Vista - HP Laserjet 3330 will not print with Vista

My new Dell XPS420 with Vista recognizes my old HP Laserjet 3330 series PCL6 printer, sends the file to the printer, the printer says its printing the document, then after about 30 seconds deletes the file...nothing actualy prints...I have the correct driver installed per my Driver Detective utility...can anyone help me resolve this issue...thanks.

Hi, jfaulkner4028, and welcome to the forums.

Have you double checked the printer to make sure it is not in PS mode (although if it is, is should *technically* print gobbledygook).

Also, which driver are you using downloaded from HP or the native Vista driver?

Hi johngalt,

The installed driver is HP Laserjet 3300 Series PCL6...how do I determine if the printer is in PS mode? I can't find that option in the menu....however, when I do get a test print, it looks just fine...thanks...

Just tried the windows printer test page and it looks great....then tried a printscreen and it finally printed after a long time....then tried the cover page only of an ebook...printer icon on taskbar says "document sent to printer"....printer menu window says "printing document"....then the file deletes from the printer queue, and the printer menu window returns to "ready" status...

Any ideas??? Thanks...

That test page you printed - it should say what mode the printer is running in.

Also, see if there is a diagnostics page / print out from the printer menu - the RAM in the printer may have gone bad / may need updating....

Also, did you try downloading a driver from HP for that printer?

The test page does not have a mode listed....the environment is windows nt x86.....printer name/model is hp laserjet 3300 series pcl 6....port name dot4_001....data format raw...driver name HPBF332G.DLL...

I did download the HP Universal printer from HP....supposedly compatible with Vista, but it did not work...

Diagnostics page says total memory 32 MB, available memory 5.71 MB

Whoa. Why is there 32 MB of RAM installed and only 5.71 available? Have you checked the manual to see if the printer has an option to store printouts, and if so, is it possible that some of your apps are sending he things to print and it is storing them as opposed to printing them?

Just as a hunch, I have a Ricoh LASER AP1600 (around the same generation, give or take a couple of years, as that LJ3300), and I have 80 MB installed, and all of that is showing.

I really do suspect that it is storing those documents for later printing....

I gave up and purchased a Brother MFC-8670DN and it seems to be working just fine...of course, it supports Vista....having problems with the scanner, thought...will keep at it...

ps..I checked the HP manual and it says nothing about storing documents for later printing...and I always print immediately...if documents didn't print, I deleted them from the print queue...

well, then it could be that the memory was bad on the HP - if you have 32MB you should have 32MB available.

I would honestly play around with that one a bit more checking all the settings in the printer properties in Windows *and* on the LJ's menu itself.

Hi jfaulkner4028

We have a HP Laserjet 3330 at work. I downloaded and installed the Universal Printer driver (postscript though) and works great. I have had trouble with PCL drivers myself in the past. Here is a link to the Postscript driver (3rd choice) Might want to give it a shot sometime.

HP LaserJet 3300 Multifunction Printer series*-* Download drivers and software - HP Business Support Center

Raj

Thanks, Raj, for the info...will give it a try sometime...