Road Block Windows installer question

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Greetings. I recently acquired (thanks to people on the earlier version of this website) a new (used) PC that has a lot more memory than the old one. The same person also gave me a new printer. Both work just fine, but I’m having trouble installing the printer onto the computer. The new printer is an HP Photosmart 7960, the PC uses Windows XP. The printer had no installation disc so I tried installing from the HP website. I keep running into this roadblock: “Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.” I’m assuming the solution is a simple one. I just need to put these two together. Any advice anyone?

Greythings

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Go to control panel, and look for Printers and Faxes (I think).
Go there, and you should find a generic printer that XP has built in, and a
place to “add a printer”.
Maybe using this wizard will clear the way?? Good luck

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Forgot to mention the printer connects through a USB port. According to Printers and Faxes, P&F is unnecessary for USB. I tried to add anyway, but it didn’t work .

Go to control panel, and look for Printers and Faxes (I think).
Go there, and you should find a generic printer that XP has built in, and a
place to “add a printer”.
Maybe using this wizard will clear the way?? Good luck

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HP Photosmart 7960 installation instructions

HP Photosmart 7960 drivers. Select your version of XP (32 bit or 64 bit)

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I already have the instructions, I just don’t have the disc. I’m trying to install from the HP website. It seems to work until I run into the “Invalid command line argument” roadblock.

HP Photosmart 7960 installation instructions

HP Photosmart 7960 drivers. Select your version of XP (32 bit or 64 bit)

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I’m trying to install from the HP website.

Just a symantics check here; you are actually downloading the installation software to your system first and then trying to install it correct?

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Yes, I went to the HP website, clicked on Support. I tried both Download Only and Install and both led to the same roadblock.

Just a symantics check here; you are actually downloading the installation software to your system first and then trying to install it correct?

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Further research suggests that I should install Windows SDK for Windows 7 (along with various updates) before installing the printer. Besides questioning whether it’ll actually work, I’m wondering if I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill with possibly unnecessary installs This might point the way towards clearing that “Invalid Command Line Argument” I keep getting but I don’t know Anyone have experience with this program?

Yes, I went to the HP website, clicked on Support. I tried both Download Only and Install and both led to the same roadblock.

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Further research suggests that I should install Windows SDK for Windows 7 (along with various updates) before installing the printer. Besides questioning whether it’ll actually work, I’m wondering if I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill with possibly unnecessary installs This might point the way towards clearing that “Invalid Command Line Argument” I keep getting but I don’t know Anyone have experience with this program?

There is NO reason you should have to install an SDK to get OEM software to install properly.

Have you saved the installation file to your PC before trying to run it?

Have you double checked that you are downloading the correct version for your OS?

Joe

--Joe

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The installation file is waiting on my Desktop. I downloaded from http://www.hp.com; Support and Drivers. The version is the correct one. When I run the file, the installation works fine until around the third step. Then a message pops up: “Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.” Then a another message informs me the installation was unsuccessful, press continue to uninstall, then restart. The roadblock is here somewhere.

There is NO reason you should have to install an SDK to get OEM software to install properly.

Have you saved the installation file to your PC before trying to run it?

Have you double checked that you are downloading the correct version for your OS?

Joe

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The installation file is waiting on my Desktop. I downloaded from http://www.hp.com; Support and Drivers. The version is the correct one. When I run the file, the installation works fine until around the third step. Then a message pops up: “Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.” Then a another message informs me the installation was unsuccessful, press continue to uninstall, then restart. The roadblock is here somewhere.

Unless you can see the command line and its arguments the SDK is not going to help. Your best bet is the HP forums or HP customer support.

Joe

--Joe

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An article on http://www.out-of-warranty.com made me wonder. My PC and printer are second hand. There’s a lot of stuff I’m still going over, including HP programs. Could old HP progs be interfering with installation?

Greythings8

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Knowing that this is a older machine w/WinXP. If it is using a older version of the Microsoft Installer, it may not have the necessary switches (within the installer program) to work with the HP install software. You may try this link to install the latest Windows Installer version. Install it and retry the HP Install , and see if that makes a difference.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942288
Also, knowing HP USB printer installs, do not plug the usb cable into the computer until the software installation tells you to do so. If you do so, then XP will try to load generic usb controls for it and it will usually not work correctly. Now if this has been done you will have to remove any traces of this printer from XP before you retry the install. Just make sure there is no printers installed before you retry it.
Then , you might want to head to the Windows Update site to get all the latest patches for the machine, Even with SP3 installed there are quit a few of them to download/install. Plus your probably going
to need the .net framework installed at some point in time, as alot of software is currently being written with that pre-requisite.

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Knowing that this is a older machine w/WinXP. If it is using a older version of the Microsoft Installer, it may not have the necessary switches (within the installer program) to work with the HP install software. You may try this link to install the latest Windows Installer version. Install it and retry the HP Install , and see if that makes a difference.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942288
Also, knowing HP USB printer installs, do not plug the usb cable into the computer until the software installation tells you to do so. If you do so, then XP will try to load generic usb controls for it and it will usually not work correctly. Now if this has been done you will have to remove any traces of this printer from XP before you retry the install. Just make sure there is no printers installed before you retry it.
Then , you might want to head to the Windows Update site to get all the latest patches for the machine, Even with SP3 installed there are quit a few of them to download/install. Plus your probably going
to need the .net framework installed at some point in time, as alot of software is currently being written with that pre-requisite.

That sounds like something to pursue. My OS is Win XP SP 3. Would I need to uninstall any old progs first? As for printer installation, I spent two days chatting with HP last week over the printer issue. I would post the transcripts if they weren’t too long. They might help narrow down the problem though.

Greythings8

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That sounds like something to pursue. My OS is Win XP SP 3. Would I need to uninstall any old progs first?

You should NOT have to uninstall any programs to update the Windows Installer. You’ll probably have to re-boot though.

Joe

--Joe

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You should NOT have to uninstall any programs to update the Windows Installer. You’ll probably have to re-boot though.

Joe

Just a brief question: I’m about to try using a flash drive for the first time, to back up my files before running the Windows Installer. Is a flash drive better than trying to save everything to DVD?

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Just a brief question: I’m about to try using a flash drive for the first time, to back up my files before running the Windows Installer. Is a flash drive better than trying to save everything to DVD?

I recommend using an external disk drive rather than flash drive or dvd.

Joe

--Joe

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I recommend using an external disk drive rather than flash drive or dvd.

Joe

Unfortunately, I do not have an external disk drive nor the finances to buy one, so it’s either the flash drive or the dvd.

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Unfortunately, I do not have an external disk drive nor the finances to buy one, so it’s either the flash drive or the dvd.

Then I would trust DVDs. Be sure to check that you can read them after they are created. If you are using an imaging program use the built in validation option.

Joe

--Joe

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Knowing that this is a older machine w/WinXP. If it is using a older version of the Microsoft Installer, it may not have the necessary switches (within the installer program) to work with the HP install software. You may try this link to install the latest Windows Installer version. Install it and retry the HP Install , and see if that makes a difference.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942288
Also, knowing HP USB printer installs, do not plug the usb cable into the computer until the software installation tells you to do so. If you do so, then XP will try to load generic usb controls for it and it will usually not work correctly. Now if this has been done you will have to remove any traces of this printer from XP before you retry the install. Just make sure there is no printers installed before you retry it.
Then , you might want to head to the Windows Update site to get all the latest patches for the machine, Even with SP3 installed there are quit a few of them to download/install. Plus your probably going
to need the .net framework installed at some point in time, as alot of software is currently being written with that pre-requisite.

Do I download all the files listed or just the ones specific to my problem? And which one are those?

Greythings8

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Do I download all the files listed or just the ones specific to my problem? And which one are those?

Greythings8

Anybody have ideas which files to download? All of them? Some of them?

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Do I download all the files listed or just the ones specific to my problem? And which one are those?

You only download the file for the operating system on which you want to install the software. For XP, it is WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe.

Joe

--Joe

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Ooops! Didn’t notice. Personal embarrassment.

You only download the file for the operating system on which you want to install the software. For XP, it is WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe.

Joe

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Photosmart Advice

This is the advice I got from various forums where I posted my Photosmart 7960 trouble. They all sound like good ideas but, before I proceed, I thought it would be interesting to post the replies together on the different forums; maybe see what people think after reading.

Dell.Com Forum
Re: HP Photosmart 7960+Windows XP+Dimension 4600=?
By PudgyOne in Printers
You can try doing the Transfer Ownership. Hopefully the person you got the computer from transferred it to your name. After the transfer, if you live in the United Stated, you can then request a backup set of disks by clicking below my signature.
I was hoping, if needed, to repair Windows Xp uning the disk. Desktops are a little harder to get the usb ports working when they malfunction. I feel this could be part of the problem.
You could try disconnecting the printer, uninstall the printer at start, control panel, add/remove programs, then restart your computer.
Right click start, left click explore and look for a programs files folder. Look for the HP printer folder. If it’s there, then delete it. Also make sure the printer is removed. Manual Printer Driver Removal
Then try installing the printer drivers. You’ll get a message the printer is not connected. Connect the printer at this time.(powered on)
Rick

What version of Internet Explorer do you have installed. I just remembered I had some problems with my Hp camera software and certain versions of Internet Explorer.

Open Internet Explorer, click on help, about. Post back the version you have here.
Rick

Here’s the IE version.
Version 8.0.6001.18702
Build 86001
Application Path C:Program FilesInternet Explorer
Language English (United States)
Active Printer Not Available

Cipher Strength 128-bit
Content Advisor Disabled
IEAK Install No
Greythings8

Are you ready to experiment? I hope we can do this, since it’s IE8.

Try going to start, control panel, add/remove programs, show updates. Now uninstall Internet Explorer 8. You’ll get a prompt, these programs were installed and might not work properly. Click ok and follow the instructions. When the computer restarts, you should have IE7 back.

Restart your computer a second time for safety measures.

Now go to control panel, add/remove programs, show updates. Uninstall Internet Explorer 7. You’ll get the same message, these programs were installed and might not work properly. Click ok and follow and follow the instructions. When the computer restarts, you should have IE6 back, if everything works correctly.

I had IE6 installed. When I went from IE6 to IE7, my HP camera software, phone software and a few other programs stopped working. I uninstalled IE7 and went back to IE6 and everything started working again. My suspicions are that IE7 and IE8 are causing the HP issues.
Rick

If you cannot uninstall IE7 and go back to IE6, when you get the backup set of disks, when you repair Windows XP, IE6 will be there.

Windows Forums
If you purchased a 2nd hand PC I trust you have all the Dell recovery / installation disks, assuming you do it would be wise to use the Dell cd’s to recover to factory supplied condition, then connect to the internet and install Win critical updates only. Then visit Dell support site sepecific to your Tag# and install any critiacle Dell driver updates.
Only after all this should you think about installing any printer or software
PS The usual method of installing a printer is to first install the printer software and only connect the printer when the installation asks.

I’ve got an HP 7960, and you’re a lucky man to have one too. They’re great printers. I’ve had this thing probably 7 years or so, and it prints awesome photos, great speed on black text, and I’ve got the duplexer option on mine so that I can print double sided. The MS slot on the card reader is a little flaky from being used too much, but that’s fine because I don’t have a camera with MS anymore.

Anyway, I’ve used this printer under Windows XP, Vista, 7, Ubuntu, and OS X. It works great with all of them.

The drivers for XP 32 bit are available at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ps-18223-2&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=228&product=305383

The previous advice is good, though. Wipe out the machine, do a clean install of the OS. Install Dell drivers. Then download and install HP drivers. Don’t plug in the printer until the installer says “Plug in the printer”. If you plug in the printer before the installer tells you then you’ll have problems.
Thomas Dietrich

hello
have you checked you device manager for error codes “a red x” or” yellow !”
to go to the device manager and check for errors an trouble shoot see here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560/

Windows Lounge
Knowing that this is a older machine w/WinXP. If it is using a older version of the Microsoft Installer, it may not have the necessary switches (within the installer program) to work with the HP install software. You may try this link to install the latest Windows Installer version. Install it and retry the HP Install , and see if that makes a difference.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942288
Also, knowing HP USB printer installs, do not plug the usb cable into the computer until the software installation tells you to do so. If you do so, then XP will try to load generic usb controls for it and it will usually not work correctly. Now if this has been done you will have to remove any traces of this printer from XP before you retry the install. Just make sure there is no printers installed before you retry it.
Then , you might want to head to the Windows Update site to get all the latest patches for the machine, Even with SP3 installed there are quit a few of them to download/install. Plus your probably going
to need the .net framework installed at some point in time, as alot of software is currently being written with that pre-requisite.

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If you got this computer second hand, don’t you think it would be wise & prudent to rid it of other’s
settings and such by doing a full reformat and clean instal right from the get go?

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If you got this computer second hand, don’t you think it would be wise & prudent to rid it of other’s
settings and such by doing a full reformat and clean instal right from the get go?

The is the nuke option. I prefer to try everything else first.

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Here are the transcripts of my chat with HP. Maybe my experience can stimulate some ideas.

Greythings

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