My Officejet 3830 will not print in color from my computer

[Tiruriku]

I don't want to hijack the thread but since I'm having the exact same issue I want to add my own troubleshooting steps and maybe we can both get a solution. Same thing-  was working fine, stopped printing in color.

- Used the print & scan doctor, the test page there was also black & white

- Uninstalled driver & software multiple times. Computer & printer reboots, no success

- When only the HP software was uninstalled but the driver was still present I had success. The device would be renamed from 'HP OfficeJet 3830 series (Network)' to 'HP OfficeJet 3830 series [4FC012]' for me. I could go into printing preferences and change the quality to best and pick color, and it worked fine. This isn't a permanent solution since w/o the HP software I can't scan.

- When I reinstalled the HP software I get a different preferences screen, one that doesn't let me pick color or change quality settings. IF I do change anything, save those changes, and go back into preferences it throws an exception.

It's weird that it is fine w/o the HP software present. With the HP installed, if I try to print a photo and go into additional settings and change from monochrome to color, it changes it back to monochrome. I saw, but can't reproduce, an error message that said the settings were being changed from another app. A standalone color copy on the printer itself is fine, and given that this worked with the driver only as well, points a finger straight at the HP software.

[8lives]

Delete the driver at root level and retry, follow the steps below: 
Search for and open Programs and features 
Select your HP Printer 
Select Uninstall 
Search for and open Devices and printers 
In the Devices and Printers windows look for your HP printer. If you see it listed right-click on it and choose `Delete' or `Remove Device' 
Open up the run command with the "Windows key + R" key combo. 
Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between "printui.exe" and "/s") 
Click on the "Drivers" tab 
Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom 
Select Ok 
Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows 
Close Devices and Printers 
Reboot your computer
 Then install the full feature software (latest version) available on the Official HP website: Click here to find it.