topic Re: Printer Issue Need Help! in Electronics

Printer Issue Need Help!

Marybella — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 11:41:08 GMT

I have an HP wireless printer that has been working fine since I installed it in April. Now, out of the blue, my computer tells me that "the driver is unavailable." The printer is connected to my wireless network, but I can't get the driver re-installed on my computer. I have tried numerous times to remove and re-install, but I am unable to remove it (from Printers and Scanners), and it doesn't show up in the device manager, so something is goofed up. Now, I am confused! Please help me see the logical path to getting the driver that is "unavailable." Thanks for any insight you can give me!

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

Deb665 — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:10:47 GMT

I hate to say this, but a call to HP customer service might be your best bet. They can probably walk you through what to do in just a few minutes. Sorry that’s the best I can offer.

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

10000thnickname — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:14:01 GMT

Hi Marybella. Are you using Windows 10? Funny because that happened to me about a month ago! I had to go to the HP website, and find the right "driver" for my printer and upload it to my computer.
When I did that, BINGO, everything HP was great again!

I dd read that this happens when there is a required update to the software. Sigh.
I hope this works for you!

123.hp.com is the site to find your driver.

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

author — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:08:30 GMT

This happened twice to me recently.

The first time I did do the necessary printer updates, driver, software, firmware, downloaded and re-installed it all, and it worked out ok but did take most of the morning to do.

I used the HP print scan doctor software you download and install from their site, and it tells you what you need to update to fix issues.

Then a new Windows 10 update and it wouldn't print once again, got "printer in error" messages.

Tried all the same stuff, and eventually out of desperation set it up as a new wireless device with direct wi-fi connection to printer.

This is what you would do if you had a guest wanting to print from their computer - it was a video on the hp website and it worked great. Now I just choose this as the printer to use when I print something.

It's my same printer, just a slightly different name and connection.

It is so totally frustrating to have a wireless printer I don't think I'd ever get another one!

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

Marybella — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:36:48 GMT

I noticed this after a Windows update, so I uninstalled the updates that allowed me to uninstall. It is under warranty, so calling is the better idea for me, now. I have to believe there is some glitch that I can't discover that's creating the problem.

I did do the print and scan doctor several times and it couldn't figure out or fix the issue. I'll try to do the wifi-direct to the printer and see if that will work, but I still haven't been able to install the driver on my computer properly. The call to tech support will probably be my savior!

I'll follow up with the results later today. Thanks, everyone!

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

author — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:15:48 GMT

@Marybella

Good luck! Please post results, would be good to know what exactly the problem is and how you fixed it.

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

SilleeMee — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 16:14:17 GMT

Remove the the printer from the Device Manager. Restart your computer then try connecting the printer again. What has happened is the communication between the printer and your computer has been lost. Reasons for this can be from automatic updates to Windows software...it just happens sometimes (pita!). Most likely it is not because of driver updates. Those are usually taken care of whenever your system receives normal Windows updates. The problem is more likely a device communication disconnect.

How to do this:

- Go to Settings by typing that in the lower-left search box

- Click Settings

- Windows Settings will open

- Click Devices

- Under Bluetooth & other devices click the printer you have

- Click the Remove device button

You might have to restart your computer. After that you need to re-connect the printer.

@Marybella

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

10000thnickname — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 15:18:29 GMT

Good luck. Pretty sure it's the WIndows update .....you need to update the driver too.
You do that my downloading the driver from the HP website.
Same thing happened to me after Windows 10 update.

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

SilleeMee — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 16:36:57 GMT

Your printer might be located in HIDDEN DEVICES.

To access that:

- Hit Windows Key + X

- Select Device manager

- Drop down from View tab

- Look for Show hidden devices

- Select your printer there and remove it

@Marybella

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

Marybella — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:00:44 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Remove the the printer from the Device Manager. Restart your computer then try connecting the printer again. What has happened is the communication between the printer and your computer has been lost. Reasons for this can be from automatic updates to Windows software...it just happens sometimes (pita!). Most likely it is not because of driver updates. Those are usually taken care of whenever your system receives normal Windows updates. The problem is more likely a device communication disconnect.

How to do this:

- Go to Settings by typing that in the lower-left search box
- Click Settings
- Windows Settings will open
- Click Devices
- Under Bluetooth & other devices click the printer you have
- Click the Remove device button

You might have to restart your computer. After that you need to re-connect the printer.

@Marybella

@SilleeMee I know this sounds crazy, but I have tried to delete the printer umpteen times and each time it says "removal failed." I found it in hidden devices and tried there as well and it doesn't disappear. Yet, it still says driver unavailable. What the heck am I not doing correctly? Dang!

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

SilleeMee — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:05:22 GMT

@Marybella

Did you right click the printer and see if you could update the driver manually?

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

Marybella — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:33:14 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
@Marybella
Did you right click the printer and see if you could update the driver manually?

@SilleeMee Yes, I did. Didn't work. Thank you for trying to help me.

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

SilleeMee — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:40:14 GMT

@Marybella

After the last Windows update, did you do a Disk Cleanup? That will clear out old and unnecessary files that might be making things not work correctly.

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

Marybella — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 18:33:40 GMT

I ended up having to call HP support and have the agent do a remote control "rescue mission." I'm not really sure what the problem was, but it could have been an HP program file that was conflicting with what I was trying to do with the driver updates. So, sorry I am not able to say for sure what the issue was. It took about 45 minutes on the phone, so, hope it doesn't happen again! Thank you, everyone, who took the time to reply!

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

SeasonedCitizen — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 12:58:25 GMT

Went thru this in earlier part of year while DD was visiting. She spent hours & hours on Google and HP customer service. All to no avail.

One day I just unplugged it from wall--and it started working. When it didn't print it showed "not connected to WiFi".

Every so often it doesn't print and I just disconnect it and it starts. This is easier on the nerves!

Re: Printer Issue Need Help!

Marybella — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 14:05:49 GMT

@SeasonedCitizen wrote:
Went thru this in earlier part of year while DD was visiting. She spent hours & hours on Google and HP customer service. All to no avail.

One day I just unplugged it from wall--and it started working. When it didn't print it showed "not connected to WiFi".

Every so often it doesn't print and I just disconnect it and it starts. This is easier on the nerves!

That's usually the first thing I try when it doesn't work. In my case, it was more involved than that. It was connected to my wi-fi network and couldn't communicate with my computer. HP did a great job of getting it fixed!