HP Deskject all-in-one, software problem?

[Redwood]

I've got an HP deskjet F2180 all-in-one printer, scanner & copier.
Everything works except the scanner function no longer scans. Press scan and
some error message appears about initialization failed and will now close.
I've downloaded all latest hp software & drivers and followed their
troubleshooting guide but still the thing refuses to scan.

It's definitely a software prob because I connected it to my sisters lappy
and installed the printer and everything works ok including the scanner.
Now I think the problem is that even though I follow all HP advise and
uninstall the printer from my pc and try reinstalling again, I don't think
it is uninstalling everything and is leaving some things behind (either in
the registry or other hidden places) that is causing a conflict when
reinstalled Just wondered if anyone had any tips or is there any 3rd party
software available that will remove everything HP related from the pc?

 

[Arthur Entlich]

This problem my indeed be due to some leftover software pieces.

If you can't get the OS to clean it up, you may need to request a list
from HP of all the software pieces/files and registry entries and remove
them manually to restore the functionality to all the features of you AIO.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

 

[Redwood]

This problem my indeed be due to some leftover software pieces.

If you can't get the OS to clean it up, you may need to request a list
from HP of all the software pieces/files and registry entries and remove
them manually to restore the functionality to all the features of you AIO.

Art

Yes I think that's what I'm going have to do. Someone else said they had
a similar problem and the only way they fixed it was a complete fresh
install of windows. I'd buy a cheap scanner before I resort to that!

 

[emailaddress]

Yes I think that's what I'm going have to do.  Someone else said they had
a similar problem and the only way they fixed it was a complete fresh
install of windows.  I'd buy a cheap scanner before I resort to that!

Try importing an image using a twain capable 3rd party application
(like an image editing program), or I vaguely recall Windows
(depending on version?) might have a minimalistic app of some sort
that can do this, maybe branded Kodak? It might've been replaced by
the "Picture and Fax Viewer" in XP, I can't recall as I seldom used
it.

The point being, if you use an app accessing the driver and software
front-end instead of loading the other installed software that came
with the printer, and by avoiding use of the buttons on the AIO to
initiate scanning, you isolate the driver portion from the additional
software and the resident app that checks whether buttons were
pressed.

In some cases by looking at the driver files, you'll find an *.INF
file or similar which when opened in a text editor, shows the registry
keys it is using.

However, if uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't solve the problem, I
would suspect a windows problem like a patch which the current driver
isn't compatible with, or other resident software causing a problem.
Because of the latter, I suggest going into task manager and shutting
down anything that is running which isn't vital to windows itself or
importing an image through an image editing app before trying to do
so.

Also note that some versions of windows cannot have two different USB
scanners connected, if not all versions of windows. If you had a
prior USB scanner installed it might be necessary to uninstall it
including the drivers first, then install the AIO driver and software.

As for resorting to a fresh installation of windows, what you might do
is connect another hard drive or if you have an available partition
on the present drive(s), just do a standard windows installation
without any time spent on reconfiguring it as you'd want it yet, just
adding the basic drivers needed for minimal functionality like the
chipset driver, video driver, etc. This way you do not disturb the
current windows installation more than having added a 2nd entry on the
windows boot menu which can easily be undone later. This much can be
done in about an hour, perhaps a bit longer installing from a CD but
most of that time is unattended. By doing this you will at least see
if the scanner works with a fresh installation without investing a lot
of time. Remember that if there is a windows problem, it is possible
you could buy another scanner and still have a similar problem with it.

 

[newshound]

Yes I think that's what I'm going have to do. Someone else said they had
a similar problem and the only way they fixed it was a complete fresh
install of windows. I'd buy a cheap scanner before I resort to that!

Had similar problems with a 1200, ended up putting it on a Linux box and
running Xsane. Cartridges died so just replaced it with an HP 2400 scanner
back on the XP machine. How is it that really smart hardware manufacturers
like HP, Nokia, Canon (cameras) ship with such rubbish software? Slick
display but slow, no feedback while it is having a think, not intuitive at
all. Things like the windows camera wizard are a joy to use in comparison.