Officejet 4650 driver "unavailable"

[ReedP]

My Officejet 4650 has worked for over a year over a wireless connection.  It has stopped for no obvious reason.  The printer is connected to the wireless network, but when I look at the device on the control panel it says "driver is unavailable".  I have the correct basic device software installed under apps.  I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling everything, rebooting, etc., to no avail.

[Chimney_83]

Greetings @ReedP, 

Welcome to HP Forums and Thanks for the post. 

I understand that you are getting a driver not available message on your printer. 

Don't worry, I will be glad to help. 

Kudos to you for trying to troubleshoot the issue on your own.

If you press any button on the printer, does the message go away?

Recommend you do a hard reset on the printer. 

1. Turn on the printer.

2. Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.

3. Disconnect the USB cable from the rear of the printer. If your printer has a network or wireless connection, leave it connected.

4. Remove the ink cartridges from the printer.

5. With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and from the wall outlet or power strip.

6. Wait at least 60 seconds.

7. Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.

      NOTE:

   HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to a wall outlet.

8. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.

9. Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.

   The printer might go through a warm-up period. The printer lights might flash, and the carriage might move.

10. Wait until the warm-up period finishes and your printer is idle and silent before you proceed.

11. Reinsert the ink cartridges, and then close the ink cartridge access door.

12. If you receive a prompt to print a calibration page, do so.

13. If you disconnected the USB cable, reconnect it to the rear of the printer.

14. Try to print.

    If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Run HP Print and Scan doctor to automatically detect and fix the issue with the printer. 

Let me know if this helped. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please 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!

Good Luck.

[ReedP]

Thanks Chimney,

I tried the hard reset you recommended and I have run the HP Print and Scan doctor.  Still the same problem.  

The  "driver is unavailable" message is on my computer when I look at the control panel for connected devices, next to the printer labeled HP36102C HP4650 Officejet Series.  There are no error messages on the printer itself.  I can print a calibration page.

I have uninstalled this printer and tried to reinstall it.  When I go through installation process, it stops and I get a message on the install screen which says the printer is not connected to the wireless network.  However, the print tells me it is connected to the network.

Any ideas?

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply and providing more information. 

Recommend you uninstall the printer from your computer using the method mentioned below, using the USB cable setup the printer and then convert the USB setup to Wireless. 

Uninstall the printer from programs and features from the control panel. (Please have the printer Off and disconnected during uninstallation.)

Check in device manager, if the printer is listed there, please delete it.

Go to devices and printers, select any printer listed there and you will get some options on the top. 

Click on print server properties. 

You will get a popup, click on the drivers tab and delete all the HP printer drivers listed there, if any.

Delete all the instances of your printer listed in devices and printers.

Restart the PC.

Once the PC is booted to the desktop, press Win + R, it would bring a Run dialog box, 

Type %temp% in the run box and click Ok or hit the Enter button.

It would bring up the temporary files folder. Delete the files in the folder (You might not be able to delete all the files, ignore them).

If possible, delete the printer from the registries using Regedit or using any other 3rd party application.

Restart the PC again. 

Download the latest full feature driver from www.hp.com/drivers and install it on the computer.

Connect the printer to your computer only when the setup prompts for the printer. 

Once the printer is responding with the USB setup, please follow the procedure mentioned in this link to convert the USB setup to Wireless. 

Let me know if this helped. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please 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!

Good Luck. 

[ReedP]

Chimney, I appreciate all your help.  I've done all you recommended and still have failed to install the printer because "driver unavailable".  This is not an expensive printer, and I'll be better off just purchasing a new one.  Thanks again.

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply and trying the troubleshooting steps. 

Recommend you uninstall the printer again using the method mentioned earlier. 

Create a new user account on the computer. 

Log in to the new account. 

Install the printer on the new account using a USB cable and try to print. 

If the issue persists, please contact our phone support any service or upgrade options. 

Please follow the procedure mentioned below to contact our phone support. 

• 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 phone number.

Keep me posted. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please 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!

Please do post your technical queries on our Forums for assistance. 

Good Luck.

[John194]

I had the same problem until I found the solution.

1. Reset your PC via the Windows Recovery option. I wiped mine clean, re-installed Windows 10.

2. DO NOT run Windows Update!

3. In my case I installed the HP OfficeJet 4650 All-in-one series full web setup. The printer/scanner worked!

If you reset your PC, reload Windows 10, and run Windows Update before installing the printer software, you will find a "driver unavailable" message under Printers & Scanners in Windows Settings.

If you reset your PC, reload Windows 10, and run the Printer setup before using Windows Update it should work.

After your printer is correctly installed, you can then proceed with installing the Windows Updates without a problem.

Apparently one of the Windows Updates installs a group policy which prevents the installation of NT4.0 device drivers! This prevents the HP OfficeJet 4650 Printer from working. The FAX and Scanner may be usable but not the printer.

Install the HP OfficeJet BEFORE running Windows Updates after resetting your PC and you should be fine.

John Burns

[John194]

Go to Windows Update & Security

Click on Update History

Click on Uninstall Updates

Click on KB4032188

Click Uninstall an Update (above the list of updates)

Restart your computer after uninstalling KB4032188

Or Reset your PC, Reinstall Windows 10, Do NOT run Windows Updates, Install HP OfficeJet 4650 Full Web Setup from 123.HP.COM/SETUP

If you run Windows Updates, do it after installing printer and uninstall KB4032188 using instructions above.

[John194]

I found a way to install all Windows Updates, including KB4032188, and keep the HP OfficeJet 4650 printer working.

Click Start - Settings
Click Update & Security
Click Update History
Click Uninstall Updates
Click Turn Windows features on or off
Check the box next to Legacy Components
Click OK
Close the Install Updates window

John Burns

[rstsummers]

In my case, it WAS reinstalling Windows 10 that caused the printer to stop working. When I reinstalled the printer software, it refuses to install any driver except the scan driver. It works fine for everyone else. I can't even use it with a cable. Ive deleted all printers multiple times, reinstalled all the software both from disc and online about a dozen times, installed using cable as well. Nothing works.