Can't install M252dw on Win10 laptop

[Morettina]

I have a Color LaserJet Pro M252dw that I installed almost 2 years ago and it's been working fine with no problems. It's running wirelessly on a home network and is printed to by 2 Windows 10 laptops, 3 iPhones, and an iMac.

We just returned home after a trip where I tried to do a Windows 10 update. (We have terribly slow internet so I save those updates for travel where internet is faster.) That update failed but otherwise, the PC is acting normal. Today, I tried to print and every app told me that I needed to install a printer before it could print. We tested printing from our other devices and the printer is working fine.

After trying to figure out what was going on with the HP Print & Scan Doctor, the recommendation was to uninstall the printer & reinstall it. So I did that. Made sure that I had the installation files (I had saved them a few years ago but also downloaded new files). The uninstall went fine. However, when I try to run the install again, the laptop can see the printer because I gave it a fixed IP address when I got tired of it always losing its connection, especially when we had to reboot our router. So the PC can see that this printer is out there with its IP address. However, when I get to the step where the install software tries to install the software, it fails with an error saying it can't install and my only choice is to cancel. The error is: "A fatal error occurred preventing product use."

I decided to try to add the printer through Windows, and also got a fatal error saying it can't be installed, even though the PC can see the printer out there on the network.

So now, I have a laptop that can't print. There is obviously something messed up on this PC that won't allow the printer to be installed, but I have no idea what to look for. I have administrator privileges so that shouldn't be it.

Any ideas?

[Betty0610]

@Morettina

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Let's try to do a root uninstall and reinstall of the software:

Unplug any USB cable, if any, before doing this.

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

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

14.) Type c:/programdata and click Ok. Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.

15.) Restart the computer.

Once done, please download and install the software from here:

https://support.hp.com/in-en/drivers

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

[Morettina]

Hi Betty,

Thanks for your suggestions.

In step 5, when I try to remove the device, I get the message "Remove failed". Also, when I look at the properties of the device, it says that the driver is unavailable.

In step 7, when I enter the command, I get a message saying that the printer spooler isn't running.

I'm at a point where I'm convinced that this is a Windows problem since the printer works just fine with every other device in my house. Something has happened with my Windows installation that messed up this printer, so I think I'm going to work on reinstalling Windows before trying to get this printer driver installed.

This makes me long for the old MS-DOS days when installing a printer was SO much easier!

Thanks for your help!

Marie

[Betty0610]

I understand. An easy way would be to install the HP Smart App: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04675142

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[Morettina]

I finally downloaded the HP Smart app. Prior to that, after playing with various things in Windows, I was able to remove the device.

Using the HP Smart app, I was able to install the printer using a USB connection, but printing is still wonky. I sent an MS-Word doc to print, and it disappeared from the print queue, so I wasn't sure if it had actually gone, so sent it again. I got one copy of the full document, and one first page. Then I tried to print a PDF file from Adobe, and while it appears to queue up, it disappears from the queue but never prints.

When I disconnected the USB cable and tried to use the printer wirelessly, Windows didn't know what to do with it, so I removed it and reinstalled it using HP Smart and once again, it seems fine. I was able to print the congratulations test document, but when I send anything to print, it just disappears into the ether.

My print spooler keeps stopping, which I understand is a Windows 10 problem, and periodically, I'm told that I don't have a printer and need to install one, and then suddenly it reappears. When I look at Devices & Printers now, it tells me the printer is connected to the network (which it is wirelessly), and says there are 0 documents in the queue, but I still can't print.

For what it's worth, I tried connecting an older LaserJet P1006 and was unable to install that either prior to using HP Smart, so something else in Windows is still messed up.

If you have any other ideas, I'm all ears!

[Betty0610]

Follow the steps from this document: https://support.hp.com/sg-en/document/c02205477/

Let me know 🙂