The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 5]

Hello HP Total Care.

I have read the instructions given in your link and that link does not help my situation, but it does make it clear that some important files are missing. Description of my findings:

"Solution one" did not work. Still no printer.

The "Solution two" provides the exact same prosedure as I have been performing about 11 times already. There is still no HP printer listed, even though I have re-installed the updated driver 11 times.

"Solution three": the Digital Imaging Monitor is up and running. However, the process "HPQSTE08" is not listed in the Task Manager nor in the System Configuration Utility.

"Solution four": The "HPZPML" driver is not listed in the Services window.

"Solution five": This procedure has been followed 11 times, still no improvement (see several previous mails)

Hope this helps in solving my problem!
Sincerely,

Toonoisy

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 4]

Hello Toonoisy, 

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care. I gather from your email that you have tried all the troubleshooting steps and the #No HP Device detected# issue still unresolved.

I understand your concern and I am happy to assist you in troubleshooting the issue.

Toonoisy, I suggest you to try the steps mentioned on the following HP webpage to troubleshoot the issue further. 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&docname=c00762521

NOTE: Clicking the link may give an error indicating it is invalid. If this occurs, copy the portion of the address on the remaining line(s) and paste it at the end of the address showing in your browser until the complete address is displayed in the Address box. 

I want to be sure the troubleshooting steps provided in the website resolve the issue. If the issue continues, please reply to this message with the results. We will be glad to assist you further.

You may receive an e-mail survey regarding your e-mail support experience. We would appreciate your feedback. 

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at: http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare 

Sincerely, 
[some other guy] 
HP Total Care

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= "Your pc is FUBAR, try this semi-comforting link instead"

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 3]

Hello [some guy],

I have now followed your steps, and again to no success.
I have used the numbering you provided to keep a logical order.

The first attempt:
1. Disconnect the USB cable from behind the computer.
 - The HP printer was disconnected and turned off.

2. Uninstall using the downloaded file
- I could not find the folder 'HP Web Release' in c:\windows\temp and thus became unable to finish this step

3. Delete the Imaging folder.
- Could not find the 'Imaging' folder in C:\Program Files nor in C:\Program Files (x86). 
- Could not find the 'Imaging' folder in the Register Editor

4. Disable Firewall and Anti-Virus software from Windows XP.
- Disabled both

5. Reinstall the software.
- Downloaded and installed the driver you provided. The installation stalled at two points: 1) The main installation window read "Waiting for setup to finish" (Step 5/8). A new window popped up saying "Cannot install this hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: HP Photosmart 3200 Series. An error occured during the installation of the device. The printer driver is unknown. Click Finish to close the wizard." At this time, the printer had been connected, turned on and was busy maintaining itself (indicating it on its display and making mechanical noises). Some time after I clicked "Finish" in the new window, the installation program confirmed that the printer was installed successfully and continued its progress. 2) The installation program seems to hang at "Configuring your product" (Step 4/4 of that part, 96% of the entire installation). The KBps declines at about 1 KB pr sec from over 500 KBps to about 200 KBps, before the installation window disappears without any confirmation that installation is complete. I have also mentioned this before, but this time I happened to watch as it disappeared.

The second attempt:
I un-installed the HP programs using "Add or Remove Programs". The results were identical to the first attempt except from these points:

- Logged in as THE Administrator, and not with an admin account.
- Found the 'Imaging' folder in C:\Program Files (x86). Deleted it.
- Found the 'Imaging' folder in the Register Editor, after also opening the HP folder. Deleted it. There were several other folders within the HP folder too, but I left them un-deleted.

The third attempt:
Did not un-install using "Add or Remove Programs". I could still not find the 'HP Web Release' folder in c:\Windows\temp, and thought it unneccessary to try the installation again - as nothing could be done differently from the first and second attempt.

My private and probably-not-accurate conclusion:
It seems the printer is too busy maintaining itself when the installation program tries to communicate with it. This results in the program giving up, blaming the 'unknown driver' and sending a false message to the rest of the program saying "Everything is OK, continue". As the installation program tries to configure the printer (which, it seems, has not been installed properly), it does not know what to do, stalls for time and eventually collapses while whistling an innocent tune and walking away casually (pretending nothing happened). 

Hope this helps in analyzing my problem. I am impressed at how quickly you reply to my emails, and it is my own time restraints that keeps me from replying just as quickly. Well done, HP! :-)

Sincerely,
Toonoisy's real name

The Driver from HELL!!!! [part 2]

 Hello Toonoisy, 

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care. 

I gather from your E-mail that the issue still persists even and you have tried three times to install the software driver for your unit.

I understand the importance of the matter and look forward to provide you the appropriate information regarding this.

Toonoisy, in order to further isolate the cause of the issue I recommend you to please perform the steps given below and verify the results

1. Disconnect the USB cable from behind the computer.
2. Uninstall using the downloaded file
3. Delete the Imaging folder.
4. Disable Firewall and Anti-Virus software from Windows XP.
5. Reinstall the software.

The detailed steps are given below:

=== omitted due to lengthy and detailed technical gibberish not suitable for this blog ===

Please perform the steps given and if the issue still persists or if you have any difficulties or concerns please get back to us with the results and will be glad to assist you further

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further. 

Have a great day!!!

Sincerely, 
[some guy]HP Total Care

The Driver From HELL!!!!

Hello HP Total Care helpdesk person,

In addition to my failed attempts described in the previous mail to you, I have now tried three times to un-install and re-install the HP drivers - without success: 

First, I downloaded the driver for Win XP 64-bit and un-installed the remaining HP-programs on my PC. Then I deleted the folder "Digital Imaging" from "C:\Program Files\HP", rebooted the system and installed the freshly downloaded driver. When the installation was almost complete, an error message popped up saying "C:\Windows\System (or something similar, I forgot to write it down) has caused a problem and the PC will restart in 60 seconds", counted down and finally restarted - still without finishing the installation of the HP driver.
The full name of the file I downloaded is: "AiO_071_000_201_000_CDA_Default-Full_Network_Euro3_64.exe"

Second, I un-installed everything again and found I had missed deleting the folder "Digital Imaging" in "C:\Program Files (x86)\HP", so I deleted it as well as double checking the "Digital Imaging"-folder was deleted from C:\Program Files\HP". Rebooted and used the same download as the first time to try installing it again. This time, the installation seemed to be successful, but there was no message saying "Installation complete" or confirming it had been done properly. As I opened the HP Solution Center, I got the error message: "No HP devices have been detected. HP Solution Center will close now." Also, somewhere along the way the following error message, titled "Found new hardware wizard" appeared during the installation: "Cannot install this hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: HP Photosmart 3200 Series. An error occured during the installation of the device. The printer driver is unknown. Click Finish to close the wizard." I also checked the "Printers and Faxes"-folder, but the only printer there was Microsoft XPS Document Writer. 

The third time around, I used the link provided in your previous mail and got the following error message: "The Operating System on this computer is not supported. The installation cannot continue until this is resolved. Current OS: Windows XP 64 bit. Supported: Windows 98 (or Windows 98 Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, Windows XP. Action required: Click Cancel to exit this software installation. Install this product on a computer that is running one of the supported Microsoft operating systems or refer to your computer's documentation for information on upgrading your computer's operating system."
The full name of the file you suggested is: "aio_support_en@mail.support.hp.AiO_071_000_201_000_CDA_Default-Full_Network_AmericasEuro1com.exe"

As you are probably aware of by now, this has been a long and annoying process - especially because the printer driver worked quite well before I moved (see previous mail) and the fact that you provided the wrong driver. I wrote two times that I use the 64-bit version of XP and the helpdesk employee should have paid more attention to that vital detail. This time around I expect my problem to be answered by someone familiar with the 64 bit version of XP and its tendency to have problems with drivers. 

Also, you would do good in noting that XP 64 bit-users have two Program Files-folders. One at C:\Program Files for programs compatible with 64 bit, and one at C:\Program Files (x86) for programs not compatible with 64 bit. The driver seems to use both paths to create a HP-folder.


Thank you for helping me solve my problem.
Sincerely,
Toonoisy's real name