Me, nothing for XP.  Any help anywhere?
Thanks

[h0w]

have you tried a different cable converts? maybe that one is defective.  you also may be able to find a 6 ft parallel to usb cable.

just to be clear:

it doesnt have any ports like this on it right?:

[Broni]

Did you install printer driver BEFORE connecting printer to the computer?