Some programs print, others won't

[JeffG2]

As the title suggests, some programs print successfully; with others, nothing happens.

For email: Thunderbird won't print, but eM Client is fine.

For other files: Libre Office Writer won't print anything, but Acrobat Reader will print pdf files no problem.

The printer is connected wirelessly. Logic says that the succesful programs must be using a different method to queue files to this printer than the programs that fail to print. Nothing is shown in the printer queue for the failing programs.

Is there any way to determine which method is which, and why there is a difference? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

PS: Thunderbird only stopped printing emails when I changed from my previous printer to this one. The previous printer was also an HP - I don't remember the model number, but it took 364 cartridges.

[Sunshyn2005]

Hi @JeffG2, 

Thanks for reaching out to the HP Forums. I see you are unable to print from some of the programs on your computer, but you can print from others. I'd like to help you with this mystery! 

Running the Print and Scan Doctor might help. The HP Print and Scan Doctor is a free utility (tool) that helps to quickly resolve common printing, scanning and connectivity issues including but not limited to:

• Connectivity:

  USB: Verifies that the USB connection from your computer to the HP product is working correctly.

  
  

  Network: Verifies that the network connection between your computer and your network is working correctly.

• Device Status Test: Checks for device errors such as out of paper, paper jams, carriage stalls, and paper feed issues, and then provides instructions for fixing the error.

• Driver Check: Checks for missing or corrupt driver files.

• Device Manager: Checks for problems in Device Manager that would prevent printing.

• Device Online: Checks if the product has been paused or set to offline, and then sets the status back to online if necessary.

• Print Queue: Checks for and clears pending print jobs in the print queue (a log of print jobs waiting to print).

• Port Match: Checks the port settings for the HP product.

• Device Conflicts: Checks for conflicts with other drivers, such as other printer brands.

• Ink Issues: Checks the cartridges and ink levels for issues that affect print quality.

• Print Settings: Checks and adjusts the print quality settings.

• Test Print: Prints a test page for print quality evaluation, and provides options for cleaning and aligning the printhead if necessary.

• Scan Tests: Checks the scan mechanism, drivers, and registry entries.

Source:Try the HP Print and Scan Doctor for Windows

Click here to download and run the Print and Scan Doctor> >>>>> www.hp.com/go/tools

If that does not resolve the issue, post back and let me know if there are any symbols other than green check marks and what they are next to of course. The wrench is not always easy to spot as the wrench and the check mart are in the green circle.

• If you see only green check marks (), the tool did not find any problems.

• If you see green wrenches (), the utility identified an issue and corrected it automatically.

• If you see yellow exclamation points (), the test failed and required user action, but the step was skipped.

• If you see a red X (), follow the on-screen instructions to resolve the issue.

If the issue persists,I suggest using the following steps to delete the printer from device and printers, and the driver from the server properties.

1. In the ‘Devices and Printers’ folder

2. Choose ‘Print server properties’.

• Win XP – With no printer selected, click ‘File’ then ‘Server Properties’.
• Windows Vista – With no printer selected, press ‘Alt’ then click ‘File’ then ‘Server Properties’.
• Windows 7/8 and 8.1 – Select any printer in the ‘Devices and Printers’ folder and click ‘Print Server properties’ above.

3. Click on the ‘Drivers’ tab at the top of ‘Print server properties’ window

4. Choose the printer you want to uninstall and click ‘Remove’

5. Choose 'Remove driver only'

6. The next screen will give a warning, letting you know that deleting the driver package will remove it from the system. Click ‘Yes’ to say that you are sure you want to do this.

If documents are stuck in the print spooler, you may see an error, cancel any documents pending in the print queue, or try restarting the print spooler, then try to remove the driver from ‘Print server properties’ again. If it still won’t remove the package, restarting the computer and the printer should resolve this ‘in use’ error and allow the driver to be removed.

• If the you continue to get an 'in use' message follow the steps in the document here; The Specified Printer Driver is Currently in Use
  

After the driver is removed, open Start > All Programs > HP folder > Printer folder > HP Setup and Software (or the printer icon).

The Setup and software screen will open and you can click on Connect a new printer.

Thanks, I look forward to hearing back from you.

[JeffG2]

Reaching out? I am not exactly suicidal over this 

I happened to have Print and Scan Doctor already installed, so ran it on the offchance, but as expected got a full house of green ticks. I don't think a stock template answer is going to help in this instance anyway. I have already checked that I have the latest driver and also reinstalled it with no change.

It's a very specific problem which appears with some programs (like Libre Office or Thunderbird) but prints just fine from Adobe Acrobat or the email client eM Client. In fact, I was forced to change from Thunderbird to em Client when this printer just wouldn't print from Thunderbird.

I have monitored the printer queue on my Windows 10 PC (I had the same problem with Windows 7), and see that when it fails to print, the job arrives in the queue, then immediately disappears. I am wondering if it is something to do with different print protocols used by the successful and failing programs. Please bear in mind that my previous HP printer was just fine (I had to replace it with the 4634 due to ink failure that could not be resolved).

[Josh_Kemmer]

Some programs can't automatically detect the printer installed in your printer. You can delete the old printer in the control panel and set the new printer as "default printer".

[JeffG2 · Accepted solution]

Well, I solved this myself by doing a clean install of Windows 10. It proved impossible to completely remove my old printer (Photosmart B110) which I believe must have been interfering with the operation of my current (new) printer (Officejet 4634) due to garbage left behind in the registry. After the clean install, everything worked.

I arrived at the solution after doing a clean install of Windows 7 on a spare computer on the same network as the printer, then upgraded to Windows 10. This computer printed everything successfully from all programs.

I know that stuff from the old printer was left behind, as I could not remove it using Control Panel/Remove programs and there were folder full of files relating to the old printer.