Not able to scan from printer (wirelessly or via USB)

[Burnley-Dan]

I'm getting very frustrated at being unable to scan from my HP Photosmart B210 all-in-one printer to my laptop.  Each time I try to scan I get an error message stating that the communication with the scanner cannot be established (or similar wording, depending on the software).  I have tried using several different software options: the printer's own software HP Printer Assistant, the HP Smart app and Windows Fax and Scan.  Having run the HP Print and Scan Doctor it highlights an issue with the 'Driver check', however according to the HP website and my device manager I am currently using the most up-to-date driver.

The stupid thing is that when I request a scan from my laptop (in all 3 software programs), the printer states it is 'now scanning' and I can hear the scan head moving across the flatbed scanner area, but then I get the error message.

I have important documents I need to scan/email to my solicitor for a house sale, and my printer is not allowing this to be done, which is getting rather stressful.

I have uninstalled/reinstalled the printer software/apps, reset the wireless network settings, rebooted my printer/laptop etc, but still no joy.  Connecting the printer directly to my laptop via USB also doesn't allow me to scan.  The printer will quite happily print wirelessly, which just adds to the frustration of it not scanning.

Any help (in plain English!) would be much appreciated!

[Flower_Bud]

@Burnley-Dan

Thank you for posting on HP Forums,

Flower_Bud is at your service.

As I understand. your printer does not scan and gives an error message "Communication with the scanner cannot be established"

No worries, as I'll be glad to help you, that said, I'll need a few more details to dissect your concern & provide an accurate solution:

When was the last time it worked fine?

Were there any hardware/software changes?

Have you tried making a photocopy?

Have you tried scanning from a different PC? 

Let's try these steps to resolve the issue: 

Root level uninstall and reinstall printer drivers: 

• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP Photosmart printer entries and uninstall them.
• Now go to Control panel – Devices and printer – Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
• Then press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" and press enter.
• Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
• Again, go to run window, type – “c:/programdata” – Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.

To reinstall, click here.

For more troubleshooting steps, follow steps from the link: Click here

Step 2: Restart devices and check driver scan settings

Step 3: Check the network and printer connection status

Step 7: Check Windows Image Acquisition settings

Step 8: Temporarily disable firewall software on the computer

Step 9: Try other scanning options

Keep me posted,

Have a great day!

[Burnley-Dan]

@Flower_Bud

Thanks for the reply.

To answer your first set of questions:

Scanning worked OK approx 6 months ago when I last had to scan some documents (although I often encounter similar problems like this).  I don't scan things that often.

When I 'woke up' the printer to do my scanning last week, the printer screen informed me a software update was available.  I agreed to this being updated, and the software was updated via my wireless network.

Doing a photocopy via the printer controls works fine (as does wireless printing).

Scanning wirelessly via the HP Smart app on my iPhone works fine - scanning via the laptop is the only issue.

Having tried a root-level uninstall, I have come up against the following issue.  When trying to select the drivers under print server properties, there is one HP Photosmart Plus B210 Series driver that refuses to be removed.  I get the message "Unable to remove HP Photosmart Plus B210 Series, x64, Type 3 - User mode driver.  The specified printer driver is currently in use."

I have already uninstalled all HP Photosmart software in Control Panel>Programs, and removed all the relevant devices in Control Panel>Devices and Printers, following your instructions, so I'm not sure how I can get past this point.

I figured there's no point trying to do the root-level reinstall of the software/devices until the root level uninstall has been completed.

Please can you offer help in removing this final driver?

Thanks.

[Burnley-Dan · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Another update.

Found out how to remove the driver that I was having an issue with, following the guidance given to another question on the HP forum:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/Cannot-remove-my-printer/td-p/5268949)

After following this guidance, the full root-level uninstall and a new install of the full feature printer driver has now fixed the issue.

I can now scan & print wirelessly, using both the HP Photosmart Plus B210a HP Software Assistant software and the HP Smart app.

Thanks for your assistance.

[Barachiel]

@Burnley-Dan,

It looks like you were interacting with @Flower_Bud, but he is out for the day & I'll be glad to help you out, 

I'm the Barachiel & I'm at your service.

Thank you for the update,

I appreciate your time and efforts, 

I'm glad you found the solution for this concern.

You've been great to work with and it has been a genuine pleasure interacting with you.

I hope both you and your product works great and remain healthy for a long time 😉 

Take care now and do have a fabulous week ahead. 🙂