Printing VERY SLOWLY, power button flashes when printing

[lynnsyngs]

I have a HP Deskjet 2642 All-in- One. It recently started printing very, very slowly. It was fine until now. I noticed that when I first purchased it, it printed immediately when I pressed the Print button no matter what I was printing, but in the last month, it hesitates before printing and now not only does it hesitate, it takes a long time for any printing job- as long as 3-4 minutes per sheet. 

Help! 

[KrazyToad]

@lynnsyngs

Welcome to HP Support Forums. A really great platform for posting all your questions and finding solutions.
 

I have gone through your Post and would like to help

Do you experience the same problem when making photocopies?

Let's start with a printer reset

(1) Turn the printer on, if it is not already on.
(2) Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.
(3) With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.
(4) Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.
(5) Wait at least 60 seconds.
(6) Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.
 NOTE: HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to the wall outlet.
(7) Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
(8) Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.

The printer might go through a warm-up period. The printer lights might flash, and the carriage might move.
Wait until the warm-up period finishes and your printer is idle and silent before you proceed
 

Then update the Firmware from this Link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-deskjet-2540-all-in-one-printer-series/5295960/m...

If the issue persists, print a Test Page and let me know if that takes a longtime to print

1. Load clean, white U.S. Letter or A4 paper in the input tray, if necessary.

2. Touch and hold the Power button (), and then press the Cancel button ().

3. Let go of the Cancel button and then the Power button. The test page prints.

Keep me posted how it goes

Thank you and have a wonderful day 😊

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Solution Accepted" on this Post and it will also help other community members with similar issue.