SOLVED Usb printing in Win7

[pepelpew]

I have an HP officejet 4500 g510g usb printer that is not recognized by Win 7 home premium 64 bit. I have downloaded the latest drivers. I have made sure all previous installations were uninstalled. I have tried several times to install using the latest software drivers and all goes well until until I am asked to plug in the usb cable. I plug in the usb cable only when prompted (I hear the familiar bump bump). The software detects the device then it waits for device to setup. After about 20 min, it times out and is unable to install the drivers. Without the drivers, windows puts in as an unspecified device with no drivers. It totally does not recognize it as a usb printer at all. I have installed this same printer on a little netbook with the same drivers and usb cable with no problems. The netbook is also running win 7 but it is the 32 bit windows starter version.

I tried installing two other printers on this same computer with the same results. It simply does not recognize the device and will not load the usb printing support driver nor the manufacturers device driver. Curiously, the previous printer that worked fine on this machine was an HP usb printer. It was getting old and the paper kept jamming which is why I am attempting to replace it. Unfortunately, that printers not recognized now either.

I have spent two weeks trolling forums and everyones solutions do not seem to work for me.

Oh yeah, I also tried installing it as a network printer and it installs fine. Unfortunately, it will not scan when connected this way. Scanning is a must.

I have cleared the device manager and uninstalled the drivers. Checked the registry and temp files. I'm pretty sure all traces of previous installations are gone. I tried installing it manually through add printer but there is no drop down for USB001 virtual printer port when trying to add a local port. I think win7 does not offer this option unless it detects a usb printer connected so that was a dead end too.

Any advice or help with this would surely be appreciated. I am at my wits end.

 

[TrainableMan]

Well just FYI, 64bit drivers are normally different than 32bit drivers so the fact it works on your netbook does not mean it will work in 64-bit (without 32-bit emulation such as a virtual environment).

That being said, supposedly 64-bit is supported with the HP officejet 4500 drivers. Are you using the driver dated 2010-03-01 , Version:13.0.0? And are you trying the basic driver, enterprise, or full feature package?

Also, are you sure your USB port is correct, right version, works with other devices? have you tried a different usb slot? is it the same usb cable that works with the netbook (otherwise I would offer that it can also be a cable problem)?

 

[pepelpew]

Thank you very much for your reply, Trainable man. Yes to all. I have tried installing using both the basic and full feature package. I have used both the cd and the downloaded drivers from hp ( they are ver 13). I have tried installation of the software with windows services disabled. Also with my antivirus and firewall disabled. Still no go.

I have tried several of the usb ports both on the front and the back of the case. Also, I have tried a couple different usb cables and am currently using the one that worked with the netbook.

I have also tried installing it via ethernet cable. The HP installation fails at the end this way as well but I can add the printer via "add printer" button and select network port and then select the printer from a list. The only problem with this method is that it will not scan and scanning is a must. Scanning is a no go regardless of which program I try to scan with. Win 7 does not recognize it as an imaging device for some reason.

I have had HP tech support helping me but with no success. They have been pretty great but I don't think its HP issue because I had the same problem with a canon that I tried to connect to the same machine.

I'm starting to wonder if I have a currupt win7 file. Perhaps the usbmon.dll or the usbprint.sys files. I don't usually like messing with these files unlesss there is an indication. I know these files are present and I get no error referencing these files. I am truly stumped!

 

[TrainableMan]

Very slight chance but you have not specified what your computer is in system specs. It is possible if it is quite old that it has USB 1.1 connections rather than USB 2.0 (USB 2.0 started showing up in devices around 2001/2002). If you have USB 1.1 then a 2.0 device will not work in that USB slot.

If you do have USB 2.0 then what I would suggest is that you find the icon in device manager that is marked as unknown and right-click in Properties, Driver TAB, select "update this driver" and choose "browse my computer for driver software" then point it to the expanded drivers you downloaded (not an exe, you need a folder with .inf files) and see if it can install that way.

And just FYI, the print drivers and scan drivers are normally two completely different drivers. It's very common for the printer to work but scanning to still need the drivers installed.

 

[pepelpew]

Here are my Specs:

Win 7 Home Premium
Asus CM5671
Processor Pentium Dual Core
CPU E5500 @ 2.80 Ghz and 2.80 Ghz
Ram 4.00 (3.75 Useable )
64 Bit

It is a little over a year old .

I do have 2.0 Usb
tried all you suggested and still nothing ,

Now found that there is some issues with the USB itself , All slots work ( tried a web cam in all slots and it worked ) but tried the mouse and keyboard in other slots and they only work in the original slot they we installed in , any suggestions ?

 

[TrainableMan]

Your usbstor.inf/usbstor.pnt/usbstor.sys files may be corrupt OR there is a good chance it's registry corruption.

you might try this (found HERE):

Steps to resolve USB Storage Device problem

1. In the run command (Start menu bar) type "regedit" to bring up the Registry Editor.

2. In Registry Editor, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

3. In the details pane, double-click DevicePath.

4. Add a semi-colon to end of the existing text, and then add the path to %SystemRoot%\System32. The result should be similar to: %SystemRoot%\inf;%SystemRoot%\System32

Do not remove the %SystemRoot%\inf file path from the DevicePath registry entry.

5. Click OK to save the new value, and then close Registry Editor.

6. Delete “INFCACH.1” FROM C:\Windows and C:\Windows\Inf Directories (if it exists)

7. Ensure that there is a copy of the usbstor.inf file in C:\Windows\Inf
If there isn’t – follow the below steps:
a) From another Vista system (copy it out of another Vista system and copy it directly into the C:\Windows\inf directory

OR

b) From the problem machine, run Command Prompt ( as administrator). From C:\ do a dir usbstor.inf /s . Wherever the file is found, go to that directory and copy all the files located in that directory to C:\Windows\inf directory

8. Open device manager, uninstall all unknown devices (right click, uninstall) so they all disappear from the list

9. Reboot the computer

10. Plug the device in (the drivers will now install and the device will be usable!)

Or, of course, a complete reinstall should fix all you system file & registry issues (just be sure to back-up your data first and have all your programs available for reinstall).

 

[pepelpew]

This states it is for Vista I have Wndows 7 Home Premium ( 64 Bit ) will it still work ?

 

[TrainableMan]

Vista and Win7 are "cut from the same cloth", so to speak. Definitely worth trying.

 

[pepelpew]

This was very helpful. I edited the registry (scary) and deleated the infcach.1 file. I rebooted. Then I ran the HP installation software with newly downloaded drivers and it installed without a hitch through the usb. It gives me the usb virtual printing port and everything. However, scanning still does not work. It looks like the drivers loaded up fine except for the scanning drivers. Win 7 does not recognize it as an imaging device and puts it in unknown devices. I tried installing the device driver manually and it gave me the followind error:

Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it.

The system cannot find the file specified.

I have tried pointing to the cd and the driver software that I downloaded from HP site. Same results.

Again, scanning and printing works fine through the usb on the netbook with win 7 32 bit. I compared drivers between the two for this device and found two driver file misssing. They are :

HPFPA70W.VDF
HPFPA70W.DLL

I assume these are the scanning drivers that refuse to install.

 

[TrainableMan]

Those may well be the drivers it needs, where did you get them? There needs to be a .inf file (or an exe) to tell the system what to do with them and it apparently is looking for a missing file (or it may not be in the proper directory to be found). Did it specify what file? Can you give me a link to the software you downloaded? I want to see if it is zipped or an exe or what.

The fact that it works from your netbook merely means those drivers ARE installed. And because the netbook is 32-bit and this computer is 64-bit it is highly likely they do not use the same drivers so you can't simply copy them from the netbook.

 

[TheDriller]

I've had the usb problem with HP printers for over 3 years.
First i had an All in One printer HP C3180 witch worked just fine with a 5m usb cable on a old computer (still it had usb 2.0 ports). Later it came a new computer witch it didn't worked with HP C3180 (the problem stated above). The only way the printer worked is if i disabled usb 2.0 hub in device manager so the printer functioned in usb1.1 mode.

Earlier this year i've bought a new computer and this month a new printer, HP OfficeJet 4500.
Firstly i tried installing the printer with my old 5 meters usb cable (witch is thinner than a normal usb cable). The same problem occured during driver install (unknown device), so i've bought the most expensive usb cable that i have found - 3 meters, gold plated, hi speed, double shielding... bla bla bla. I was surprised that this cable didn't work either (the same problem - unknown device). The curious thing is that the 3 meters expensive cable functioned perfectly with my HP laser printer at work. So i took a standard 1.8 meters usb 2.0 cable from my printer at work and i tried it at my HP 4500 printer....big surprise, the printer was recognized at the install process and is working perfectly.
Now the 1.8 meters cable is a bit short for my taste so i bought a usb extention 2 meters cable witch is working just fine with the printer.

So my conclusion is that this is a usb cable related problem. The longer the cable the higher the ressistance and there is a higher chance that there will be data loss between the computer and the printer.
The 5 meters cable is visibly thinner than the 3 meters cable, and the 3 meters cable seems a bit thinner than the 1.8 meters cable. Also the usb cable extension is the same thickness as the 1.8 meters cable.
So, to solve this problem you have to buy a standard 1.8 meters usb 2.0 thick gray cable, or many cables untill you find the magic one )

Hope this will solve your problem

 

[Nibiru2012]

I have never had any issues regarding length or size of USB 2.0 cables. It's my opinion that this has to do more with HP than anything dealing with a USB cable.

On second thought, the ONLY issue I've experienced with length of cable has to do with a 2.5" external SATA hard drive enclosure. If I use a 3' length cable or shorter, then there are no problems, but if I use a longer 6' cable the drive powers up but is not recognized by the OS.

However with other USB devices, I've never had an issue as you describe.

 

[pepelpew]

Thanks everyone for you help as I am still struggling with this. I apologize for my slow reply. I have been out of town.

Trainable man, I got all the drivers from the HP website. Here is the link:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&lc=en&os=4063&product=3919449&sw_lang=

My printer is the HP officejet 4500 G510g-m

The two driver files I listed were off the netbook. I have not tried to install those. When I said I tried to install the scanning drivers manually I meant I tried having windows search for the scanning devices and install the driver for them. That is when windows says it found driver software for my device but encountered an error while attempting to install it. The system cannot find the file specified but it did not specify what file.

 

[TrainableMan]

I downloaded the driver and opened it up (if you rename it from .exe to .zip you can see it's just an executable zip file) and I do see separate drivers for the scanner depending on 32 or 64-bit so the scanner drivers likely ARE different between your netbook (32) and your new computer. But as to why it doesn't install properly, I don't know.

What I would probably do is unzip the file to a new folder and then click on hpwg510g_sc.inf and see if it does anything. I'm not a driver person or anything but that is the only inf file I see that has _sc which I hope is scanner and if I open it with notepad I do see separate stuff for 32 & 64-bit (though I only see Vista not W7 mentioned) but it's worth a shot.

 

[pepelpew]

I downloaded the driver and opened it up (if you rename it from .exe to .zip you can see it's just an executable zip file) and I do see separate drivers for the scanner depending on 32 or 64-bit so the scanner drivers likely ARE different between your netbook (32) and your new computer. But as to why it doesn't install properly, I don't know.

What I would probably do is unzip the file to a new folder and then click on hpwg510g_sc.inf and see if it does anything. I'm not a driver person or anything but that is the only inf file I see that has _sc which I hope is scanner and if I open it with notepad I do see separate stuff for 32 & 64-bit (though I only see Vista not W7 mentioned) but it's worth a shot.

I renamed the file with a .zip extension and when I tried to open it , windows says the file is invalid.

 

[pepelpew]

Hey, Guys. Since this is has become so involved and is probably due to corrupt files in Win7, Do you think a repair install will do the trick? It will be costly for me since my machine was preloaded with Win7. I'll have to purchase a full version of win 7 for around 200 bucks but at this point I'm almost ready. I already wasted 100 bucks on phone support from HP just to get blown off today by them.

 

[TrainableMan]

I have winrar which supersedes the built-in zip handler and may be a little smarter (and I know it handles more file types) but it could also be the file used. The file I used was the basic driver file OJ4500vG510g-m_basic_13_en.EXE and mine worked fine just to rename it to OJ4500vG510g-m_basic_13_en.zip.

As for doing a full reinstall ...
You do not need to buy a full version since you already own a license. But you will need your license key code from your current build. This can often be found on a sticker on the back, top or, for laptops, underneath; otherwise you can download and install SIW and then run it & check the section under software ... licenses, then write it down somewhere safe.

Then all you need to do is download and burn the W7 DVD (be sure to get the matching version to your key, i.e. Home Premium if you currently have HP, Professional if you have Pro, etc). Note this is a huge file and may take hours to download if you have a slower connection, but it's better than paying $200.

Links to SIW can be found in our Freeware DB. Links to W7 SP1 can be found HERE.

 

[pepelpew]

Thats sounds pretty good. Where can I download my version of windows. I heard Microsoft makes you buy a new one if you never purchsed the install disc.

 

[TrainableMan]

Links to W7 SP1

Be sure to back up all your data first, to a separate HD. Windows Easy Transfer is a good method because it saves all your userids/settings/& data and can then easily be restored after the new install. And it's built in to W7 so just type it into the start...search.

 

[pepelpew]

Links to W7 SP1

Be sure to back up all your data first, to a separate HD. Windows Easy Transfer is a good method because it saves all your userids/settings/& data and can then easily be restored after the new install. And it's built in to W7 so just type it into the start...search.

Is there a link to a win7 without the sp1? Unfortunately, I do not have sp1 and have tried to install it but it fails to install. Win7 repair will not work unless both OS are identicle(as you probaly know). I researched my problem with updates and microsofts solution is to use the repair feature which of course I can't because I don't have an installation cd.