Can't print - need to remove and reinstall printer

Hi all,

Using W7 64b pro on 2 pc's. Ever since we reinstalled Windows on both
pc's, we have a weird problem. We have a local LAN, with a print server
(Win 7 pro 32b), with a USB printer connected (HP 6100). From both pc's
we use the networked printer on the print server. Many times it won't
print, printer is offline and it asks us to update the driver. That can
be done but it won't make a difference. I need to remove the networked
printer from the pc's and need to install them again.
Before we reinstalled windows on the 2 pc's there was no problem. It
always worked flawlessly.
Now we can print for a day. Next day I'll have to remove the printer and
install it again. This is for both pc's.
What can be wrong?

Fokke

On 10/26/2017 6:30 AM, Wolf K wrote:
Also make sure the printer driver(s) are from the manufacturer, not from
a 3rd party "driver help" website.

Not from Microsoft.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

By allowing employers to eliminate coverage for birth control
from their insurance plans, President Trump has guaranteed there
will be an increase in the demand for abortions.

On 26/10/2017 15:30, Wolf K wrote:
On 2017-10-26 08:53, Fokke Nauta wrote:
Hi all,

Using W7 64b pro on 2 pc's. Ever since we reinstalled Windows on both
pc's, we have a weird problem. We have a local LAN, with a print
server (Win 7 pro 32b), with a USB printer connected (HP 6100). From
both pc's we use the networked printer on the print server. Many times
it won't print, printer is offline and it asks us to update the
driver. That can be done but it won't make a difference. I need to
remove the networked printer from the pc's and need to install them
again.
Before we reinstalled windows on the 2 pc's there was no problem. It
always worked flawlessly.
Now we can print for a day. Next day I'll have to remove the printer
and install it again. This is for both pc's.
What can be wrong?

Fokke

It may be that the removal is incomplete. Try removing the printer, then
cleaning the registry of all references to the printer before you
reinstall it. (Removing a device sometimes merely flags it as "not
present".)

Also make sure the printer driver(s) are from the manufacturer, not from
a 3rd party "driver help" website.

Good luck,


Thanks,

Can't find anything in the registry referring to the printer. And I used
the official installation cd from HP when I installed it on the server.
Maybe I should remove it from the server and reinstall it there?

Fokke

On 26/10/2017 19:18, David E. Ross wrote:
On 10/26/2017 6:30 AM, Wolf K wrote:
Also make sure the printer driver(s) are from the manufacturer, not from
a 3rd party "driver help" website.

Not from Microsoft.


Does MS have any printer drivers?

Fokke

On 10/26/2017 10:31 AM, Fokke Nauta wrote:
On 26/10/2017 19:18, David E. Ross wrote:
On 10/26/2017 6:30 AM, Wolf K wrote:
Also make sure the printer driver(s) are from the manufacturer, not from
a 3rd party "driver help" website.

Not from Microsoft.


Does MS have any printer drivers?

Fokke


I am not sure about drivers specific for printers. However, Microsoft's
periodic updates often feature drivers for non-Microsoft products. I
avoid all of them.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

By allowing employers to eliminate coverage for birth control
from their insurance plans, President Trump has guaranteed there
will be an increase in the demand for abortions.

On 26/10/2017 13:53:00, Fokke Nauta wrote:
Hi all,

Using W7 64b pro on 2 pc's. Ever since we reinstalled Windows on both pc's,
we have a weird problem. We have a local LAN, with a print server (Win 7 pro
32b), with a USB printer connected (HP 6100). From both pc's we use the
networked printer on the print server. Many times it won't print, printer is
offline and it asks us to update the driver. That can be done but it won't
make a difference. I need to remove the networked printer from the pc's and
need to install them again.
Before we reinstalled windows on the 2 pc's there was no problem. It always
worked flawlessly.
Now we can print for a day. Next day I'll have to remove the printer and
install it again. This is for both pc's.
What can be wrong?

Fokke

That is odd. I get the same behaviour with Windows 10 but the Windows 7
computer never has a problem. My printer is a HP Photosmart C4100.

Every time there is an update to Win 10 I have to uninstall the HP
software then re-install. I let the HP CD do the uninstall and
re-install. Win 7 updates do not give me a problem with the HP
printer.

Searching the internet it seems as though there are plenty of issues
regarding HP printers and windows updates.

As an aside, Linux is really good with HP printers, they seem to go out
of their way to support them and I have never had an issue with
printing.

--
mick

mick wrote:
On 26/10/2017 13:53:00, Fokke Nauta wrote:
Hi all,

Using W7 64b pro on 2 pc's. Ever since we reinstalled Windows on both
pc's, we have a weird problem. We have a local LAN, with a print
server (Win 7 pro 32b), with a USB printer connected (HP 6100). From
both pc's we use the networked printer on the print server. Many times
it won't print, printer is offline and it asks us to update the
driver. That can be done but it won't make a difference. I need to
remove the networked printer from the pc's and need to install them
again.
Before we reinstalled windows on the 2 pc's there was no problem. It
always worked flawlessly.
Now we can print for a day. Next day I'll have to remove the printer
and install it again. This is for both pc's.
What can be wrong?

Fokke

That is odd. I get the same behaviour with Windows 10 but the Windows 7
computer never has a problem. My printer is a HP Photosmart C4100.

Every time there is an update to Win 10 I have to uninstall the HP
software then re-install. I let the HP CD do the uninstall and
re-install. Win 7 updates do not give me a problem with the HP printer.

Searching the internet it seems as though there are plenty of issues
regarding HP printers and windows updates.

As an aside, Linux is really good with HP printers, they seem to go out
of their way to support them and I have never had an issue with printing.

But it's only fair to compare an apple and an orange.

The HP software tends to be a suite, like 300MB of software.
That's not only a basic driver, that's "290MB of crap you don't need" :-)

When Windows 10 does an OS upgrade, it tends to mess about with
packages and drivers. For example, if may keep reinstalling
my video driver I gave it long ago. Now, if the migration step
it's doing, cannot deal with a ginormous HP printer suite, funny things
will happen.

Some printers, you can use a Universal Print Driver, which
basically just does plumbing connections. It's possible that driver
would be simple enough, to work properly whenever Windows Update
does its thing.

The Linux CUPS is basic plumbing. Because nobody really
needed that huge suite in the first place. But in the
software wars, it was important as a printer maker,
to have a "bigger CD" than the next guy.

On my printer on Win7, the competitors "suite" is so big
for the inkjet, that it slows the OS down, even when
the printer is unplugged. Which I consider to be
utter crap for software design. Even if these softwares
survive day-to-day events, they can be a horrible design
from a user satisfaction point of view. I expect a printer
driver to remain dormant, if the printer is not there :-/

Linux is winning here, because of the KISS principle.

Paul

In message , Paul
writes:
[]
But it's only fair to compare an apple and an orange.

The HP software tends to be a suite, like 300MB of software.
That's not only a basic driver, that's "290MB of crap you don't need" :-)

Agreed!
[]
Some printers, you can use a Universal Print Driver, which
basically just does plumbing connections. It's possible that driver
would be simple enough, to work properly whenever Windows Update
does its thing.

Is that a Universal Print Driver for printers from that manufacturer
only, or is there a basic underlying driver that works with all
printers?

The Linux CUPS is basic plumbing. Because nobody really
needed that huge suite in the first place. But in the

If that means that there _is_ something common to all printers (or even
just all inkjet, or all laser, printers), then it's high time it became
available through Windows. OK, it might not use certain features a
particular model has, or even not drive the printer(s) particularly
efficiently, but ...

software wars, it was important as a printer maker,
to have a "bigger CD" than the next guy.

I don't think it's that so much, as the manufacturers wanting to control
access to their printers with a grip of iron. (IME the quality of the
bundled applications is poor - not only are they, as you say, huge, but
they tend to do things in a way that I, at least, find non-intuitive,
requiring the learning of yet another way to do the same things [such as
obtain a scan, since they're nearly always scanners too these days].)

On my printer on Win7, the competitors "suite" is so big

Competitor?

for the inkjet, that it slows the OS down, even when
the printer is unplugged. Which I consider to be
utter crap for software design. Even if these softwares
Agreed.
survive day-to-day events, they can be a horrible design
from a user satisfaction point of view. I expect a printer
driver to remain dormant, if the printer is not there :-/
Ideally, not even load until needed. Loading at startup regardless is
something that a lot of softwares do though (and in the case of a
driver, probably less easy - impossible for many users - to prevent).

Linux is winning here, because of the KISS principle.

You'd have _thought_ that a universal driver for Windows would have come
from Microsoft by now - as it did for impact ("dot matrix") printers in
about Windows 7.

Paul
John
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If you carry on hating, you're the one who's damaged.
- Sir Harold Atcherley, sent to the Burma/Siam railway in April 1943

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:


You'd have _thought_ that a universal driver for Windows would have come
from Microsoft by now - as it did for impact ("dot matrix") printers in
about Windows 7.

Microsoft makes a print driver, which can and is being
customized by printer manufacturers. Which was the
intended purpose. But it doesn't cover everything
(not all printer categories).

Sometimes you can spot this on a printer driver download
page, where the driver offered will be named as such.

Microsoft can offer these drivers, any place where sufficient
standards exist to make it possible. There are still
hardware areas, where standards don't seem to exist, like
scanners. The scanner makers have a limited supply of
"single chip scanner chips" to choose from, but there's
still an awful lot of different designs out there.

The biggest innovation on scanning (like on AIOs), is
"Network Scan", where the scanner dumps the scan into
a PC SMB share. Avoiding the need for the PC to "push
the carriage around" and so on.

Paul

On 26/10/2017 21:49:20, Paul wrote:
mick wrote:
On 26/10/2017 13:53:00, Fokke Nauta wrote:
Hi all,

Using W7 64b pro on 2 pc's. Ever since we reinstalled Windows on both
pc's, we have a weird problem. We have a local LAN, with a print server
(Win 7 pro 32b), with a USB printer connected (HP 6100). From both pc's we
use the networked printer on the print server. Many times it won't print,
printer is offline and it asks us to update the driver. That can be done
but it won't make a difference. I need to remove the networked printer
from the pc's and need to install them again.
Before we reinstalled windows on the 2 pc's there was no problem. It
always worked flawlessly.
Now we can print for a day. Next day I'll have to remove the printer and
install it again. This is for both pc's.
What can be wrong?

Fokke

That is odd. I get the same behaviour with Windows 10 but the Windows 7
computer never has a problem. My printer is a HP Photosmart C4100.

Every time there is an update to Win 10 I have to uninstall the HP software
then re-install. I let the HP CD do the uninstall and re-install. Win 7
updates do not give me a problem with the HP printer.

Searching the internet it seems as though there are plenty of issues
regarding HP printers and windows updates.

As an aside, Linux is really good with HP printers, they seem to go out of
their way to support them and I have never had an issue with printing.

But it's only fair to compare an apple and an orange.

The HP software tends to be a suite, like 300MB of software.
That's not only a basic driver, that's "290MB of crap you don't need" :-)

All of the HP install that I do adds up to 47.43MB. If I allowed it to
install the rest of the suite then maybe it would swell to nearer your
estimated 300MB.
I suppose I could uninstall the HP automatic update facility to reduce
the load by another 8MB as there is little chance of there ever being
an update. ;-)

--
mick