USB 3.0 with a USB 2.0 Printer in Windows 10

[travelightly]

I have an Hp laptop with 3.0 and it has ALWAYS worked with our HP J4580 printer with 2.0. However, it has not been used in several months and now doesn't work with that printer, though another older computer we have with 2.0 still works with this printer. I spent the last 2 days with HP support on-line, 5 different techs since our sessions would always expire while they were either trying to install or uninstall the printer. In all I think I was on-line with them for 10-12 hours! I was most appreciative that they tried to help but alas there was no success. They suggested I get a 3.0 to 2.0 adapter or new cable and try that. I went to Best Buy and the fellow there pulled one off the shelf, looking quite confident that it was what we needed. Relieved, I took it home and then my husband read the fine print: "Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 host drives. Not compatible with USB 2.0 target devices e.g. USB 2.0 printers" Arghh! I know this is an old discussion, but wondering if there's anyone out there with a real solution?

[Riddle_Decipher]

@travelightly

Thank you for joining HP Forums. 

I'll be glad to help you 🙂 

As I understand you want to contact a printer with USB 2.0 compatibility on a USB 3.0 port,

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, however, to provide an accurate resolution, I need a few more details: 

Did you know USB 3.0 ports are backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports?

Have you installed the latest printer drivers to get started?

While you respond to that, if you've had issues installing the drivers, try the below steps:

I recommend you delete the driver at the root level and retry, follow the steps below: 

1.) In Windows, search for and open Programs and features 

2.) Select your HP Printer 

3.) Select Uninstall 

4.) In Windows, search for and open Devices and printers 

5.) 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' 

6.) Open up the run command with the "Windows key + R" key combo. 

7.) Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between "printui.exe" and "/s") 

8.) Click on the "Drivers" tab 

9.) Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom 

10.) Select Ok 

11.) Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows 

12.) Close Devices and Printers 

Then, Click here to access the HP website, find the drivers compatible with your windows and install it.

If the issue persists, please go ahead and install the windows built-in drivers: 

If a full feature driver from HP is not available for your printer, you must install the built-in print driver. A full feature driver for one or more Windows versions is not available for your printer, either from the CD that shipped with your printer or from the HP website.

   NOTE:

Where is the download button? The HP print driver is built into the Windows operating system or is installed through the Windows Update feature on your computer. You do not need to download anything from a website in order to print, scan, or fax.

See the Frequently asked questions in this document for additional information, including how to scan using this driver.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE STEPS AND INSTRUCTIONS.

(By the end of this article all the issues should be resolved)

If the above doesn't help, please make use of a USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 converter and check if that works.

Let me know how that goes!

If you would like to thank me for my efforts to help you, 

 feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below, 

Followed by clicking on the "Accept as solution" button.

Have a great day!

[travelightly]

Thank you so much for the quick reply.  Yes, backwards compatability is great but it isn't working ( unless I misunderstand how that works). My 2.0 to 2.0 cable that has always worked with this computer just stopped working, so that shouldn't be a problem if it is backwards compatible, correct? The drivers were uninstalled and reinstalled several times by various techs, but I will certainly give it a go myself with your very detailed instructions. I will let you know how I progress. Thanks again! I really appreciate it.

[travelightly]

Well I followed all the instructions to the letter, though it is a bit of a minefield to navigate. Unfortunately, despite uninstalling and reinstalling the printer and the drivers, nothing prints, even though it says the printer is ready. During the installation process of the printer, I received a message saying that Bing Bar doesn't work on Windows 10 because it might cause damage to the computer or cause loss of data. I don't understand that as the Bing Bar says it is for Windows 7 and up.  The message continued to say that an updated app may be available. I checked and that proved to be another dead end. I will now try to buy the right adapter (if there really is one) and hope for the best. Thanks for taking the time to offer suggestions. I may just have to buy a new printer.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@travelightly

Thank you for replying with this detailed response 😉 

I appreciate your time and efforts,

If you don't use the Bing Bar, you can just uninstall it from the Control Panel, its merely an extension and you can use google instead,

That said, I have a few more steps to help you resolve this issue with the USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 ports before you get a new cable or printer for that matter:

If some USB 2.0 devices do not work when connected to a USB 3.0 port:
To fix this, uninstall the USB 3.0 driver in Device Manager using the following steps.

1. In Windows, search for and open Device Manager.

2. Locate the USB 3.0 Root Hubs under Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
    

   Figure : Locating the USB Root Hub

   
    

3. Right-click the USB 3.0 Root Hub, and click Uninstall.

If you would like to thank me for my efforts to help you, 

 feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below, 

Followed by clicking on the "Accept as solution" button.

Have a great day!

[travelightly]

Thank you for those suggestions. I remember watching the on-line support techs working remotely on my computer and more than one of them tried to uninstall the USB 3.0 driver. I can't recall what happened right after that, though I guess that didn't work either, since I'm still trying to solve this issue. I am wondering if there is such a thing as an adapter that will connect the USB 3.0 port on my laptop to the USB 2.0 port on the printer. My current cable is a 2.0 to 2.0 which used to work with this computer, but now does not. Could it be because of some Windows 10 update? Thanks again for all your effort to solve this. It is very greatly appreciated.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@travelightly

Thank you for responding,

It's great to have you back 😉

As long as you know this USB 2.0 to 2.0 cable works on another device, it should work unless an internal update has caused changes on the way the port works,

Although, to answer your question, I did some research and I'm afraid there are no adapters as such, considering the port are supposed to be backwards compatible.

Please check with an alternate cable and if it doesn't work either, I recommend upgrading the printer firmware: Click here to find and install the same.

If the issue persists, contact HP to have the device either repaired or replaced:

HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link:  

* Open link:  www.hp.com/contacthp/

* Enter Product number or select to auto detect

* Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"

* Scroll down and click on HP contact options - click on Get a Case & phone number.

They will be happy to assist you immediately. 

If the unit is under warranty repair services under the manufacturer's warranty will be free of charge.

If you would like to thank me for my efforts to help you, 

feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below, 

Followed by clicking on the "Accept as solution".

Have a great day!

[travelightly]

Thanks again for hanging in there with suggestions. I did use the link to update the firmware. However, that did not give me an option to update firmware, just the software and drivers ( unless the drivers are firmware? I'm not clear on the language.) Anyway, I did the update and tried to print. It just said there was an error with the printer, though I did a troubleshoot which said it had fixed the issue. I then tied to print again, still nothing, not even an error message this time. I am a very patient person and really bristle at the thought of not finding a solution, but I have now spent many days on this issue with the help of several techs (which I have greatly appreciated). I think it's time to call it quits. Perhaps one day, an update to Windows will magically solve this. By then, I will have moved on to another printer and hopefully no similar issues. Thanks again for being so patient and forthcoming with suggestions.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@travelightly

Thank you for responding,

The pleasure is all mine.

I'm afraid there are no firmware updates available if you didn't find any words as such on the website,

That said, the last resort would be to attempt a reset on the printer before we call it a day.

And I'm hoping this works as the magic you were referring to 😉

I'm sending out a Private message with the information you need

Please check your Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Forums profile 

Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/notes/privatenotespage 

Please reply back on the public post as this Private message box is not monitored.

(The reason we are utilizing the private message is because the instructions are critical)

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.

[Mthwakazi]

I had the same problem as you and spend hours and days with HP support. I was lucky as the last HP support was clever what she did was download a driver different from mine which supports USB 2.0 port and this solved the problem for me.