HP Deskjet 710 and Windows XP

[jimgardner]

I have a HP 701c printer which has failed to work since upgrading to XP. Both this printer and a 2nd printer (820cxi) now refuse to print (wont even do a test page). Both printers worked fine under Windows ME. I have done all the usual (check cable connections, removed/re-installed the printer, removed/re-installed the lpt1 port, tried installing a 'universal printer driver etc), but the printer still will not work. I have also tried connecting to another PC (with XP) and have the same problem.

I have contacted HP tech support and have had at least 6/7 e-mails from different people every time telling me to try different things which I have followed to the letter and nothing works!

This printer is attached to my daughter's Pc (also HP) which is needed to printout school work.

Can anyone shed any light? I assume that these printers are definitely compatible with XP. Unfortunately I don't now have access to a PC running ME to see if the printer itself isn't at fault somehow. Could the cable be at fault ? (although it's worked before)

[confus-ed]

I have a HP 701c printer ..

Are you sure about that ? .. I don't think there is one !?! There's a 710c .. (701 just comes back as a laptop at HPs site ..whereas I know there's a 710c as I've got one !)

..Both this printer and a 2nd printer (820cxi) now refuse to print (wont even do a test page)...

So even if the number quoted for the hp is a little confus-ed, it still wont stop a completely different one working !

Look in Bios (press del/f1 like a 'nutter' just before it goes 'beep') & there go & see what value your bios is giving the lpt port - best & least problematical value for that is generally '0378h' (the 'h' mighn't show on any bios page) other values can be 278 or 3BC (try in that order)..

Also the value in bios ECP/EPP can be important (this decides what the port can or can't do in terms of 'standard') - whats this set as ? generally a setting ecp&epp is best here, though Hp printers can be fussy with this ..

Knowing the printer (or one of them at least) definately works though, would make troubleshooting this much easier, can you confirm you can get at least one working elsewhere ? (this gives us an idea about cables also, as it'll make sense to test them at that point ;))

& of course welcome to the forums ! :)

[hudsonsmith]

Was this an upgrade to xp w/ me in place or a clean install? If this was an upgrade, thats an open invitation for driver problems. The xp driver for this printer is included w/ windows. If the me driver was left in place it could be causing your problem.

Uninstall the printer and all associated software. Reboot. xp should detect the printer and install the driver. If not, use the add printer wizard and manually select it.