OK so I re-formatted my Dell 4350 running Windows XP and it won't acknowledge my printer (an HP1210) plugged in to a USB port. I can't add it going about the usual means - I can install the printer disk info but its not acknowledging its even plugged in. If I go to Manage under my computer it shows a yellow question mark - I cannot automatically upload/find a driver (which I believe to be the main issue). I did try going to the Dell website and getting a new driver for this but that failed as well. Any ideas?

I have tried re-starting the printer, plugging it in on/off, tried changing the USB port to no avail.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
-Az

sorry, Dell 4550

OK so I re-formatted my Dell 4350 running Windows XP and it won't acknowledge my printer (an HP1210) plugged in to a USB port. I can't add it going about the usual means - I can install the printer disk info but its not acknowledging its even plugged in. If I go to Manage under my computer it shows a yellow question mark - I cannot automatically upload/find a driver (which I believe to be the main issue). I did try going to the Dell website and getting a new driver for this but that failed as well. Any ideas?

I have tried re-starting the printer, plugging it in on/off, tried changing the USB port to no avail.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
-Az

I am assuming it is an HP PSC 1210 All in One printer - you can get the drivers for it here
http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Lookup?h_lang=en&h_cc=us&cc=us&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&h_client=S-A-R163-1&h_pagetype=s-002&h_query=HP1210&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

Click on the link for your model of printer under the heading HP PSC 1200 All-in-One series

No, thats not it. I have the driver disk that came w/the printer and have installed, removed and re-installed that several times to no avail.

The comp won't even acknowledge the printer when it is plugged in when I attach the printer to the USB port. It does get acknowledged however when I plug it in to our newer laptop so the problem isn't the cable or the printer itself.

So you have the driver disk - what release is the driver on the disk compared to the one on the web site?

If the drivers on the website are more current than that on the disk I would download the current drivers and update the drivers on the offending machine.

Also here is a link from HP on what to do if your hardware is not recognized.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00045587&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=90764&rule=44856&lang=en

Here are a few more links for your HP printer - One of the things you may want to try is to uninstall the hardware / software completely. Then re-install the updated drivers / software on their site:

HP Software Clean Up Utility
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=oj-11696-6&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=90767&os=228&lang=en

HP Printer Diagnostics Utility
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=mp-56143-1&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=90767&os=228&lang=en

HP Print Cartridge Utility
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=oj-16009-3&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=90767&os=228&lang=en

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