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Can't get drive for HP Officejet 6000

3K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  chauffeur2 
#1 ·
For some reason our Windows 7 HP desktop has begun telling me I need to trouble shoot our printer, HP Officejet 6000 E609a Series (the one that is not wireless, has ethernet which we don't use). It searches for the driver, which I've downloaded from HP's website more than once but Windows can't find it. Installing the driver and letting the software install like the original CD (which I don't have--it's a hand-me-down printer), it gets to the part where I'm to plug it in via USB, which I do, but it never recognizes it's plugged in. Is there anyway I can get Windows to "find" the driver? It's a massive download of a ton of files--I wouldn't know where to direct Windows.

All this on top of trying to get my recently restored Asus K72F to "see" this printer on our network. It worked fine before the restore. The Asus would print to the HP printer connected to the HP desktop just fine. Now it doesn't see it. Thinking the driver issue might have something to do with this second part of my dilemma.... Then again it may be a setting in McAfee that I'm not recalling from when I set this printer up for the network originally.

I'm a novice--just a mom trying to keep the family's three Windows 7 laptops, one Windows 8 laptop and one Windows 7 desktop, two printers and a network going! Be gentle.

Thanks so much,
Lisa
 
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#3 ·
Further developments after staying up until 3 am: In Devices and Printers the computer has the yellow exclamation point on it. When I trouble shoot, Windows tries to find the printer driver (which it can't) but the troubleshooting details tell me that there is something wrong with a PnP. USB drivers all seem to be up-to-date under Device Manager.

I re-installed that driver from the HP website about five times. A couple of times I removed it as a device and removed all the programs that come with it.

What's my next step? Help would be greatly appreciated as this is out of my scope of computer/Windows knowledge.

Lisa
 
#4 ·
Go to the Device Manager, right click the Yellow Flag and Uninstall it.
Go to Devices and Printers, if the printer is listed there (it may be faded) right click it and Delete it.
Go to Start/Search and type appwiz.cpl and press enter. In the Program and Features uninstall all HP software for this printer.
Unplug the USB cable from the Computer end. Restart the computer.
Go to the HP Site, choose your printer model, choose the right version of Windows (32bit (x86) or 64Bit) Download the HP Driver from their web site Software & driver downloads HP Officejet 6000 Printer - E609a | HP® Support.
Make sure the printer is turned on and plugged into wall socket and not a power strip or extension cord as this diminishes the power. When it tells you to plug in the USB cable, plug it into the Back USB port of the computer (desktop) and not in the front or through a hub as this diminishes the power. It should find the printer.
If not, try these same steps with a different USB cable. If you continue to have problems, try this printer on another computer, if that fails, then the printer may be defective.
 
#5 ·
Here's the weird thing. The next morning my laptop wouldn't show me any devices in Devices & Printers! What the heck? (CorelDraw also wouldn't open and function correctly for a little task I needed to do.) In total frustration I restarted the damn thing.

Guess what. Alll devices were back including the HP printer connected to the desktop! The desktop still thinks it needs trouble shooting but my laptop and my son's both pint to the HP printer so I'm happy. I'm also reluctant to mess with disconnecting the HP printer and reinstalling like you suggested.

I've never heard anyone make the suggestion of plugging computers or their peripherals directly into the wall outlets. Who has that many outlets in one place anyway? What about surge protection?

Besides the yellow flag appears on the picture of the CPU tower, not the printer. Can't uninstall that. Maybe the problem is with PnP, not necessarily the printer. Now, if someone can tell me how to fix that.........

Thanks,
Lisa
 
#6 ·
My guess is the print spooler shut down and that's why you didn't see any printers until you rebooted. Next time all your printers "vanish", go to task manager, click on the SERVICES tab, scroll down to SPOOLER and verify it's running. If it's not, then right click on it and select START and that should get your printers running. As for the yellow exclamation point, that's a tough one, but I'd check the printer itself to verify there are no error messages and then I'd attempt to uninstall completely and reinstall.
 
#10 ·
Good job on uploading a screenshot but this is not the Device Manager. This is a picture of Devices and Printers. The Green check mark shows your HP Officejet printer is the Default Printer and installed correctly.
The Yellow Flag is on a Drive icon KELLYFAMILY-HP. If this printer has a Card Reader on it, that device may require a driver. Or this may be another device.
Please go to Start/Search and type devmgmt.msc, right click the devmgmt results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Device Manager, if there is a yellow flag visible, please take a screen shot of this window and attach it in your next post.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Hello lochkelly, :wave:

Without trying to overshadow the assistance my colleagues have been giving you; and, depending on whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows® 7 Home Premium.
Go to the HP Site here; follow the on-screen instructions regarding your version of Windows®, and download the driver.
Save the download to your desktop; then install it following the instructions.
If you have any questions/queries with this download/installation, do not hesitate to ask for more help.
Post back with the results.


Kind Regards,
 
#13 ·
Dave T:

That is exactly where I got the driver, 64 bit as we have 64 bit Windows 7. I followed the instructions there on downloading and installing the driver four or five different times to no avail. System continues to tell me that the driver for the HP Officejet 6000 is still missing. Windows tries to find it in the touble shooter but can't and with all the files extracted from the HP download, I don't know how point it to the correct file or folder for the driver. On top of that the PC still prints to the HP Officejet 6000 just fine. I discovered this entire problem when I was trying to get my Asus laptop to print via our network to this printer.

Due to repeated crashes of Windows Explorer, I had to resort to completely back up my Asus laptop, restore to factory, allowed the 260+ Windows updates and now it won't populate the Devices and Printers window and refuses to print to either this HP Officejet 6000 (connected to another PC on our network) or to our wireless Brother printer. I've had it with that laptop and am willing to give it away for parts. That stinking laptop cost $2000 four years ago and is now a piece of junk. Even with the restore and re-installing Windows and all those updates, which literally took days to do!

Sorry, but I'm totally frustrated with all the computers in this house (including my son's laptop that was dropped and my husband Windows 8 laptop, which I've hated from the moment it came out of the box). I'm the only one in the family with any computer knowledge and I'm afraid it just isn't enough. We are too broke, literally too broke to hire someone to fix all this. Four of the five of us are looking for jobs now.

Sorry. Had to vent.

Lisa
 
#14 · (Edited)
Hi again Lisa,

I am sincerely sorry for your frustration with these pesky contraptions; however, we humans will hopefully find a satisfactory result for you.
(We have the same model printer here at our place and we also had the same issues when we first installed it on our home network, so I'm guessing that this method I used should work for you too.)
I suggest that you grab a coffee, as this will be a little long-winded :grin:

Now let's start at the beginning:

1: Turn off all computers, and other devices (such as printers and laptops, etc.,) connected to the home network, and only have the desktop running.
(Sorry, but hubby and the kids will have to do something non computer related during this exercise, because we do not want any other device operating on the home network at this time.)

2: Go into the Device Manager of the desktop and uninstall the printer; then, shut down the desktop.

3: Before restarting the desktop, disconnect the printer from the power and the desktop.

4: Power up the desktop. Once the power-up is complete, got to Control Panel > View > Large Icons > Programs and Features > scroll down the list to see if the HP Printer is listed; if it is, Right click > Uninstall; then close all screens and reboot the computer.

5: Allow the machine to power up, and check that the printer does not show in the Device Manager; if it does, uninstall it again and reboot the desktop immediately; however, if it is not listed well and good.

6: Go to the Start Menu > All Programs > scroll down and see if there is a HP folder (if there is), > expand it and uninstall any references to the HP Printer including any extras such as; Printer Wizard etc.
If the folder only contains items related to the HP Printer, delete the whole folder after you have removed all printer related files. If there are other files; then, leave the folder and do not delete it.

7: Next, find the file that you downloaded from HP, and start the installation of it. Please DO NOT connect the printer at this stage.

8: When the installation is complete, reboot the computer.

9: Once the machine has restarted, connect the printer to the power socket and turn it ON; then connect the USB cable (using one of the rear sockets) to the computer.
Windows® should now detect the 'new' hardware and the printer ( fingers crossed hopefully).
During the installation, should Windows® say that it can't find the driver; then, we will have to coax it to find it; this what you will have to do:
There should be a pop-up screen with a "browse" button showing; click the button and direct the machine to find the HP download file. If it is on your desktop, the guide path will read something like this; C:\Users\David\Desktop\HP. > click OK and let it do its thing.
If any obnoxious pop-ups appear asking for permission to install, just allow it to install.

10: When the installation is complete as far as Windows® is concerned, go back into the Device Manager and check that there are no Yellow ! marks evident. If there are none GREAT!
Presuming that all is well to this point, we will now try the next step:...

11: Go into Devices and Printers and check that the HP 6000 Printer is showing. If it is (and it should be); Right click > Set as Default Printer > OK. (It should also be showing as 'On-Line'.)

12: Place some paper in the printer tray and print a 'test' page from the 'Printing Preferences' of the printer.
Hopefully we have success to this point. :4-dontkno
Post back and let us know how you fared to this point.
Next we will set the printer up as the default printer on the network, but we will wait for your report.
Until then, Good luck with it! :wave:

Edit: When you downloaded the driver from the HP site I gave you, did you download all the items listed? If not, create a new folder on the desktop, and call it "HP Printer", and download every item listed for the printer, as you will need them, and put them into that folder..


Kind Regards,
 
#15 ·
Before I do this... how can I be sure I'm removing/deleting folders and files related only to the HP printer since the desktop is also HP?

What do I do when HP software installation calls for me to connect printer? Ignore it?

It may be a day or so before I get this accomplished--don't give up on me!

Lisa
 
#17 · (Edited)
Hi again Lisa, :wave:

Before I do this... how can I be sure I'm removing/deleting folders and files related only to the HP printer since the desktop is also HP?
spunk.funk gave you good advice by saying that it will be fairly obvious as the drivers etc. are easily identified.

What do I do when HP software installation calls for me to connect printer? Ignore it?
It should not ask for the printer to be connected if you are installing the drivers that you directly downloaded from the HP site.
However, if it does ask please do not connect it at this stage, as there are a few other steps to be completed before we actually connect the printer.
(this is where I fell foul of this problem, and it took me ages to figure it out,)
:facepalm:

It may be a day or so before I get this accomplished--don't give up on me!

Rest assured we will not give up on you, and you can take your time doing this, as we will work with you at your pace.

Lisa
Further to my previous comments regarding downloading the files, what I would like you to do now is:

a: Create a new folder on the desktop calling it say: "HP Printer". (If you haven't already done so.)

b: Go back to the HP Site using only the link that I gave you. (I specifically ask you to use this site as it is HP Australia, and the drivers may differ slightly from those on the HP USA/UK sites, and I know that the Australian ones work.):grin:

c: Once you have confirmed that you need drivers for Windows® 7 64-bit, there will be a list of categories.
Under Driver download "HP Officejet Full feature software and driver", and "HP Officejet Basic Print Driver".
Under Update Only download "HP Update software utility" (its dated 2014), and forget the rest that is listed in this category.
Under Utility Diagnostic Tools download "HP Print and Scan Doctor", and ignore the others listed.
Please Note: As you go 'save as' I suggest that you rename each of the files so that you can identify them, rather than the gibberish file names that HP allocate.
It'll make life much easier when it comes to installing them.
:thumb:
Save these 4 files to the folder you created on the desktop.

Once you have done that, you can then proceed with my earlier instructions to the point of doing a "Test Page".

Good Luck with it, and let us know the results at your leisure.

Kind Regards,
 
#16 ·
Just uninstall files associated with the HP Printer and Scanner. It will be relatively obvious.
After restarting, then install the latest driver from the HP site, when It says please plug in your USB cable, make sure the printer is turned on and plug the cable into the Back USB port of the computer and not the front or through a Hub as these ports are weaker. It should find the printer and install it. If not, try a different USB Cable.
 
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