OfficeJet 4650 series says printer drivers not available

[needhelp25]

Purchased a new printer and I'm unable to get all of the software/drivers loaded to my computer.  

First round of driver loads added the printer as Fax only.  Second round added the printer as a Scanner only.  Both of those adds did work but the printer was still showing as "driver not available".  The HP Scan Print Doc said not all of the software was loaded.  Let it load the necessary software and still received "driver not available".  Turned everything off, including router- still get the same message.  

I removed all installed devices and began the loading process again.  Continue to receive the "driver not available" message and unable to print anything from the laptop.  I verified the WPS Pin from printer and the wi-fi password, everything is correct.  I even tried using hard line instead of wi-fi/bluetooth...still "driver not available.  

Please provide me with a working solution.

[ShlomiL]

Hi,
Please follow the steps below to resolve such an error:

**Be aware that if you have other printers installed on your PC, those will need to be reinstalled too once completing these steps.

1. Uninstall the HP Software from your PC.
2. Backup your registry prior making any registry changes:
     https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c03485724
3. Update your registry using the Reg file below (that will change some printer related policies for your PC):
     https://www.dropbox.com/s/avbv56zdgwv7600/kernel.reg?dl=1
4. Right click the Start menu and select Run.
     Type Services.msc and press OK.
     Locate and stop the Print Spooler service
5. Browse to c:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers.
     Rename W32X86 to W32x86.old
     Rename x64 to x64.old
     Note: if any of these folders fail to rename reboot your PC and then Continue following the steps starting from Step 4...
6. Restart your computer.
7. Reinstall the HP Software and check for any difference

Please let me know the results,
Shlomi

[randotherando]

Sooooo, I spent 4+ hours trying to figure out why my HP OfficeJet 4650 wouldn't print this evening.  According to EVERY piece of HP software, the printer was connected, online, ready, etc. etc. via a wireless connection to my network.  After multiple uninstalls and re-installs of HP software, driver updates, power cycles, and more, the printer STILL didn't work. 

It had always printed fine, and out of nowhere it stopped printing.

Fun part was that I could scan from it just fine, I could print "internal" test pages through the diagnostic software just fine, but I couldn't print "normal" test pages, or print anything from the actual computer.  Through the touchscreen interface on the printer, I could even print random summaries that the settings allow you to produce, but nothing actually from my computer. 

I followed bad advice and wasted a lot of time from other HP sources/employees, including the following:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Software-and-Drivers/test-page-not-printing-but-internal-test-...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04655208

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Software-and-Drivers/Officejet-4650-driver-quot-unavailable-qu...

After all the garbage rabbithole HP support suggestions above, I need to thank ShlomiL (a volunteer) for the only fix that actually worked.  If your 4650 printer shows connected/ready/online but will not print when you click print, this is your fix for windows 10.

[msjwainwright]

Thanks so much! This worked. 

[kimdkus]

I think the help desk needs a lot of help, either that or the HP OfficeJet 4650 is the worse piece of junk ever invented. I too have spent HOURS trying to reinstall the disappearing driver and still couldn't get the Driver to install. So I shut down the computer, brought it up again, the garbage printer works fine. Don't bother with Help Desk, just try turning off your computer and bringing it back up again. 

[Barry1947]

OfficeJet 4650 series says printer drivers not available This has happen a number of times. I have switched on and off, reloaded amd reinstalled software  NO EFFECT Is this a virus   please help I am not very computer leiterate

[suenoyes]

O-M-G THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

[VersatileVarun]

I am pretty tech savvy but there was no way for me to know that I had to all this to get my printer working. Have been struggling for a week and finally found a solution that works ... Thanks man.

It worked like a charm