Windows 10: HP printers - driver unavailable - on multiple printers

My HP Envy 4520 printer suddenly stopped working - the issue appeared to be 'driver unavailable'. I tried multiple times to uninstall and reinstall - following directions found online. I gave up. My friend gave me his old printer HP Envy 7155 and set that up and it printed without any problems. And now suddenly that too has a 'driver unavailable' issue and won't work. Is than issue with my laptop or wifi instead of the HP? Any ideas how to correct it?

:)

 

Printer Driver Unavailable

My HP Notebook, running Win10, won't print to my HP DJ3630 printer anymore. Following the instructions from the Get Help tech support, after several other unsuccessful steps, I uninstalled my printer and all drivers & support files. When I went through
Settings-Devices-Add A Printer, the computer was able to locate and connect to my printer, but then said the Driver is Unavailable. I am so frustrated and tired of the issues with Win10!!! I'd use my HP Pavilion Laptop running Vista, if I could still get ink
for the printer connected to it!!!

 

Unable to install HP Printer. Status shows as “Driver is unavailable”.

Microsoft is aware of an issue that may cause some models of HP printers to get into an unusable state in which the Status shows as “Driver is unavailable.”
This situation typically occurs after attempting to uninstall the printer and its driver.

While not a comprehensive list, some of the known model series that are affected by this issue include:

· HP DeskJet 4670

· HP ENVY 5000

· HP ENVY 5660

· HP ENVY PHOTO 7800

· HP OfficeJet 3830

· HP OfficeJet 5740

· HP OfficeJet PRO 8600

· HP OfficeJet 8730

When you install the current version of the driver for these devices, it also installs a file called a “Null Print” driver.
When the device is uninstalled, the “Null Print” driver remains.
The file is not really a printer driver, but when the device is re-added, Windows sees this file as the printer driver, and thus doesn’t seek the actual driver.

Microsoft is aware that HP is working on new drivers to address the issue.
In the meantime, here are some steps to check if you are affected by this issue and to resolve this problem:

1. In the Search box on the taskbar, type
cmd. Right-click the Command Prompt desktop app in the search results and select
Run as administrator.

2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press ENTER:

pnputil /enum-drivers






3. Scroll through the drivers in the list and look for an entry with an ‘Original Name’ of
nullprint.inf. If you don’t see a driver with this name, you are likely not affected by this issue, and you should instead try the troubleshooting steps at
Fix printer connection and printing problems in Windows 10.

4. Make note of the ‘Published Name’ for the
nullprint.inf entry in step 3. You’ll need it in the next step.

5. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command, replacing <published name> with the name you made note of in Step 4.
Then press ENTER.

pnputil /delete-driver <published name>

6. Now remove and re-add your HP printer.
With the nullprint.inf driver removed, Windows should automatically search for and install the proper printer driver.

 

Printer with decent driver

I've had a HP PSC1205 printer for a few years and have fought constantly against the absolutely rubbish software that HP supply with it. The hardware's OK but the driver etc is poor.

Can anyone recommend a manufacteurer of printers who have half-decent software developers!! I just want some printer software that works and doesn't conflict/crash!!