I’m a big fan of HP printers and find that overall they are the best printers for both business and consumers. However, they come bundled with the worst software that not only bloats and slows down your system, but also doesn’t help much in connecting your computer to a printer, which is the main purpose of any printer.
Many printers nowadays are wireless, or at least network compatible, which means you can plug in a network cable and print without actually connecting the printer to your computer via USB. It’s ridiculous if you buy a new printer today and have to plug it into your computer for setup.
Unfortunately, setting up a network or wireless printer is a lot more difficult just because you now have to deal with all kinds of equipment between two devices. Even if you can print to your wireless printer today, you won’t be able to print in a month if the IP address accidentally changes or someone turns on a security feature on your router that prevents communication between devices on the network. There are literally hundreds of things that can go wrong.
In fact, I’ve previously written about troubleshooting WiFi printers and gave six possible solutions to fix most WiFi printing problems. However, there are some issues that only depend on the manufacturer, and at this point it is recommended that you simply use the diagnostic tools they provided.
HP Print and Scan Doctor is a free utility that helps you quickly resolve most print and scan problems with HP printers. This utility works on all devices from Windows XP to Windows 10. Unfortunately, there is no Mac version of this utility yet.
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HP Print and Scan Doctor to Fix Common Printer Problems” />
The program checks a lot of things and actually replaces four separate utilities that HP used to diagnose printer problems. Here is a short list of the marked items:
Connectivity – When connected via USB, it ensures that the printer is properly connected, and when connected over a network, it ensures that your computer is actually connected to the network.
Device Status – Checks for printer errors such as out of ink, paper jams, feed problems, etc.
Driver Checker – make sure the driver is not damaged or missing.
Device Manager – Checks for issues in Device Manager that might be causing problems.
Print Queue – Clears the print queue if there are hung jobs.
Port Mapping / Device Conflicts – Checks the port settings for the printer and makes sure the device does not conflict with the printer like third-party drivers or third-party printers.
When you run the program, it will search for any HP printer connected via USB, Ethernet, or wireless. When it appears, you can click Next and go to a screen where you can diagnose printer problems.
What if you have problems even displaying the printer correctly? In this case, the program will not be able to find your printer, and you will see the following screen:
HP Print and Scan Doctor to Fix Common Printer Problems” />
Depending on how you want to connect your printer, the program will give you tips on how to connect your printer. Unfortunately, until you at least connect the printer to the network, the program will not be able to help you much. If you have a wireless or network printer and you don’t know why it is not getting an IP address, first connect it to your computer using a USB cable.
The program also has a Network menu item where you can see advanced information about your network and disable the firewall (Troubleshoot firewalls). This seems to be the main cause of communication errors, which is why they have this option built right into the program.
HP Print and Scan Doctor to Fix Common Printer Problems” />
Now that your printer appears in the list like in the first screenshot, click Next. Here it will detect if your printer is the default printer or not and will give you the option to set it as default by clicking a button.
HP Print and Scan Doctor to Fix Common Printer Problems” />
Now, to diagnose and fix any problems, click Fix Printing or Fix Scan. If you have an HP All-in-One that can print and scan, you can choose which issue is causing the problem.
The program will continue to run and begin analyzing the printer and your system to see what problems are preventing the printer from printing or scanning. If he finds problems, he will list them and help you solve them. If everything is ok, you should see some green checkmarks and the option to print a test page.
HP Print and Scan Doctor to Fix Common Printer Problems” />
Finally, the program has several edge options if printing problems have not been resolved. You can troubleshoot your firewall, uninstall and reinstall your printing software, and get support information for your specific product.
Overall, it’s a great tool, and I want HP to create driver packages for their printers the way they created the tool: simple, elegant, no hassle. If you are having problems printing to your HP printer, be sure to download and run Print and Scan Doctor. Have questions? Leave a comment. Enjoy!
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