Error message: "the printer was unable to be installed over the network"

[DavTow]

I get this error message even though both my printer and laptop are connected to the router.  The printer works wirelessly to my other laptop.  I have downloaded the printer drivers twice, tried rebooting all devices twice.  Help!

[Chimney_83]

Greetings @DavTow,

Welcome to HP Forums and Thanks for the post. 

I see you are facing an issue with your printer giving an error "the printer was unable to be installed over the network"

Don't worry, I will be glad to help.

Kudos to you for trying to troubleshoot the issue on your own.

Have you tried to use HP Print and Scan doctor?

Do you get any errors on the printer?

I understand that you have 2 computers and 1 printer, all 3 are connected to the same router.

You are able to print from 1 computer and are unable to install the printer on the other computer and are getting this error.

Recommend you to uninstall the printer from the computer where you are unable to install by following the procedure mentioned below. 

Uninstall the printer from programs and features from the control panel. (Please have the printer Off and disconnected during uninstallation.)

Check in device manager, if the printer is listed there, please delete it.

Go to devices and printers, select any printer listed there and you will get some options on the top. 

Click on print server properties. 

You will get a popup, click on the drivers tab and delete all the HP printer drivers listed there, if any.

Delete all the instances of your printer listed in devices and printers.

Restart the PC.

Update the firmware on the printer using the control panel on the printer. Please have the printer connected to the computer using a USB to update the firmware. 

Firmware update can be downloaded from www.hp.com/drivers

Once the PC is on the desktop, press Win + R, it would bring a Run dialog box, 

Type %temp% in the run box and click Ok or hit the Enter button.

It would bring up the temporary files folder. Delete the files in the folder (You might not be able to delete all the files).

If possible, delete the printer from the registries using Regedit or using any other 3rd party application.

Restart the PC again. 

Before you install the printer again. Recommend you to assign a static IP address to the printer, this should resolve the issue with printer going offline and Web services. Refer to the steps below and Step 11 in this article. 

• Obtain the IP address of the printer (which can found by pressing the “wireless” icon on the printer control panel)
• Enter the IP address on the web browser (Ex: chrome, IE) to enter the printer EWS page.
• Go to the “Network” tab, click on “Wireless (802.11) then click on “Network address (IPV4)
• Click on the radio button which says “Manual IP” and then click “Suggest a manual IP address” to give a manual IP address to your printer.
• Click on the radio button which says “Manual DNS server” and under manual preferred type 8.8.8.8 and under manual alternate type 8.8.4.4 (This is Google DNS server address)

Once a static ip address is assigned to the printer. download the latest full feature software of the printer from www.hp.com/drivers and install the printer. 

Turn the printer On, only when the setup prompts for the printer. 

Let me know if this helped. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck.

[DavTow]

Thanks for your input but still not working.  I was hopeful when I saw one of your steps was updating firmware ON the printer.  Because the printer did not initially have Windows 10 drivers, I hoped that would be the key.  

As you directed, I uninstalled drivers on my laptop with printer off.  Rebooted, then connected laptop to printer via usb and updated the printer firmware.  It showed done.  Rebooted  and then downloaded driver software to laptop.  I lost you at "Once the PC is on the desktop...".  I also don't understand why need to reassign IP address  because the printer connects fine to the router and old laptop.  I don't know how to do it anyway.  Still need help.  A full page of single space directions to just get a printer going on a new laptop seems ridiculous.  I have  never had trouble installing printers before.  How do I go from here?  Dav

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply. Once the firmware was updated and the printer software is installed. I recommend customer to assign a static/manual ip address to the printer for better wireless connection stability with the printer and the computers. 

Refer to Step number 11 in this article for step by step instructions to assign a manual ip address to the printer. 

You can also watch this Youtube Video for assistance. (video is for Windows 7 but the procedure the same for all Windows OS and MAC.)

Please clear the temp files on your computer before installing the printer software back on the computer.

Keep me posted. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck.

[DavTow]

I also did step 11. assingning a static IP address and that did not work either.

As mentioned, both laptops and the printer are connected to the router.  The old laptop prints wirelessly without problems.  The new laptop (with Windows 10) just can't connect to the printer.  HELP!!!

[Jeet_singh]

Hi @DavTow, I am the Jeet_singh. It looks like you were interacting with @Chimney_83, but he is out of the office today so I'll take over from here.

Thank you for replying, I appreciate your time and efforts. I understand you have tried installing the drivers as well as assigning a static IP address and unfortunately, this has not helped to fix the issue. Don't worry as I have a step which should help to resolve this concern,

Let's try to install the inbuilt drivers, using this website and check how it goes.

Keep me posted,

If the information I've provided was helpful,

give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons,

that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Good Luck.

[DavTow]

I just tried this process of installing the built-in driver and that also did not work.

When I go to print a document, it sees the printer but shows it as "offline" even though it is connected to the same router and the old printer can print wirelessly to it.  This is ridiculous!!  HELP!!!!

[Jeet_singh]

Hi @DavTow,

Thank you for replying,

I understand you have tried installing the built-in drivers which seem to have not fixed the issue and more over you are still getting printer offline error message on the computer screen. 

Let's try to follow the steps suggested in the support document for - Printer Offline - Windows and let me know how it goes for further assistance.

If the issue persists, I would personally suggest you contact our HP phone support for further assistance. As they can take the control of the PC remotely and help you check the settings. Please fill in the product details to get the tech support number. 

Please use the following link to create yourself a case number, then call and it may help speed up the call process:

Step 1. Open link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

Step 2. Enter Product number or select to auto detect

Step 3. Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"

Step 4. Scroll down and click: HP contact options - click on Get phone numberCase number and phone number appear.

They will be happy to assist you immediately.

Keep me posted for any other assistance,

If you wish to help others looking for the same solution as you've found, mark the post as Accepted Solution.

If you wish to show appreciation for my effort, please click the Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

And I Hope you have a good day, Ahead.

Regards,

[DavTow]

I finally fixed this today!  This may be helpful for others.

While this was originally my wife's laptop, we are both listed as "Administrators", this last time, I logged out and logged in as her (Administrator "1"), did all the removing, re-booting, clearing cache, re-installing and Presto, it communicated to the the printer wirelessly!

Thanks for the help and suggestions.  Dav

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply and glad that the issue is resolved by trying the procedure from a different user account on the computer.

Please do post your technical queries on our Forums for assistance. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Please do post your technical queries on our Forums for assistance. 

Good Luck.