Windows Vista Incompatibility

Despite many complains about Windows Vista's compatibility issues, today is the first time I had encountered it. Tried to plug in an ancient (that's right... sigh...) scanner and let Vista search for the drivers. I did not expect any problems because Windows XP found it. However, Vista reported it cannot find it and redirected me to the Windows Vista Compatibility Center. Even HP doesn't have the drivers. HP said it does not support any hardware older than 7 years old.
I also have an old HP inkjet printer and I can't use it now not because of Vista. I do not know if it is compatible with Vista or not but the main reason I can't use it is because I do not have a parallel port in my home computer. :(