Failure to Print after HDD replacement

Topic

HDD failed on my laptop, so I took to computer shop for replacement. Everything is working fine now, EXCEPT that I can no longer print. When I try to print, I get the icon in the notification ares that says 1 document is printing. Then in about 15 seconds it says 0 documents printing and NOTHING happens at the printer.

I tried shutting off the computer, the printer, and restarting both. Same results. I tried uninstalling the printer from the computer, doing a restart, then reinstalling the printer from the original CD. Same result. Te installed printer is marked as Default. I have tried moing the USB cord to another socket. Same result.

Computer is a HP G62 running Win 7 64 SP1 New HDD 1 tb with 4GB memory.

Printer is HP Deskjet 3050 – J610 printer, Scanner, Copier.

What do I need to do to fix this? I am at a loss as to what to do.

Any and all help and advice is welcome. Thanks, in advance.

Dave

Replies

Tell me more about the printer, please. Age, make, model.

A common problem I see is setting the fax as the default rather than the printer.

CT

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Pepsiboy

[Bob99]

@Canadian-Tech –

In addition to the wrong part of the multi-function device being marked as the default item, could there also be a problem with the print spooler itself? If so, would it be worth running SFC to check?

Although Dave has reinstalled the printer from scratch via the supplied CD, perhaps there’s a problem with the driver itself that’s rendering the printer inoperative? If so, then would a trip to the Device Mangler help reveal any problems associated with the driver via a yellow exclamation mark next to the printer?

Here’s a link to HP’s driver support page for Dave’s printer for your perusal:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-deskjet-3050-all-in-one-printer-series-j610/4066450/model/4066451

I figure that the USB port must be working because he was able to set up the printer using the CD, and that requires Windows or the software on the CD to be able to find the printer, or so I thought. Because of this, I figure that if the USB port wasn’t working, there would have been problems during the printer’s installation, along the lines of no printer being found.

Dave also said that he changed to another USB port with the same result of no output from the printer.

 

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Bob99.

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Pepsiboy

@Canadian Tech,

Computer and printer info is listed at bottom of original post.

Dave

Many thanks to all for the suggestions. None of it has helped, I still can not print any .jpg or .bmp images or documents. I really would like to take it back to computer store to get fixed, BUT, very tight budget says NO ! ! ! That is why I asked here for no cost tips and tricks that might work. I guess I’ll hae to bite the bullet and take it in. means I’ll be without it for another week and budget will be broken for another month and a half.

Dave

As a temporary solution, see if a thrift store has a printer you could buy at a low price.  One printer’s driver not working for me often will not stop a different printer from working.

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Pepsiboy

anonymous guest,

Our local thrift store does not sell ANYTHING that take electricity. Clothing, housewares, and books only.

Thanks,
Dave

Some stabs in the vacuum – or tilting at a stalled windmill —
Reported: This is a multi-function device; printing doesn’t work.
– Does the machine Copy OK?
– Within Windows, can you query ink levels? Print a Test Page?
– Does the Scan function work?
– Any chance that a different USB cord works?
– Is this a network-capable printer? Can it be ethernet-connected?
– When attempting to print, is there ANY indication at the printer that it is receiving a data stream? That is: any sound; Status lights; display panel says “Printing”, etc. ?
‘Cannot print jpg, bmp or document’.
– Does ‘document’ mean .doc? or anything, even a .txt file?

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Pepsiboy

PaulK,
Copy works just fine. Scan works, too.
I can check ink levels with no problem.
I tried 3 different USB cables. Same results.
Not a network printer. Connected b USB cable onl.
When trying to print, if printer is on, nothing happens. If printer is asleep, nothing happens.
Document for me means Spreadsheet, Database, or letter. Can not print pictures, .jpg files, .bmp files.

i will be calling computer shop this afternoon and see what they say. The will probably say “Bring in both computer and printer and we’ll check it out.”

Thanks for the tips.

Dave

Please run this test:
Open Devices and Printers
Right click on this printer
Choose Printer Properties
Click Print test page

CT

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Pepsiboy

CT,

Test page prints perfectly from both printer on and printer asleep. No problems with that. Thanks.

Dave

Now that is real progress. If that process prints a test page, you can be certain that your computer knows the printer is there and is able to communicate with it. The beauty of that is that it pegs the problem to be software on your computer — not the printer or printer driver software.

Make certain that printer is set as Default and has the check mark on it.

When you open Word (as an example) and select to print a document, you should see that printer in the dialogue box. If you do not, then there is a problem with Word. In any event, you should then be able to change the printer selection in that dialogue box and then print the document.

CT

We still don’t know if a plain-ol’ text file will print.
Use Notepad:
Key in some random characters, several ‘Enter’s (for line spacings), some more text.
File > Print
– BY ANY CHANCE are there multiple definitions for the printer?
– Is the printer set up to show a Print Preview?
– – If so, does this ‘text document’ appear to be correct?
– – – Does a Print Preview show other documents, those that won’t print?
– Print. What occurs?

On my (not an HP) printer, the display panel will show “Receiving Data”.
Is there anything on your panel when you print [the above], or a Test Page?

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Pepsiboy

Paul,

No multiple definitions of printer. Only one.

Yes, set for print preview. It works for ALL files, documents and pictures, including those that will not print.

Click print, everything prints EXCEPT for .jpg,  .bmp, and .jpeg  files. Those files show in print spooler as being ready to print. after about 15 to 20 seconds spooler shows zero documents ready to print.

Dave

I note that these non-printers are all graphic files. What program(s) is/are being used to view and (attempt to) print them? How about other types of graphics files: gif, png?

What occurs if you print a graphic that is part of something else, for instance, something from another thread here at Woody? Does the accompanying text print, but not the graphic, or does the whole print job vaporize?

Go to windows settings app,  search in box for printers.  There, find your printer, click on it and “open queue”  In that box, in the title if it says “use printer offline” that means the printer is set to use offline / later.  In the menu, uncheck use printer offline and try printing again.

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Pepsiboy

anonymous guest,

Use printer offline is not an option for this printer.

Dave

Apologies to all for taking such a long time to reply. Family medical emergency came up and had to deal with that.

I will be talking with computer shop this afternoon to see if they can resolve my problem. will post results here later.

Many thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Dave

caution: Repairs to a printer will almost always exceed the cost of a new one.

CT

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Pepsiboy

I have a stupid thought… do you have a different usb cable?  I’ve had cables go bad on me.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Pepsiboy

Susan,

I have tried several different USB cables, ALL have the same result. Thanks for the tip.

Dave

I will be talking with computer shop this afternoon to see if they can resolve my problem. will post results here later.

What type of resolution has your local shop come up with for the problem?

From reading the posts here so far, since you can print, just not any .jpg, .jpeg and .bmp files, it sounds like the problem lies in the program(s) you’re using to display those files in the first place.

However, since you said above that…

Click print, everything prints EXCEPT for .jpg,  .bmp, and .jpeg  files. Those files show in print spooler as being ready to print. after about 15 to 20 seconds spooler shows zero documents ready to print. ,

that then suggests that just maybe there’s still a problem somehow within the print spooler itself, rather than the program(s) you are using to display these files that won’t print. I do suppose, however, that it could be possible that the printing info isn’t being passed correctly to the print spooler from the program in the first place somehow. I added the bolding in the quote above for emphasis.

@PaulK and @Canadian-Tech , I hope this helps you help Dave get the problem straightened out in case his local shop has no answers. If I’m wrong in my guess(es) above, please don’t hesitate to correct them.

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Pepsiboy

Bob99,

Well, I have to wait until Tuesday to talk to computer shop. They are closed from Noon Friday until Noon Tuesday.

Thank you for the tip. I wish I knew how to check out the spooler. However, I am starting to think that the problem is with the printer. Our HP Desktop is now doing the same thing. Unfortunately, budget says I can not get another printer until I get S.S. check in 2 weeks. I guess I’ll have to wait patiently until then to find out.

Many thanks to all for the help and tips. I’ll post back here as I am able to check things out.

Dave

If you put a picture in a Word doc file and print that, does it print successfully?  Could you do that as a workaround for a while?

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Pepsiboy

Was this, upthread, overlooked?
(I don’t have a solution to the problem of noting reply postings in-line vs at the bottom. ‘Inserts’ are easily missed in a long thread.)

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Pepsiboy

PaulK,

No, it was not overlooked. Tanks for the thought.

Dave

Well, computer shop said “Bring in both computer and printer and we’ll see what we can do”. I can’t afford their hourly rate at this time, so I found a relatively cheep printer at Wally World and brought it home. I figured that if THIS didn’t fix my problem, I could always take it back for a refund.

Guess what?? New printer works PERFECTLY ! ! !  Best part is that the desktop can be connected by USB and laptop connects by WIFI. COOL, no more stretching a USB cable from the laptop to the printer across the room ! ! !  Win, win for us. Best part was the cost was LESS than 1 hour shop time against the budget. Unexpected expense, but cheaper than going to the shop. We are now happy printers again.

Thanks to all for the tips and advice.

Dave

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Bob99, Canadian Tech

The life expectancy of an inkjet printer is about 3 years. They are essentially non-repairable throw-away devices. The consumables cost many times what the printer costs

Ever since HP stopped including the inkjets in the ink tanks a number of years ago, their ink jet printers now last about 3 years. At about that age the inkjets, which are now part of the printer, will clog up and likely the only way to fix the problem is to replace the jets. That part usually costs about as much as a new printer. So, that means life-expectancy for those printers is only about 3 years. Their warranty is only one year and repair cost by a pro will be much more than the cost of a new one. Land-fill here we come.

HP makes a lot of pretty cheap ink-jet printers. Often the cost of the new printer is less than the cost of replacing the ink tanks in your current one.

A much better alternative is the black/white laser printer. NOT the colour lasers. The B/W laser is a bit more expensive at first, but the cost of using it is less than half that of an inkjet. And, it will last far longer.

Consider very seriously replacing with a B/W laser printer if you can live with out colour print.

You will have a very hard time finding a printer that is just a printer. They only make combo units. There are a few lasers that have fewer components to the combo. My clients have found Brother and Samsung lasers they are happy with.

Do some careful shopping, you may find prices vary a lot for no good reason. Sales on printers are very common. Often, end of year models are good buys and there are rarely any really useful new features on newer models.

CT

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Pepsiboy

CT,

Old printer was about 8 ears old. It didn’t owe us anything. We’ll probably use this one until ink cartridges get stupid expensive or something stops working properly.

Dave

[Bob99]

Thanks to all for the tips and advice.

You’re Very Welcome, and congratulations on getting a newer printer that works fully with your installation!  🙂  👍

In keeping with @Canadian-Tech ‘s post above (where the expected age is addressed), just how old was your DeskJet 3050, or how long had you had it or how long had you been using it?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Bob99.

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Pepsiboy

Bob99,

As I said to CT, old printer was about 8 years old and didn’t owe us anything.

Dave

New printer fixed everything.