Windows 10: HP printer software keeps reinstalling, Windows acts like malware.

I have never had an HP product in my household, nor do I intend to, afterall they are the company whose printers refuse to scan without hoops if they are out of ink. I have uninstalled "HP Smart" several times already.Yet every few months, I have a random popup, "HP Smart" HPPrintScanDoctorExt.exe asking for administrative privileges.A software I did not install and do not want, supposedly for devices I do not own, nag me for the highest level of permissions for god knows what, because I made absolutely nothing to initiate it, nor have I been notified of anything. The only little clue is in

:)

 

GAH HP Printer Probs

i have a HP PSC 2110 that seems on the software level dead. i cant get windows to recognise this thing. the printer itself boots up fine. the printer acts like it is hooked up with the computer but the windows side doesnt work. any ideas?

 

Can't get my HP Printer to work on Windows 10

Greg,

I am having the same issues with my HP3600n Color LaserJet not working after upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. I have followed your November 8th Post, details below:

Step 1 - Plug printer in by USB, power on printer, watch for animation in System Tray shown while searching for driver.

• There was no animation in the system try after plugging in the USB cable and powering on the printer.

Click on it to monitor driver install. It may ask to go to Windows Update to pull in the driver.

Step 2 - Type Devices and Printers in Start Search box, open location, do you see the printer there?

• Yes. The printer is listed.
• Set as Default, if it won't print right click to Troubleshoot.
  • The printer responds to a print request but, instead of printing the sent job it prints out a PCL error as follows:

PCL XL error

Subsystem KERNEL

Error: IllegalTag

Operator: 0x98

Position: 3

Step 4 - Typed "Update" in Start Search box, Check for Updates, install all including Recommended, expediting restart when requested, going back to Check for more until none are offered.

• Received notification "Your device is up to date. Last checked: Today, 2:52 PM (it is now 2:52 PM)

Did the printer driver arrive? No.

Step 5 - Download the basic driver (if no scan) or software (if scanning needed) package for the printer from the HP Support Downloads webpage for your exact make/model. Install the software with the printer USB unplugged, wait for it to prompt to plug
it in.

Let us know how this works. It may require a few extra steps.

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03515691

• Downloaded Dot4x64.msi from HP support. Installed the software (with printer USB unplugged), plugged it in when prompted. This driver did not work. I received the same KERNEL error as above.

• Downloaded HP_CLJ3600_64Bit_HB.exe from HP support. Installed the software (with printer USB unplugged), plugged it in when prompted. This driver did not work. I received the same KERNEL error as above.

So, at this point, I have followed all steps with no success. I can "see" the printer in Devices and Printers however, the printer ICON doesn't look like a HP3600n, it is the Windows default printer ICON. Normally when the properly drivers are installed
the ICON is customized to look like the installed device or printer.

Do you have any other suggestions that I might try?

Thanks!

Dave Williams

 

Problem installing HP printer driver software. Possible solution found

Printer: HP OfficeJet Pro 6975 System: Windows 10 Pro Connection: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz Printer setup options:

• Basic Webpack
• Full Webpack
• HP Easy Start

Note these programs install the HP printer driver and the HP Printer Assistant software. Also, the HP Desktop Icon is placed on the desktop which is a shortcut to launch HP Printer Assistant. HP Desktop Icon

HP Printer Assistant

I have had the printer several years. Currently it is working fine with several desktop and laptop computers. Note over the last few years I did have a few problems. I suspect it was caused by a Windows update. Installing the latest HP driver solved the problem. I needed to install/reinstall the printer driver and software on a couple desktop computers. 1st computer. It had the printer software already installed but the HP Printer Assistant software was not working. Try 1: I installed Basic Webpack. Result 1: It couldn't find the printer. Try 2: I uninstalled the previous installation. Installed Basic Webpack again. Result 2: It found the printer and tried to install but hung at the last step where it said it was trying to activate. Note a large window had popped up. It was all white with nothing on it. After 30 minutes I gave up and closed that window. I clicked on the HP desktop icon but all it did was restart the setup process. I made a few Google searches and found other people complaining about this problem. A tried the so call fixes but none of them worked. I then came across a post that claimed the problem was caused by the removal of Internet Explorer 11 (IE11). I found a download for IE11. When I tried to install it, Windows freaked out and claimed I needed to stop what I was doing and use Edge instead. Whenever I tried to launch IE11, Edge interceded and launched instead. Note I found out that installing IE11 was not enough. I needed to launch it at least one time.

Try 3: I uninstalled the previous installation. I installed Basic Webpack again. Result 3: It found the printer and tried to install but hung at the last step where it said it was trying to activate. I waited a few minutes and closed the large window again. However, this time when clicked on the HP desktop icon the HP Printer Assistant launched like it should have. Note what I left out is that I also tried the Full Webpack and HP Easy Start. It made no difference. They failed the same way. I successfully installed the HP printer and software on the other desktop computer. The only difference was that it never had the printer software before. I also had to install IE11.