hp printer not working with vista

[tismehi]

i have a hp photosmart d5160 printer which according to my daughter, is working well on her xp desktop.

i wanted to use it with my vista premium laptop and so downloaded the driver -(full). from hp website.

after installing the drivers, at the prompt i switched the printer on and connected the usb lead.

the installtion began but would not finish although the printer seems to be installed. i tried to print a test page, but nothing happened.

i have the manual for the printer but it only refers me to the hp web page.

in the small display window of the printer, theres a flashing red exclamation mark and also an oval shaped "0" which is "pulsing" anti-clockwise.

the only other information i think is relevant is that i have another hp printer installed on the laptop too.

[RandyL]

If the installation didn't complete you should remove the printer from "Printers" in the control panel and uninstall any other programs that did install from "Programs and Features" in the control panel.

 

After that you could try it again or just install the basic drivers to see if that works.

[BeeCeeBee]

In order to simply rule out the obvious, are you certain that the new printer is the default printer or at least that it is the selected printer when you hit a print command?

[tismehi]

cheers guys,

yes it is the default printer - i did check that and i appreciate your reason for suggestion.

 

also i will download and install the basic driver but not before uninstalling all printers and software.

 

this might give me a chance and i suppose will give direction if it does not work.

[tismehi]

no luck at all.

 

i tried all above. get a message stating theres a compatible issue between my version of windows and the printer - this is despite there being two versions of a vista driver on hp website.

 

i will now delete the driver again and all references to hp on the hd, and try downloading the full driver version once more - after a restart of course.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, I at first suspected the usual problem of not being compatible with Vista, however a search of the HP website revealed that although that model is no longer available, it should be compatible, as I found this-

Supported operating systems

Windows 2000 (SP3 or higher); Windows XP Home; Windows XP Professional; Certified for Windows Vista; Mac OS X v 10.3.9; Mac OS X v 10.4 or higher

It says "Certified for Windows Vista " so there should be drivers available for it to work.

[tismehi]

i deleted all reference to hp, restarted and installed without downloading - a hp option.

 

it installed ok but still will not print.

 

i get an error message stating that the cover is open. i have opened and closed the cover and back panel a few times. i suppose this is what the red flashing exclamation mark light is about.

 

i do not know what to do now. it is a fine printer to me and i do not want to have to buy a new one just because of this.

 

i'm all out of ideas!

[Plastic Nev]

Right, next is to again unplug the printer, uninstall all drivers that Windows obviously found (you may have to plug the printer back in to do that fully, but unplug it afterwards) and clear the PC of any reference to it. Then go to the HP download site and download and install the specified drivers. Once fully installed, then plug the printer back into the PC. If that still fails, I recommend sending the details of your problem to the HP support centre and see what they come up with. I have had need to use their support for a problem with my printer, and got excellent help and support from them.

[tismehi]

just before i do that i have 1 other development.

the display screen of the printer now states: "err--003311ff44dddd6"

 

(i suppose the 11 could be ii and possibly the 6 could be a g)

[Tootech]

Does the printer still work on the XP dekstop PC?

 

You mentioned some kind of warning light sequence in your first post

 

Quote "in the small display window of the printer, theres a flashing red exclamation mark and also an oval shaped "0" which is "pulsing" anti-clockwise"

 

Did you find out what it meant? I am wondering if your printer is playing up or faulty, especially considering the latest error.

 

Berfore attemping another reinstall I would go through the motions of getting rid of any error messages on the printer and running a test page out from the printer controls.

 

One last thing that someone has just mentioned - have you tried using a different USB lead?

[tismehi]

i've tried swopping the usb leads 3 times and plugging them into a different socket too.

 

the red light i'm sure is the problem. i've sent details to hp but i suppose they will be a while in responding.

 

i have not been able to print a test page despite trying several times.

 

i have deleted the hp progs and printers again and have switched off avira too. i will download the full driver set up once more and install it again.

 

i'll be back!

[Plastic Nev]

Just one important thing, can you take it back to the XP machine and make sure it still works OK on that before going much further. We suspect there may be a problem with the printer, but if it works on the XP machine, it may be a compatibility problem with Vista after all.

[tismehi]

printing again!

 

i spent ages trying to get the printer working on the xp machine and meanwhile hp emailed me back with a couple of possible solutions.

 

i tried both and i now have the printer working on the vista laptop - which i set out out to do.

 

the solutions were to lift the cover and drop it to try and activate the open cover switch and also to reset the printer by unplugging for 30 seconds, switching on, press and hold ok and press right arrow 4 times.

i had to do this twice before it worked but then the red light went out and a test page was printed.

i have since printed another few test pages and another colour document - it works just fine.

now if only i could remember what i went to print last night!

 

many thanks for all of your suggestions again - once more a great result with the help of this forum.

[Plastic Nev]

Thanks for the feedback on getting it working. The lid switch is duly noted for the next time, it looks like they may be prone to sticking if HP tell you to basically thump it in the right place LOL.

[tismehi]

thats exactly what i thought.

next time it happens, i think i will take it apart and try to disable the switch.

thanks again all for your time, effort and patience.

joe.