HP g95 ink levels...

[Howard Woodard]

When I was running XP Pro my printer driver allowed me to see my ink levels.
When I moved to Vista the old driver no longer worked and the Vista driver
did not provide any capability for monitoring ink levels.

Does anyone know of a utility that would allow me to see the ink levels in a
HP g95 all-in-one printer under the Vista OS?

Thanks in advance,

Howard

 

[huwyngr]

the Vista driver 
did not provide any capability for monitoring ink levels.

As I'm sure you have seen:

Using the advanced printer functions

You might find that some of the advanced features are no longer
available when using this basic driver.

It could be worthwhile trying installing the XP driver package for that
printer, using Compatibility mode set to XP with SP2 and using Run as
Administrator.

The package is at:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=o
j-6108-3&lc=en&cc=us&product=61562&os=228&dlc=en&lang=en

but it's old enough that you may have it already.

Say if you have it and if you need instructions on how to install in
the way I mentioned.

You will need to remove all traces of the AIO from the system before
trying the XP driver so shout if you need help.

 

[Dustin Harper]

You would need to check to see if HP has a Vista driver available for the
printer. That capability is only in the HP drivers, not in stock Vista
drivers.

Apparently, HP isn't providing a driver for that printer:

 

[Howard Woodard]

Thanks. I think I'll try this. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Regards,

Howard
=============================

 

[Howard Woodard]

Well, I didn't get very far... Is it the driver install package that I want
to run in compatibility mode? ...or one of the unpacked files from the
install package?

=====================================

 

[Howard Woodard]

Well, I guess that I did something wrong. I removed the Vista printer
driver and then set up compatibility mode and ran the XP install package.
It appeared to unpack everything just fine and asked me to reboot. When it
booted back up it detected the printer and automatically installed the Vista
driver, so I'm right back where I started from. ...except I don't know
where the unpacked XP files went...

I could see the Vista printer driver install status but there's nothing that
allows you to stop it.

Any idea what I did wrong?

Howard
========================================

 

[huwyngr]

asked me to reboot.  When it 
booted back up it detected the printer and automatically installed the Vista 
driver,

That would indicate that you had the USB cable from the printer to the PC still
plugged into the PC! Don't do that with USB connected printers -- install the
software first and only plug the cable into the printer either when the
installation procedure tells you to or when you get to [Finish].

Did you use the downloaded file from HP or an existing CD that came with the
AIO?

If you downloaded the HP file (and SAVEd it, not RUN or Install now) then it
would be a .exe file. FInd that where you downloaded it, right mouse click on
it and select Properties / Compatibility TAB / XP with SP2 and Run as
Administrator and OK your way out. If it does not start installing or expanding
then right mouse click on that exe file again and select Run as Adminsitrator
from the Context menu (although this should be sticky from what you did on the
TAB).

 Is it the driver install package that I want 
to run in compatibility mode?  ...or one of the unpacked files from the 
install package?

I'm not completely sure -- does it unpack and then start installing all as one
operation? I've certainly done the Compatibility mode/run as administrator
thing on the downloaded exe file. But if you have to manually start from the
unpacked folder then you might have to find the "start" file there and change
the properties of that. But I think the properties are inherited.

If you used a CD then look at it in Windows Explorer and in the root directory
you probably will find a file setup.exe -- do the stuff on that.

You had better, turn off the printer and unplug the cable from the PC. Then
uninstall any HP software that shows up in Remove Programs and delete any icons
for the device that may appear in the Printers Folder or in Fax & Scan if you
have that. Reboot the computer and start all over again.

I'm pretty sure the problem you describe comes from having that cable plugged
in.

 

[Howard Woodard]

Makes sense. I did follow the HP instructions though and they said to
connect and turn on the printer after running the install and saying yes to
"reboot now?". I'll try again.

Thanks for your patience.

Howard
==================================

Woodard
wrote:

asked me to reboot. When it
booted back up it detected the printer and automatically installed the
Vista
driver,

That would indicate that you had the USB cable from the printer to the PC
still
plugged into the PC! Don't do that with USB connected printers -- install
the
software first and only plug the cable into the printer either when the
installation procedure tells you to or when you get to [Finish].

Did you use the downloaded file from HP or an existing CD that came with
the
AIO?

If you downloaded the HP file (and SAVEd it, not RUN or Install now) then
it
would be a .exe file. FInd that where you downloaded it, right mouse click
on
it and select Properties / Compatibility TAB / XP with SP2 and Run as
Administrator and OK your way out. If it does not start installing or
expanding
then right mouse click on that exe file again and select Run as
Adminsitrator
from the Context menu (although this should be sticky from what you did on
the
TAB).

Is it the driver install package that I want
to run in compatibility mode? ...or one of the unpacked files from the
install package?

I'm not completely sure -- does it unpack and then start installing all as
one
operation? I've certainly done the Compatibility mode/run as administrator
thing on the downloaded exe file. But if you have to manually start from
the
unpacked folder then you might have to find the "start" file there and
change
the properties of that. But I think the properties are inherited.

If you used a CD then look at it in Windows Explorer and in the root
directory
you probably will find a file setup.exe -- do the stuff on that.

You had better, turn off the printer and unplug the cable from the PC.
Then
uninstall any HP software that shows up in Remove Programs and delete any
icons
for the device that may appear in the Printers Folder or in Fax & Scan if
you
have that. Reboot the computer and start all over again.

I'm pretty sure the problem you describe comes from having that cable
plugged
in.

 

[huwyngr]

I did follow the HP instructions though and they said to 
connect and turn on the printer after running the install and saying yes to 
"reboot now?".

That should be OK -- it's what I meant to say for you to do. Install the
software/driver with the cable unplugged until it tells you to plug it in or
until you get to [Finish]

The first time you plug the cable in or boot up with it plugged in should
install the HP drivers.