HP Deskjet 2540/2544

[Chris0977]

Hello, 

I am facing a really strange issue with 2 printers: HP DJ 2540 and 2544.

They belong to a customer of mine and he told me that - out of sudden - he was not able to print any more - on both printers via his Win11 laptop. The print worked for years without an issue before. 

So I made the regular checks (printer setup, spool setup, printing queue). I deleted them and reinstalled them (with and without HP software). Furthermore I installed the repair program from HP and ran it several times. I changed USB cables from different printers (where the print was ok). And at last, I took both printers home and did the same sequence again - with the same issue!

So here is the issue:

- when the printer is switched on, Windows recognizes the printer (Status: ready)

- then I try to print a page

  - this already takes some seconds before starting

  - then the print starts and STOPS in the middle of the printing, nothing happens

  - then, after 1 minute, the paper is put out 

- by checking the spool, I still see the print job, but obviously without response (seems to be still in work, although the print is finished)

- then after some minutes, the print job changes the status (sent to printer, error)

- when I try to print another page, nothing happens the print runs into error status

- when I switch off and on the printer, the print job runs directly into error status

This behaviour is repetetive on different computers and on both printers. Other printers work properly. I have no idea what is going wrong. The only idea have, is: probably a Win update around print spooling has caused this issue, which means that the Win print spool job is not able to communicate with the printer software any more. 

Does anybody know this strange behaviour?

[Meghana_10]

Hello @Chris0977, Welcome to the HP Support Community.
 

Thank you for the detailed description and for documenting everything you have already tested with the HP DeskJet 2540 and HP DeskJet 2544. 

The fact that the same behavior occurs with both printers, multiple USB cables, different USB ports, and different computers, while other printers work normally, is particularly useful.
 

From the behavior shown, Windows 11 initially reports the printer as Ready, the first job starts printing but stops partway through, and the job then remains in the Windows print queue until the printer changes to an error state. Since you have already performed the normal printer/driver reinstall and HP repair-tool troubleshooting, let's focus on the Windows printing subsystem and USB communication.
 

1. Completely reset the Windows Print Spooler

HP recommends clearing the spooler files when a print job remains stuck and prevents subsequent jobs from printing. 

1. Turn off and disconnect the printer.
2. Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
3. Locate Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Stop.
4. Open File Explorer and navigate to:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
 

1. Delete the contents of the PRINTERS folder.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Reconnect and power on the HP DeskJet 2540/2544.

HP documents this sequence specifically for Windows print jobs that remain stuck or cannot be deleted normally. 
 

2. Remove duplicate printer queues and driver packages

Since the printers have been installed and removed several times:

• Disconnect the USB cable.
• Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
• Remove every DeskJet 2540/2544 queue.
• Open Print Server Properties > Drivers and remove unused DeskJet 2540-series driver packages where possible.
• Restart Windows before reconnecting the printer.

HP also recommends completely removing the HP print driver and restarting Windows when persistent queue problems remain after clearing the spooler. 
 

3. Verify the USB port assigned to the printer

Open:

Printer Properties > Ports

Confirm that the printer is assigned to an actual USB00x Virtual Printer Port for USB, rather than WSD, FILE, or another stale port.

Because Windows initially detects the printer correctly but communication appears to stop during the job, an incorrect or stale USB-port association is worth eliminating.

Please check the link for more information - HP printers - Print jobs stuck in print queue (Windows, macOS) | HP® Support

After completing the spooler reset, please check whether a single Windows test page finishes completely and whether the job disappears normally from the queue. That result will be particularly useful for narrowing down the remaining cause.

Have a great day!