Windows 7 - HP Color Laser 2840 - Driver Problem

[DonH_in_Florida]

Thank you for the "Too Complex" Fix... worked like a charm!!!

[ibone2know4him]

A fix when using the Windows 7 HP Color LaserJet 2800 Series PS Driver

If you experience "to complex to print" when using the driver for the HP Color LaserJet 2840 Printer when printing color or multiple pages you will need to override some default settings.

First go to Printer Properties

Second click on the Advance Tab

Third uncheck Spool Print documents option by checking "Print Directly to the Printer"

Once you have set the above go to Printing Preference by clicking the "Printing Defaults" button in the Advance Tab or "Printer Preferences" above the Printer Properties drop down box for the printer.

Fourth set Job Storage Mode to "OFF"

Works great and will eliminate the hassles of trying to print multipage prints and copies.

[michelle1797]

How can I download the HP Color Laserjet 2840 for Windows 7 64 bits. I want to add a printer but I don't know how.

[GregRobson]

The Virtual PC/Windows XP Mode process works and it is an inconvenient work-around to get the scanner to scan into PDF - but it works.  Fortunately for me, I don't do much scanning so I can live with it.  (I don't use it as a fax so I don't know if that works or not, but I assume since the HP Toolbox works for scanning, it will also work for faxing.)  All of this is for an HP 2840 connected to a network.

For those who are not familiar with XP Mode, it essentially creates another computer (a virtual one) that operates almost independently of the Windows 7 computer.  When you go into XP Mode, an XP desktop window is opened and you are then working on the XP Mode (virtual) computer.  It is in this XP Mode window that you install the HP software and do your "Scan to" set up.  You also have to be in XP Mode to do your scanning.  XP Mode is only available for Windows 7 Professional and higher - NOT Windows 7 Home or Home Premimium.

Here is a brief summary of the process of what I did to get the HP scanning software to work:

First - and this is VERY important - when running in XP Mode, XP does not understand the "run as adminstrator" command and, therefore, will not let you install the HP software by simply double-clicking on the autorun.exe file.  You must first have "full control" as the administrator of the computer.  Here is the article I used to set up "full control" on my Windows 7 computer (not the XP Mode):  www.webtlk.com/2010/04/29/how-to-get-full-administrator-rights-in-windows-7

You need to download both Virtual PC and XP Mode from Microsoft.  You can get both files at: www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx  (I could not get the installation instructions to print so I found this article with very clear instructions on how to install the two programs:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681616(v=ws.10).aspx)  Installing XP Mode creates a new "User" on the XP Mode computer.  You will be shown this new user name during the installation.

After getting the Virtual PC and XP Mode installed, you start the XP Mode by clicking on "Windows XP Mode" found in the "Windows Virtual PC" folder found at the bottom of the "All Programs" list in the "Start" menu.  You may want to copy the Windows XP Mode from the "Start" menu and paste it to your Windows 7 desktop for easy access. 

Once you are operating in XP Mode, you install the HP software.  This is either from the original CD or you have to download it from the internet.  (You need to install the XP version of the software, not the Vista version.)  This software installs the printers (Black_White, Color, and Fax) and the HP Toolbox on the Virtual computer but not the Windows 7 computer so you will only be able to access the Toolbox in the XP Mode.  (You can install the HP 2840 printer - strictly for printing - to the Windows 7 computer by going through the "Add a printer" process found at the top of the "Devices and Printers" window found in the "Control Panel" in Windows 7.)

After installing the HP software in XP Mode, you will see the Toolbox icon in the system tray of the XP Mode desktop.  Open the Toolbox and set up the toolbox features (Scan to, Fax, etc.).  The "Scan to" only scans to folders in the XP Mode, so you have to be in XP Mode for the scanner to send to a folder.  I created a folder ("Scans") in the Desktop folder found under the new XP Mode user name, found under "Documents and Settings" found under the "Local Disk (C" - all on the XP Mode computer.  This puts my "Scans" folder on the desktop of the XP Mode computer and I set up the HP Toolbox to "Scan to" that folder.

To scan, all I have to do is open XP Mode by using the shortcut I created on my Windows 7 desktop which gives me the XP Mode desktop (with my "Scans" folder on it).  I do my scanning which puts the new scans in my "Scans" folder.  I then open my "Scans" folder by double-clicking on the XP Mode desktop icon and I can "cut" the scanned documents from that folder, close XP Mode, and paste the documents to the appropriate folders in Windows 7.

As I said, inconvenient, but it works.

One final comment...this will be my last HP printer.  There is absolutely no excuse for HP not to support the products they produce.  I can only assume their lack of support for the 2840 is based on wanting to get it out of the marketplace because of all the other issues (such as losing the "Scan to" functions on a regular basis) they have had.  If they make it so inconvenient to use their product, they assume we will buy an new one.  Well, eventually I will, but it won't be an HP.