an error occurred while printing HP Officejet 4620 Vista

[Cachelot]

Hi,

I have an HP Officejet 4620 e-all-in-one.  The problem occurs when attempting to print anything from my desktop (an Acer - Vista 64 bit os. - using Mozilla Firefox.)  When I try to print anything online (for instance paypal invoices, address labels etc.)  I get  a little box that says "An error occurred while printing."  It happens on everything online that I have tried.  I have also tried switching to Google Chrome - same issue.  If I try to print from MS Word, I get another series of error messages.

Note that I can print from my ipad without issue.  HP Troubleshooter/Print & Scan Doctor on the desktop says "Everything checks out okay with your product."  But when I try to print out a "test print" nothing prints. When I click on "no print' it recommends I print an internal test page.  When I do this, that page prints.  The software then says to uninstall and reinstall the software which I have done several times. 

I also uninstalled and reinstalled the printer numerous times, downloaded the latest drivers, etc., and uninstalled and reinstalled Mozilla numerous times.  After checking for other posts, I tried the about:config fix specified for similar issues without success. The 4620 doesn't have print.print_printer but instead has (as an example) print.printer_HP_Officejet_4620_series_(Network).print_bgimages;false.  I tried resetting all of those but the issue remains.

Any additional ideas? Many thanks in advance to anyone that can help solve this problem.

[Chimney_83 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the post and Welcome to HP Forums @Cachelot,

I see you are getting errors when you try to print from your computer. Happy to help.

Recommend you to uninstall the printer using the method mentioned below and install it back on the computer. 

Uninstall the printer from programs and features from the control panel.

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.

Update the firmware on the printer using the control panel on the printer. (Will require the printer to be connected to your wireless network.)

Once the PC is on 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).

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. 

If the issue persists, please assign a static IP address to the printer. Follow the steps below. 

Obtain the IP address of the printer (which can found by pressing the “wireless” icon on the printer control panel)

Enter the IP address on the web browser (Ex: chrome, IE) to enter the printer EWS page.

Go to the “Network” tab, click on “Wireless (802.11) then click on “Network address (IPV4)

Click on the radio button which says “Manual IP” and then click “Suggest a manual IP address” to give a manual IP address to your printer.

Click on the radio button which says “Manual DNS server” and under manual preferred type 8.8.8.8 and under manual alternate type 8.8.4.4 (This is Google DNS server address)

Let me know if this helped. 

 Please click ‘Accepted Solution’ on the post that solves your issue to help others find the solution. To show appreciation for my help, please click the ‘Thumbs Up’ Icon below.

[Cachelot]

Finally found time this morning to try this solution.  I decided to try printing out the instructions which did cause an error message to come up, but then the error message went away and the printer actually started printing the page.  I went in to try printing from other websites and it is now printing from all of them.  No explanation of how or why.  I have not done anything more (removing/reloading software, etc.) since putting the issue here on the discussion board.  Anyway, thanks for the help.  I will keep the instructions just in case/for future use. 

[Cachelot]

Jeez!  This issue is NOT resolved. The printer started having the same issues again!  I went through the prior instructions sent (uninstalling the printer for about the 7th time 😞   it was done several times prior to posting my original message). 

One note:  The issue appears to start when you change the page setup.  I typically change my 'Scale' to 70% and the 'Margins & Header/Footer' to accomodate the one document I am printing (from the internet), then I change it back to 100% for the next document I need to print.   The  'Margins & Header/Footer' tab does not look right.  When the program goes wrong, the left margin and right margin are smooshed together with a dotted line separating them (when operating correctly, they are fixed in place.)  I have to believe others have had/are having this issue.

I'm getting very frustrated with this.  I have spent numerous hours on this and I shouldn't have to. 😞