Photosmart C5280 - Solution Center can't see Networked Printer [ Edited ]

[MacDubhgal]

SO... Very frustrated HP customer here. Love the hardware. Hate the software. Always have. Counterintuitive is being kind to the design and flow (or complete lack thereof) of the Software solutions HP implements to allow interface with its' excellent hardware products. Now that I have shared my general ambivalence and griped a bit.. the problem...

I have an All-in-One C5280 Scanner/Printer, connected via USB cable to my PC (Windows XP- SP3) which is  installed as the default printer. The Printer is shared on my Homegroup with a Share name. The PC is ethernet wired to my home network through the router described in the next paragraph.

My wife has a laptop running Windows 7 64-bit which we have joined to the workgroup wirelessly through a Linksys WRT754G Wireless G Broadband Router.

Here's the issue: Windows 7 has no problem seeing and installing the Printer through the Printer Share. I have installed and made the default printer "C5200 All in one series printer" using Windows. BUT... when I use the "Add a Device" application from HP, the only option offered is the "Make sure your device is plugged into its' USB cable" option. There is no option for a connection to a shared printer on a network connected to another PC.

There are solutions offered by the troubleshooter having to do with looking up my printer's IP address on the network. Doesn't have one. It's not a networkable version of the printer. It's shared on my network through my PC which is connected directly via cable to the router.

How Do I get Solution Center and whatever other HP software to recognize that my wife's laptop is already connected to the blasted printer... recognizes it... uses it as default printer, and that the failure here is with HP, not with my configuration?

Hope I've provided enough info for someone to help. FAQs and other look it up yourself solutions here don't seem to quite cover this issue. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[jabzi]

Hello MacDubhgal,

The HP Printer software would not be able to recognise the printer as it has been shared.

Hence you would not be able to enjoy  HP Solution Center, but then you will still be able to print only.

In order to make use of the full featured software of the printer including HP Solution center you need to have the following connection setup .

• You may not change the USB Connection to your XP computer, leave it as it is.
• Connect the printer to your Linksys router.
• After which then run the full featured software of the printer on Win 7 laptopand select the Network connection type during installation.

Regards,

Jabzi

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[MacDubhgal]

Yes, I suppose it does help. It is somewhat amazing to me in this day of absurd connectivity, that no one at HP can figure out how to get software to talk to a network share when remote printer access through share has been commonplace since well before Y2K... But there we are. Guess I'll have to settle for the lesser of two evils in regards to using an HP product yet again. Next printer I purchase will definitely have a little more exhaustive research put into it, and HP is going to be at the far end of my wishlist. Thanks so much for your help. I do appreciate it, frustrated or no.