Printer properties box no longer shows option to print in colour or black&white?

[Asylve5702]

HP Envy 5540 just tried to print in colour and noticed the properties box no longer shows the option to print in colour or black&white on either of my laptops. This issue has only recently occurred in the past 6 weeks.

I no longer have the original installation disc. I tried uninstalling and installing the basic driver with no success. . 

[Jeet_singh]

@Asylve5702,

Thank you for showing your interest in HP Support Forums. It is a great place to find the help you need, from other users, HP experts, and other support personnel. I understand you are having issues while printing from your HP Envy printer. Don't worry we'll work together to help you find a solution.

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Have you recently made any changes on the printer before the issue started?

Have you tried to do a hard reset on the printer?

Are you able to make a copy from the printer?

How is the printer connected? USB/Wireless

Let’s start by performing a network power drain. Follow the steps below:

Turn off all the devices connected on your network including the PC, Smartphones, printer, modem (if present) and router. Make sure all the devices in the network are turned off / unplugged.

Wait for 2-3 minutes.

Now turn on the modem if present. Wait till all the lights are steady and idle.

Then turn on the router. Again wait for a couple of minutes so that the lights are all steady.

Then turn on the PC and other devices.

If you are facing any issue while using the printer then try using HP Print and Scan Doctor (PSDR). PSDR is an automated tool which can diagnose and resolve printing and scanning problems. Please go to this link: HP Printers - Using HP Print and Scan Doctor (Windows)  to download and run HP PSDR. Once you open the program, select your printer and click on “Fix Printing” to automatically diagnose and fix the issue.

Let’s first try and make a “photocopy” to determine whether the issue is with the printer or not. Place a document on the scanner glass and choose “Copy” option. If the printer is making a good copy, then the printer hardware is fine.

If the copy comes out fine, then I would suggest here is to check the print settings - HP Printers - Print Driver Settings Guide (Windows)

If the copy comes out fine, then I would suggest you uninstall the printer drivers from the root level and then reinstall them by following the below steps:

• Press “Windows key” + “r” to get the “Run” window.
• Type "services.msc" to get Services – Go to “Print spooler” – Right-click and “Stop” the service.
• Now again open "Run" - Type “spool” and ok - Go to PRINTERS folder - delete everything in that folder.
• Go to services again - Start the print spooler.
• Now check for issue resolution.
• If the issue persists, also try clean installing the printer drivers. Here are the steps:
• First, unplug the USB cable from the printer if present.
• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP Envy printer entries and uninstall them.
• Now go to Control panel – Devices and printer – Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
• Press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" (There is a space between .exe & /) and press enter.
• Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
• Again, go to the Run window, type – “c:/programdata” – Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.
• Restart your computer.
• Please click here to download and install the software.
• Connect the USB cable if prompted and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Let me know if those steps worked for you.

If they did, that’s awesome!

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.

[Asylve5702]

Jeet, 

I tried a clean install and still no success. This problem is affecting both my laptops so it must be a firmware problem?

As I said before looking at previous posts it seems to work when the original install disc is used but I dont have this.

Any other ideas?

[Jeet_singh]

@Asylve5702,

Thank you for replying,

After reviewing your post thoroughly, I see that you have performed the steps suggested and unfortunately nothing has helped to resolve this issue.

I would suggest here is to Uninstall the printer drivers and then try installing the Windows built-in drivers for the printer.

Simply turn on the printer and connect the USB cable from the printer to the PC. The drivers will be installed in 2-3 minutes. Go to Control panel - Devices and printers to check the printer entry and make it as default printer if needed.

Check http://hp.care/2nxKJv8 for additional instructions.

If the issue persists, try creating a new user account and then install the printer software:

It looks like an operating system issue with the machine. First go ahead and uninstall the printer software and then create a new local user and then try to install the printer.

Follow the steps here to create a local account on your PC: Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10       

Now, login to the new account and then try to install the printer and check.

Let me know if those steps worked for you.

If they did, that’s awesome!

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.

[Asylve5702]

Jeet,

I found a solution. 

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Software-and-Drivers/No-color-option-in-the-network-printer-pr...

This is literally a 2 minute fix. Annoyingly it took me several hours to find the answer!

[Jeet_singh]

@Asylve5702,

I'm glad you got this issue sorted out

Do visit our HP Forums and drop us a message anytime you need help

Thank you 😀

[7oby]

@Jeet_singh The drivers are broken, please forward this to your internal HP ticket system. This is a well known bug and all solutions currently are based on installing old drivers or drivers for different printers:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/HP-Envy-5540-only-prints-black-and-white/m-p/6594880/h...

With Windows 10 updates and automated driver updates this becomes very annoying. At least pull back the broken driver and offer a working one in your download area for the Envy 5540.