Printer disaster - any ideas from I.T. experts.

[RGuk]

Just to show that I do still work , I picked up a printer (HP all-in-one) after the range and decided to install and test it instead of going in to the office.

I uninstalled the old printer (dead, by all accounts), ran the HP disk, plugged in the new one, let windows XP find the driver and hey presto....done....
Tested the scan and photocopy then got down to some letters.

Finished my document, clicked on print and the program crashed immediately losing any work. (I'd saved, thank goodness). Tried printing from Paint and Music software....all ok, tried again from Word, and same thing.

Got the latest HP drivers, re-installed Word, tested, and same result....

ARGH>>>>

Any thoughts??

 

[medwayjon]

Windows XP is notoriously bad for problems with drivers.

I believe there is an update available online at microsoft if I remember correctly.

Not 100% but I know we had the same problem with our new printer at work and the geeky-dude said thats what it was.

 

[brendy]

Dave give this driver a whirl, takes a little while to get the best out of it but shouldnt cause any issues.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/Tec...SeriesId=503548

 

[Herbie]

I have hp 1200 series and it was never a problem with XP then I went vista with a new pc and sometimes the printer backs up files waiting to print and I have to do other things to get them to print, then the next day they will be fine. On and off like this for ages, it drives me mad.
I had my pc whizz buddy look at it and he couldnt find the prob and he used to work for a company that sorted all sorts of computer and printer faults.

 

[OldWindy]

Which printer is it, Dave?

 

[RGuk]

http://www.computer-printers.org.uk/hp-printers/hp-f2180-all-in-one-printer/

F2180. Old, but seemed ideal for aging desktop XP. (and not expensive)

I think it's a driver issue, thanks for the universal link, might give it a whirl tonight.

Isn't it just the way, this PC powers a complete home recording studio and can manage sampled sounds and video work without a blink, ask it to print a letter and....um.....

"computer says no!!"

I'm working on the theory that if all else fails, I can leave it in situ and introduce the laptop to it - should be a match made in techie heaven, if my HP compaq (vista) doesn't like it, there's clearly no hope.

 

[surefire]

Did the driver suggested by Brendy work?

The most likely two causes of the problem are the driver not being the latest version, or word not having the latest update.

It could be other things, but its no so likely as other software can print just fine.

 

[RGuk]

The most likely two causes of the problem are the driver not being the latest version, or word not having the latest update.

ah.....slight issue with the word program. It's from a genuine copy of office 97!!! never saw the need to spend hundreds on the latest office. Could this be the issue?

 

[brendy]

I doubt its unfixable but try open office its a very up to date free version of MS office (http://www.openoffice.org/) and try printing from it (or wordpad from within accessories on the start button)

 

[RGuk]

I've just downloaded the proper driver from hp, latest and specificaly for F2180. The disk in the box just specifies 2100 series and is 7 months old.
I plan (after golf!) tomorrow to use the uninstall utility (which supposedly removes ALL hp software) and unplug the usb cable, run the new driver, re-plug and ask windows to do the rest.

t.b.h. it might be easier (if this all fails) to just write letters on the laptop and carry it to the printer!

Thanks for the open office tip, I tried this ages ago and it's a great freebie isn't it.

 

[Cernunnos]

The amount of Driver problems that raise their ugly heads with XP is unbelievable. My last PC ended up with numerous sound driver promblems, mostly & ironically due to the horrendous & numerous supposed updates that Windows would insist on sending. The conflicts on various programs that can occur in XP is barely worth thinking about.

Now although no real fan of Vista, the problems with XP really made me wish for my old windows 98 OS I'd previously used on another PC.

 

[RGuk]

I always rated XP. I've had so few issues, I was surprised to get such a small but frustrating problem.
I used the hp uninstall utility and loaded the latest hp all-in-one driver/software package.

So far, so good, "Word" now prints! Hooray.....now just watch it fail on the first re-boot.

The worst one ever (driver problem) was when I installed a professional sound card....wasted hours, decided to use system restore and try again.....been fine ever since.

Just as a side thought, it seems some things are very much determined by the motherboard/chip-set. I ordered a wireless card (netgear) and never got it running, even after a wasted call to India. I then looked for reviews on ebuyer for the product and absolutely no-one had a good word to say about it when using MSI board with AMD athlon. I sent it back, ordered a usb dongle instead and this is fabulous, it reaches through 3 floors, 2 doors and is nearly as good as my inbuilt laptop wireless. It's an odd business.

Thanks to everyone, I hope it's permanently fixed.