re: HP ScanJet 5100C - Don't ever buy HP
I also have a perfectly operating HP ScanJet 5100C scanner that came with Windows 98 software. Since I am now running XP I also hoped to obtain an updated driver from HP. I assumed this would be a routine matter as I have had no other problems obtaining updated drivers from any other company (probably a dozen times). HP has a purported online solution in their driver download section that is totally unworkable and incomprehensible - bottome line; it is not an XP driver but some kind of upgrade, but you will waste lots of your precious time trying it.
My next waste of time venture was trying to call HP - good luck. Predictably, I encountered massive mazes of automated messages that are designed to discouage anyone from calling and to encourage you to hang up. Miraculously, I somehow did manage to talk to a real person who had no clue, and was then transferred to many other people who had no clue. Of course I was told to go to their driver download site or call their paid tech support which costs a small fortune.
Next, I decided to write a letter to Carly Fiorina, who at the time pesided over this long-ago great company. She didn't even have the courtesy to respond to my letter. I only received a form letter response advising me to call the morons I already spoke to in tech support. I am happy to report she has since been fired.
If you have an HP product, you might as well forget about getting any future support. Unless you need paperweights, DON'T buy HP, and don't allow your friends and family to buy HP. Someone on this thread adivsed contacting HP - don't waste your time, just stay the hell away from this company. Here is the text of the letter I sent to sweet Carly.
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CEO Carly Fiorina
Hewlett-Packard Co.
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA
July 5, 2004
Dear Carly,
I am writing to you concerning a problem I am having with my HP scanner and to advise you of the abysmal support provided by HP for their products.
I purchased a HP ScanJet 5100C in the late ‘90s running on Windows 98. I recently purchased a new PC running Windows XP and wished to run my ScanJet 5100c on this new system. I thought this would be as simple as downloading a new driver that runs on XP (as it should be).
The HP driver web site merely has an XP “update” for customers who have upgraded their operating system from a previous version of Windows. This is not for customers who have purchased a PC with XP already preloaded as I did.
The solution listed on the same page states that I should download and install the latest version of the ScanJet driver for Windows 2000 Pro, then download and install the ScanJet XP driver update. I tried this solution and it is not workable. The 2000 Pro driver would not even load onto my PC. The instructions of your web page state that this driver update should only be loaded onto the 2000 Pro operating system – perhaps this is why it would not even load onto my PC.
I have also called your technical support. They could not even transfer me to the proper department initially. I was on the phone for 30 minutes and talked with six different people. The final person told me that HP does not have a stand-alone driver that they can send me that will work with XP. He told me I can try the HP web site solution (that I have already described as unworkable), or I can try the paid technical support for $30.00. Since I already know that HP does not have the proper driver for this scanner to run on XP I declined the invitation to flush any more money down the toilet.
I am very disappointed that HP has apparently ceased to support their products and I will not be able to run my 5100C on my new PC. The scanner is only about 5 years old and is in perfectly good working order, but is now rendered useless due to HP’s neglect. I am quite surprised at these events as HP once had a rock-solid reputation for its products and support.
I have no choice but to charge HP for the amount I paid for what is essentially a big beige paperweight. I paid $340.26 for this product including, tax, S&H. This bill must be paid by the end of July. Payments received later than July will be assessed late fees.
Furthermore, since HP refuses to support their products, I will no longer be a consumer of HP products. It will also be my duty to inform all people I know and come into contact with concerning the state of HP.
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