Why wont my hp printer work?

Hp printer wont work?

• i purchased a new comp, printer etc in Jan. It is all new Hp equiptment with windows vista. When i originally set it up i downloaded my printer and it all ran smoothly. Then, a couple of wks later i downloaded the trial version of Microsoft Office & Student to access an email i'd been sent. I couldn't work out how to print from this program and deleted it eventually. Now my problems began! After deleting the Office program, my printer stopped working. I deleted all the hp stuff from my comp, re-installed the printer only EVERYTIME i get to a point where it says connect USB cable, i do but it wont read on my comp! I've spent hrs talking to ppl from HP over the phone & trying a new disc they sent me but it all gives me the same original trouble..... "plz connect usb cable"! Before i organise a technition to come out does anyone have any suggestions about what this could be? I've de-activated my norton etc before trying to install also so nor i or the HP ppl know what's wrong!!!!

• Answer:

  It sounds like the OS's USB drivers are messed up. HP printers are notorious for being ok with the generic USB drivers for a first install but then freaking if you ever need to reinstall. Open up the Hardware Manager and delete the entire USB section. Reboot and let it auto detect the USB and install the generic MS/Intel drivers. Then find the drivers that belong to your Motherboard for the USB chipset and install those. If you don't know where your MB driver disk is or where to find those files online, stop and get help from someone who does. Worst case scenario - go drop $15 on a USB accessory card and install that. You could have USB 1 chipset and all of HP's newer printers need at least USB 2 (check also that your cable says USB2). It could also be sheer coincidence that the printer puked at the same time you were doing the uninstall though, so a tech may be needed unless you have another pc or can borrow a laptop to test with to see if the printer is recognized. It's also a lot easier to convince the phone tech to send out someone to fix the printer if you can tell them it's not recognized on more than one computer. However if you lie, the tech comes out and his laptop connects to it without an issue you will have one big fat bill to pay!