HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color M251 nw Installation Issue

[MaxineE]

Just bought the HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color M251 nw and following all steps per the installation cd, I plugged in the usb and the installation cd is not recognizing that it is plugged in and will not allow me to continue past the Connect the Product step... Help please... I called tech support in another country they put me on hold 2 minutes into the call and hung up on me after 20 minutes.

[Gemini02]

Hi MaxineE,

Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience!

Sorry about your previous experience when calling in to Tech Support.

I understand you are unable to install the printer.

I will be happy to help you.

Leave the printer connected by the USB cable.

These steps are for Windows 7, if you are using another operating system just let me know.

Check the device manager for any printer entries.

Go to start, right click on computer and left click properties.
Click on device manager.

Look for the printer entry, might be other devices, unknown device, delete the entry by right clicking it and select uninstall, it might show up under universal serial bus controllers as USB printing support, delete the entry by right clicking it and select uninstall.

Disconnect the USB cable now.

Uninstall the software that partially did get installed.

Go to start and select computer.
Right click on the CD for the printer and left click open in a new window.
Double click on uninstall.

Then run the CD again. Don't connect the USB cable until prompted.

Hope this resolves your issue.

Thank you for posting on the HP Forums.

Have a great weekend!

[eatonismyname]

I have had exactly the same problem twice in one week on two different systems. The first was Win XP SP3 with a M251 nw which hung up at the "Connect the product" step with USB, despite multiple uninstalls, reinstalls, new cables, etc. I thought the printer was defective and returned it. Today, on a different computer, brand new Win7 pro and a different brand new M251 nw Exactly The Same Issue. Exactly the same. Neither computer recognized the USB as a device. This is an HP problem. I'm going to try to connect wireless tomorrow, but if it doesn't work, I'll be returning this printer as well.

HP, you need a hotfix. This is a real problem.

[Gemini02]

Hi eatonismyname,

Sorry to hear you are having the same issue with another Laserjet m251.

Make sure the printer is connected directly to a wall outlet. (don't use a power hub or a surge protector)

If it isn't it can cause communication issues.

Make sure the USB cable is a 2.0 cable and 6 feet or less and is connected directly to the computer and

not a USB hub. The ports on the computer should also be 2.0.

Restart the print spooler on the computer to see if that is causing this issue.

Click on start, type Admin in the Search

programs and files box, then click

Administrative Tools from the list.
Double-click Services.
Right-click Print Spooler.
Click Stop to stop the Print Spooler.
Click Start to restart the Print Spooler.

I have provided a URL how to get to the device manager and check for conflicts since the printer had been connected and might show as other device.

How do I get into Windows Device Manager?

Then click the link below Identifying problems in the Windows Device Manager.

Look for the printer entry, might show as other devices, unknown device,  it might show up under universal serial bus controllers as USB printing support, you would have to right click and uninstall.

I would turn off all start up programs to make sure there isn't something blocking the printer.

Click on start, in the search box type in run, enter, then type in msconfig, click OK.

Click the Services tab.
Click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box.
Click Disable All, and then click OK.

Then click on the start up tab at the top.
Click on disable all.

Reboot the computer.

Temporarily turn off any Antivirus software.

Disconnect the USB cable, uninstall the printer and run the installation again.
Don't connect the USB cable until prompted.

Please let me know how you make out.

Thank You.

[THETV]

I am having a similar issue. I am trying to install on xp 64 bit machine and the printer will ONLY show up in devic manager as "usb mass storage device" the printer SW seems to finish its install and when I then hook the usb cable up it only comes up as mass storage device. when I attempt to add the printer manually it does not recognize the usb as one of the connections to use. I have tried everything from clean installs to different usb cords to different power plugs etc and it always comes up as mass storage device. Is there a way to fix this XP install? It says xp is supported but is it really?

[Gemini02]

Welcome to the HP Forums THETV,

I see by your post that the printer isn't being fully recognized by a USB connection.
I can help you with this issue today.

The Windows XP is a supported operating system with Service Pack 2.

How to Find the Windows Edition and Version on Your Computer.

I would disable the Smart Install on the printer to see if that will help.

On the printer, touch the setup icon, (wrench) services, HP Smart Install, turn it off.

Then go back into the device manager and uninstall the "usb mass storage device".

Click on View across the top and select show hidden devices.

Also check for anything with a Exclamation Mark or Other Devices and uninstall them.

Identifying problems in Windows Device Manager.

Disconnect the USB cable. You want to use the normal USB slot 2.0 not the latest USB 3.0.

USB 3.0 are supposed to be backwards compatible. The USB shouldn't be longer then 6 feet.

Run the uninstall from the CD to remove any partial files that might have installed.

Go to start, computer, right click on the CD for the printer, left click open in a new window, double click on uninstall.

Make sure the printer is connected directly to a wall outlet. (don't use a power hub or a surge protector)

I will send you a PM to check the registry for any ghost keys.

In the forum beside your handle name just click on the envelope to view it.

After doing the steps in the registry, install the printer software again. Don't connect the USB cable until prompted.

Let me know how this goes for you!

Have a nice day.
Thank You.

[THETV]

Thanks, this helped and now the xp system identified the printer right away with no issues. I was able to disable the smart install on the printer no problem of course. I did not have to uninstall usb mass storage because the printer had already been removed from the system for a couple of days and I didnt hook it back up so it wsnt showing up in the device manager. When I ran the uninstaller it looked exactly like the installer and when the supposed uninstaller was done it said that my install was done and my product was ready to be hooked up by usb device......maybe everything was already uninstalled somehow and running the uninstaller on nothing just makes it install perhaps? I dunno. anyways I also forgot to add that doing the registry ghost key removal "seemed" not to work becuase it gave me errors saying i could but who knows maybe it did. Also I cant seem to remember or read where in your instructions you told me to do this but on xp I also went into printers and in the file menu I think it was there was something called printer server properties or server properties or somehting like that. It had the pcl 6 and 5 drivers attached to past hp printers we had already installed on the system. (I think this is only in xp) anyways I removed anything hp including the pcl 5 ones. I think this part helped more than anything and next time id try that first before anything. I guess the issue was the pcl drivers were already assigned to certain devices and didnt want to share with the M251. thanks

[centralohiogal]

I'm running virtual XP within Win 7.  The printer installed flawlessly on Win 7, but absolutely no success installing to XP (64).

I have tried everything suggested but the setup still doesn't recognize that it's been connected via cable.  Any more suggestions?  This is truly aggravating.

[Gemini02]

Hi centralohiogal,

I see that you are trying to get the Virtual Win XP to recognize the printer by a USB connection.

We don't usually support this type of installation, but I did find this document that might help you out.

Make USB devices accessible to a Windows XP virtual machine.

Thank You.

[Shaks0125]

Hi, I am having an issue to install this device in Windows 10. Even though the installer is able to recognize that it is  connected, it is not able to install the driver, allways ends with and error. Any ideas?