NA Printer frustration x10

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Dave Taylor
I have an HP P1102W which works fine on one desktop (WinXP)
I attached it to a Win7 computer and it won't work.
It appears in the Devices/Printer window as a Device instead of a Printer. I cannot delete the device, I have rebooted all several times.
I have tried downloading their assistant software.
I went back on a restore points.
It is supposed to be plug and play.
An identical printer migrated successfully to an identical Win7 computer at the same time.
 
How are you connecting it? Are you trying to connect it directly (via USB), via the JetDirect link, through another server?
 
The "W" means this printer is wireless capable. I suspect your problem is that the wireless and the wired features are in conflict.

Make sure the wireless mode is turned off if you really want to connect by USB. I have a HP wireless printer and find that the wireless feature works flawlessly.

-Skip
 
The HP software is really bad. I ended up just throwing away an otherwise good HP.

Bought a Canon.
 
Look for a "drive" that is the HP, and run the install program there.
 
The HP software is really bad. I ended up just throwing away an otherwise good HP.

Bought a Canon.

And I have a Canon I'm willing to give to anyone who is willing to suffer through using their miserable software.
 
The "W" means this printer is wireless capable. I suspect your problem is that the wireless and the wired features are in conflict.
Make sure the wireless mode is turned off if you really want to connect by USB. I have a HP wireless printer and find that the wireless feature works flawlessly.

Skip, I like the idea but how do you turn the wireless off? I cannot access the printer from the computer. There is no screen on the printer.
And, when I plug this into another computer (its a WinXP) it works fine.

When I go to Start>Devices and Printers - it appears as a device. Digging deeper into the options, the computer thinks it is a CD with SmartInstall on it. Clicking this tries to install the wireless option -it asks for the IP address of the printer (but this desktop is not wireless capable so I did not proceed).

This is not My Computer->Drives C, D, E etc, it is Start/Devices and Printers. Nothing unusual appears in My Computer.

Thanks
 
My recently acquired HP disables wireless when the network cable is plugged in Check the user's manual.
 
That is an old printer. Win 7 should have a built in driver. You could download the driver from HP and run through the setup. I would try a different USB port on the computer and also try a different USB cable. If it is the same cable that works on the WinXP computer, it maybe the USB port on the computer.
 
What manual?
Have tried 4 usb ports.
First thing I did was to dl the driver and install but that has not fixed it (2 different downloads now)
Thanks
I think it is this computer because the printer works fine on the other computer.
It insists this is not a printer, but a CD. Need to retrain the computer somehow.
 
I fixed it.
 
Some user manuals (Garmin comes to mind) may as well be written in Swahili. "OMG, why didn't I think of that" answers can usually be found quickly on line.
 
That is an old printer. Win 7 should have a built in driver. You could download the driver from HP and run through the setup. I would try a different USB port on the computer and also try a different USB cable. If it is the same cable that works on the WinXP computer, it maybe the USB port on the computer.

If it's that old a printer I'm betting HP did not build a Win7 driver for it. Instead relying on the Win7 generic driver. I ran into that with an old printer and scanners.
 
The exact same printer is working fine on an exact copy of another Win7 desktop.
BTW, it worked for a day then quit.
I look into Devices and Printers and there are ghost copies of the printer (2 greyed out non specific 1100 printers) and 2 HPp1102w printers (one says "copy"). Now the copy version is working. Gotta roll with it.
 
If it's that old a printer I'm betting HP did not build a Win7 driver for it. Instead relying on the Win7 generic driver. I ran into that with an old printer and scanners.
The OS will recognize the printer. Yes, it is a generic HP PCL driver, but you should not need to download the driver. You can, but it is not required. I used a HP 1100A for many years all the way to Win 10 before I finally retired it. Eventually I got tired of it often sucking up multiple sheets (worn pickup rollers).
 
How do I get a clean sheet start with this printer?
It did not load the printer drivers automatically (as the popup says) or if it did, it was defective (because it would never work).
So I went looking for them, (that site bflynn just linked) and downloading that leads to this mess of multiple printer icons, ghost printer icons, non-functional printer icons, and a printer that is not reliable.
I want to tell the computer to erase any memory of this printer and I want to plug it in and start all over. (note above, I have gone back to a pre-printer restore point).
 
How do I get a clean sheet start with this printer?
It did not load the printer drivers automatically (as the popup says) or if it did, it was defective (because it would never work).
So I went looking for them, (that site bflynn just linked) and downloading that leads to this mess of multiple printer icons, ghost printer icons, non-functional printer icons, and a printer that is not reliable.
I want to tell the computer to erase any memory of this printer and I want to plug it in and start all over. (note above, I have gone back to a pre-printer restore point).

You can force a driver update by going into Printer Properties under Devices and Printers and selecting the Advanced tab. There should be a button for new driver or update driver. You would then point it to a location where you downloaded the driver to. Delete the unused/unwanted printer definitions, so you are just troubleshooting one device. This could be a port/USB issue, still. I would try a different cable (since they are cheap) and/or try setting it up as a wireless printer. Here is a link to set it up as a wireless printer http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02847467

John
 
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