Member Avatar for mfila

Hello. I joined for selfish reasons. I need your logic and know-how to fix the Plug & Play problem that I am being tortured with. I foolishly got rid of the plug & play drivers and now ... of course ... I cannot use my printer, which is a HP deskjet.

I have beaten myself up over deleting the drivers because now I am rampantly searching to have them put back. Feeling quite dumb, I ask anyone out there interesting in helping a starving student ... for help.

Sincerely,

mfila

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Jen0608

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Built on the good pointers from (model number) , (original CD) and (PnP docs), the following focuses on safe, non-destructive recovery steps that usually fix a deleted Plug & Play/driver situation before resorting to a repair install.

First, try a rollback that undoes the deletion: use System Restore to pick a point dated before the drivers were removed (Windows XP: All Programs → Accessories → System Tools → System Restore; Vista/7: type "System Restore" from Start). If no restore point exists, run the system file checker to restore missing core files from the install media:

sfc /scannow

Next, remove leftover/ghost drivers and force Windows to re-detect hardware. From an elevated Command Prompt enable showing nonpresent devices and open Device Manager:

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
start devmgmt.msc

In Device Manager choose View → Show hidden devices, expand Printers and Universal Serial Bus controllers, uninstall any greyed-out (old) printer or USB entries, then uninstall the USB host controllers and reboot so Windows reinstalls them.

Also check the two services that matter: open services.msc and confirm "Plug and Play" is Automatic and running and that the "Print Spooler" is started. From an elevated prompt those can be started with:

net start PlugPlay
net start Spooler

After the reboot, plug the printer into a different USB port/cable and let Windows detect it. If Windows offers only a generic driver, reinstall the full HP package from the original CD or the manufacturer download (noting the exact model as advised). If hardware still fails to appear, test the printer on another PC to rule out a cable/printer fault. Back up important data and create a restore point before attempting registry edits or a repair install; if those steps fail, an in-place repair of Windows will reliably restore missing system drivers.

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Member Avatar for GrimJack

Well, you are welcome anyway! Please look around but wrt your driver problem try here. Here is another pretty good place to look.

Member Avatar for ItCareerCoach

mfila,

Do you have the model number for your printer? If you do, you can do a search on HPs website to download the drivers. If you don't know how to do that, post the model number here and we can help you out.

Member Avatar for Jen0608

it usually comes with the CD... in case you dont have it,
locate the model number of the unit., usually at the back
or at the bottom. then paste it on to google and download
the driver...

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