Vista - My printer does not work

Bear with me. This is my first post here and I am so new to computers I really don't know what I am doing. I am running Windows Vista home basic. 32bit I took a full factory restart and since then my printer does not print when I click on the print. I have a HP F300 series printer and I my computer is an E Machine. I have contacted HP but they have not solved the problem. I can go to the property tab of the printer and ask to print a test page which it does. Then when I have something like e-mail that I want to print and click on the print icon, nothing happens. No error messages, nothing. I disconnected the printer when I took the restart and reconnected it. I probably made a mistake reconnecting which caused the problem. I asked HP for the disconnect and reconnect procedures but they did not reply. That is all the infro I can think of. Thanks for any suggestions. Bob

Here is what I would suggest to start and see if it resolves the issue.

First go to the HP driver's page and enter your exact model number (eg F340). Find the driver's for your specific printer and operating system and download them. I recommend saving them to your desktop so you can easily find them to install them later.

Next, go to your HP folder under the start button and go to the F300 series folder. At the bottom of the list you should see "uninstall" as an option. Run the uninstaller to remove the printer software.

Next, right click on your "my computer" icon on the right side of the start button menu, then left click on "properties" on the menu that pops up. You should then see "device manager" as a link in the left side of the window that comes up. Click on that link and a list of your system devices will come up. You should see "imaging devices" about half way down. If you don't, that means the uninstaller fully removed the printer. If you do see it, click the plus sign next to it and you should then see your printer listed. Right click on your printer and then left click on "uninstall".

Next, disconnect your printer from your computer (power the printer down and disconnect the USB cable).

Now reboot your computer to be sure all driver elements are removed and after reboot, launch the driver installer you downloaded to your desktop earlier. DO NOT CONNECT YOUR PRINTER YET. During the driver installation process, you will be prompted to connect your printer. Connect the USB cable and and power it on when directed to during the driver installation. Let the driver's finish installing and follow any prompts by the installation program.

Once you finish with that, your printer should be working properly again.

Good luck!

Keep in mind I'm learning. I have no one to teach me. I try things and usually get in trouble. People like you are a great help. For instance you said save it to the desk top. How do I do that? I found the download and saved it in C:\users\Bob\downloads. Also you said "go to HP folder under start". Where is that? I know where start is but I can't find the HP folder. Thanks Bob

Uninstall the printer driver from administrator. Turn off the printer. Install new drivers for your printer and operating system with printer off. Once completed, turn printer on and let it find the drivers.

How do I uninstall the printer driver from administrator? I am learning. Thanks Bob

Look in add\remove programs for HP printer. Then, remove the printer from printer folder.

I went to control panel -programs and features- uninstall or change a program. Is that the right place? There was not a program there by HP. Nothing I could relate to a printer. Did I go to the wrong place? Bob

HP load a lot of crap on HP Printers. Just remove the printer from printer folder. Turn off the printer. Reinstall new drivers from the administrator account. Turn printer on and your OS should find new hardware.

If I go to control panel - printer the only thing there is add printer. There is nothing about removing a printer.

Bob, when you go to the HP site and download their drivers, you will click on the link for the proper driver file for your printer. Depending on which internet browser you are using, you should get a save dialogue window that pops up. On that window there should be a "save as" option or a drop down menu with a list of places you can save the file to. In that list you will see "desktop". Select that option and the file will then save to your main screen so you can easily find it.

If you already downloaded the drivers and they are in your downloads folder, then don't bother with saving them to the desktop. That was just a suggestion so you could easily find them. Just go ahead and run the installer from your downloads folder, but be sure to remove the old drivers first.

As for removing the drivers, if you don't have the HP folder, just follow my earlier instructions for going into the device manager and remove the drivers that way. Be sure to follow the other instructions about unplugging the printer as well.