HP Laserjet will not work after Windows 10 update--tried everything, it seems

[Trombone1]

I am one of those victimized by Windows 10 updates rendering my HP Laserjet 4100 printer useless with my new Dell 7060 computer. It started with the November update. Suddenly this great printer started printing lines printing over lines gibberish in Microsoft Word and Libera Office. (It could print simpler files.) Each page took forever to format before reproducing said output. I fixed that by going through Properties on the printer driver and adjusting “Compatibility” to Window 7. I also had to buy a new cable (like the old, parallel on the printer side, USB on the computer). Everything was fine until the April update. This time the symptoms are different, and that compatibility fix doesn’t work. I’ve spent hours and tried everything I could find on the Internet, and the problem seems unsolvable. But I’ll try again here.

As noted, the symptoms are different. The HP PCL-6 universal drivers do not work at all. Most of the time, nothing happens, though sometimes they throw the printer into an “error state” that is cleared only by closing and reopening the print spooler. I’ve tried PCL-5, as well as older versions of PCL-6. No effect. The “compatibility” change does nothing. What sort of works is an HP Series 4100 PS driver. This one is slow to load and will print. Some prints are fine, but most have good paragraphs and paragraphs with the same gibberish noted above. I can print simple files and even test files with no problems, but not word processing and spreadsheet files.

I’ve tried every fix I’ve seen on these pages—so many I can’t remember them all--with no change. If anyone has any brilliant ideas, I’m all ears, er eyes. And why do I think that even if I find a miracle cure it will be good only until the next update. One thing I know for sure. If I buy a new printer, it will not be an HP.

[Repairatrooper]

Post states you have a 4100n. If that is the case, stop using a USB adapter and connect the printer to the network and add the printer manually using a standard TCP/IP port. 

[Trombone1]

Thanks very much. I thought of something like that but the only network I'm on is my home. My wife's computer can get on this "network" with wi fi. Is there some way I can do as you suggest in that circumstance? Set up something I can plug into?