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Windows xp not recognizing printer

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11 replies

by mstors

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For some reason, after 4 years, windows xp is not recognizing the server for my HP four in one Office Jet. I can copy but the print jobs stay in the queue and of course I can't scan or fax. I've tried everything including uninstalling and reinstalling HP software and changing drivers all to no avail. The printer icon shows up in the printers and faxes in the control panel but it no longer shows up in the bottom menu bar. Can you help?

11 replies

by hal 9000

Is have you tried looking fro new Drivers & Software for this unit at HP?

It's quite likely that some recent Patch has rendered the drivers or software non functional and HP has introduced some new Drivers or Software as a fix for this.

Col

by mstors

Hal,
Thank you so much. You were exactly right about the driver being rendered non-functional by a patch. Since I am no longer under warranty, and since I tried everything that HP had to offer, I called Best Buy where I got the stuff but the geek squad said it would be somewhere around $99.00 to fix it. I told him I'd have to think about it and I was thinking it would be better to get a new printer. Does HP have the info you gave me somewhere that I didn't look? I will be forever grateful to you. However, I tried to put in a new ink cartridge and the lcd kept repeating to align the cartridges but wouldn't perform the function so I put in the old one that is almost empty and it worked. So what do you think is causing that? As Gilda Radner used to say, It's always something. Thanks again. Mstors

by hal 9000

That you have before I can answer that question.

But if by putting back in a almost empty Ink Cartridge and it worked by the sounds of things you may have a faulty New Ink Cartridge which is causing the problem.

Col

by mstors

I thought the same thing so I bought a new one and you were right, it does work. Thank you so much for your help, Hal. Oh, and by the way, the printer works better than it ever did. It seems to run quieter and smoother now.

by mstors

I thought everything was going well but when I tried to scan something, I got an internal error message with the scanner so I also checked the fax and found it wasn't working. I never checked when I installed the new driver because I was so pleased that the printer was working and that's what I was using at the time. I was also able to copy. I thought that for some reason the scanner and fax didn't get reinstalled so I uninstalled again, reinstalled, several times but I now have nothing working. It seems that I don't have a connection between the printer and the internet. I get an error message that says "your PSC is busy performing another task. Wait until the unit is idle and retry" But it's never idle. When I look in the control panel (this is an HP PSC 2210 all-in-one)under add/remove there is nothing listed next to HP Image Zone 4.5 and HP Photo & Imaging 1.0=HP PSC-HP Office Jet. I had to remove the cable from the back of the printer while it was installing something but I put it back and it says it detects the device so I really don't know what to do. As you have probably figured out, I'm no techie. I was a teacher and all I had to do was use the computer and when something happened, we had people who took care of it but I'm on my own now since I just retired. I'm in the middle of working on something and I really need to use the equipment. The port I'm now supposedly connected to is a USB Virtual printer port. Any ideas? Thanks

by hal 9000

Go to the control Panel and remove any reference to the Unit. Uninstall all Programs and look in the Computer Management and delete any drivers or references to the device there.

Then unplug the unit and allow it to discharge [b]actually try this first[/b] as it's possible that it has something que'd and is unable to process the request. By removing the power and allowing the capacitors to discharge you may cure the problem without any hard work. Leave it unplugged from both the computer and mains for about a minute and then plug in again and see if it works.

If that doesn't cure the problem you'll need to remove the drivers and reboot then reinstall them and follow the directions on installing this device which should require you to install the software & Drivers and then at some point plug in the USB Lead after the install process has been started.

Col

by mstors

unplugging the power source. There must have been something in the queue not being able to be processed. Now I have everything except the scanner working. It gives me the error message that there is an internal error and lists three things I should try; restart the printer, uninstall, and I forget the third thing but I did try all three yesterday and nothing works. I'm afraid to try anything else on my own because at least now I have the printer and copier working and the fax, too, and I don't want to mess everythng up again. Thank you so much for helping me.

by hal 9000

Then you have to have software glitch as the FAX and Copier use the same device as the scanner so it has to do with the installed software.

If you have tried all the suggestions from the printer reboot the computer and see if that cures the problem. It could be something little that has been messed up and you have something queued that is causing the problem.

If that doesn't cure the issue unless it states to reinstall software just do as the printer suggests. At worst you'll use a bit of time for nothing but it should cure the problem.

Col

by mstors

you're talking about something a little more complex than just restarting, aren't you? I've been searching HP all-in-ones with scanner problems and they seem to be numerous. I think for now I'll just live without the scanner, at least until I get finished working on my current project. I'll let you know when I decide to tackle the problem. You have a great deal of computer knowledge and I thank you for getting the other 3 components up and running.

by mstors

I was copying a document when the HP Director popped up and I thought I'd click on Scan Document, get the error message, and follow the directions again as you suggested but instead, it scanned the document to an email. I have no idea what I did to get it working other than restarting the computer. So I guess all four are now working -at least for the moment. Thanks for the excellent tech support that I couldn't find anywhere else.

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