Help Needed: Weird problem with HP printer

[swogden]

I'm posting this here because I figure I have a better change of getting a quick and helpful response than if I put it in "off topic"

I have a HP-895Cse printer that was working fine until I tried to print a document from my gmail.  The paper "zipped" forward 3-4 in's and then stopped.

Thought the paper had jammed; removed it from the back.

When I turned the printer on, the printer went through it's print test process and the test sheet of paper advanced properly and the test pages came out -- though the print results were blurry.   Figured the ink was low; replaced the ink cartridge.

Tried the print again from gmail; same result.  Tried to print from another file where I've never had any problem.  Almost the same result -- here the paper zipped forward 3-4 inches and began printing.  Printed what it should  except the last 3-4 inches were missing.  The printer did not advance another sheet to finish off the missing 3 inches.

It did advance another sheet -- also zipped it forward 3-4 inches -- but then stopped.  (Page 2 of the print request never printed.)  The error lights blinked, and the printer turned off.

I turned the printer and the computer off for 30 minutes in the hope that the printer would reset itself back to normal.  No such luck.  

Seems to me that something got messed up when I tried to print the Gmail document, but I have no idea what went wrong -- or how to set it back to normal.

I tried HP Support; tried their Print & Scan Doctor (nothing found).  Left a message on their forum.

Any suggestions or similar problems with/without solutions that might help?

[Kohler]

I am in no way a computer expert, but have you tried re-installing the printer drivers to see if that corrects the issue?

This is the page from HP with their drivers the model printer you gave:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&lc=en&product=59864&task=&

Sorry to hear about your issues!

[Storm61115]

i can ask my computer tech fiance how to help when he gets back from walmart. i'm sure he will be able to tell u what is wrong.

[swogden]

I am in no way a computer expert, but have you tried re-installing the printer drivers to see if that corrects the issue?
This is the page from HP with their drivers the model printer you gave:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&lc=en&product=59864&task=&
Sorry to hear about your issues!

No, I haven't tried that yet.  Part of my problem is that I do not have the disc (if there was one-don't think I had one to install this hand-me-down printer 2 yrs ago -- Windows did it automatically) to reinstall the printer.  Not sure if getting an updated driver will be enough.  I deleted the printer off my machine -- which was probably a mistake.  Tried to reinstall, but my the Windows Wizard just locked up trying to find what it needed.

I managed to install a new printer (where I had the disc) and had a little problem with the PC reading that disc.  But that printer does work though I'm not sure I'm happy with the quality of the print.  Time will tell.

Thanks for the link to HP downloads.  They have several videos to view which are very general, but do give me more information than I had before.  Still inclined to believe that unless I can download the entire installation software, getting updated drivers won't be enough.

[swogden]

i can ask my computer tech fiance how to help when he gets back from walmart. i'm sure he will be able to tell u what is wrong.

Would appreciate any comments he might have.

I haven't given up on the printer -- have $50 in ink invested in it waiting to be used -- and I liked the way it work before this.  So I'm hoping I can get it back in shape.

[duroz]

I had a really strange issue a year or so ago with an HP printer, and the way I solved the problem was to google the  issue I was having (I just kept trying using different details, words, etc.) and sifted through the results until LO and BEHOLD - I found my answer and solved my problem.

HINT: Keep the results (if found) that help you, because there's a good chance that you may run into this same problem again!

This might very well be an HP issue, as some HP printers do seem to have some "hinky" problems.....

On the other hand, g-mail does have issues, too.

[oldbuddy]

I recently had some problems printing Gmails, so I just copy and paste them into an editor as text and print them from there with no further problems.

[swogden]

I recently had some problems printing Gmails, so I just copy and paste them into an editor as text and print them from there with no further problems.

I wasn't printing the email itself.  I was trying to print an attachment which I thought was a PDF file.  Adobe rarely gives me any problems, but I suspect that the attachment was in some other format (haven't verified that) and that's what caused the problem.

Good to know that trying to print emails from Gmail might cause a similar problem.  Will avoid that in the future.

Ultimately I realized that the file wasn't PDF and I found the link to convert it to PDF and that file I was able to print out -- but not on the printer that was "injured" in the process.

An interesting aside to all this:  reading through the HP literature for the 895Cse printer said that the printer should be installed automatically on my XP computer; that the drivers etal have been put in the Windows XP operating system, so I shouldn't need to have a disc to install it.

That did work for me when I first installed the printer a year ago; in June, I had a virus problem and my Windows XP operating system was reloaded.  Apparently the printer portion of the reload is either missing or Windows is now unable to access it.  So now I need an installation disc to reinstall any printer. 

Might be able to get an installation disc from HP. 

[oldbuddy]

I recently had some problems printing Gmails, so I just copy and paste them into an editor as text and print them from there with no further problems.

I wasn't printing the email itself.  I was trying to print an attachment which I thought was a PDF file.  Adobe rarely gives me any problems, but I suspect that the attachment was in some other format (haven't verified that) and that's what caused the problem.

Good to know that trying to print emails from Gmail might cause a similar problem.  Will avoid that in the future.

Ultimately I realized that the file wasn't PDF and I found the link to convert it to PDF and that file I was able to print out -- but not on the printer that was "injured" in the process.

An interesting aside to all this:  reading through the HP literature for the 895Cse printer said that the printer should be installed automatically on my XP computer; that the drivers etal have been put in the Windows XP operating system, so I shouldn't need to have a disc to install it.

That did work for me when I first installed the printer a year ago; in June, I had a virus problem and my Windows XP operating system was reloaded.  Apparently the printer portion of the reload is either missing or Windows is now unable to access it.  So now I need an installation disc to reinstall any printer. 

Might be able to get an installation disc from HP. 

I think this is what you need:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=59864&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us&jumpID=ex_r11400_us/en//IPG/_ps_b_895csedriver/Deskjet895cseDriverPhrase&k_clickid=AMS|13|24543|7422be3e-a16a-e529-5a2d-00001d1d3e6f

[swogden]

Thanks, OldBuddy.
This is the section of HP that I found via Kohler's link -- the one that said I didn't need the disc to install.
I plan to give it another try and hope that somehow the Windows Wizard can find the driver on my machine after I print out the "what if I can't get it to automatically install" writeup.

Right now, however, I'm still trying to gather information on the process -- and the issues keep expanding.