Occasional usage

[Clarbeston]

 My Warranty has expired for my Envy 5546 in October 2017. But Since I purchased it in October 2016 I have only occasionally used both the Scanner and the Printer. With the Scanner seeing the least amount of usage. I started out with W7, but upgraded to W 10 as it became available( a bloody nightmare ) since then I have mainly used Ubuntu 18.04  for my needs ( I have Ubuntu and Windows dual booted ) But When I remember I switch back to W 10 to keep it updated to the latest specs ( not the 2019 latest version which has just recently come out of Beta testing ) What I have found is that I get a message from my HP assistant software that my Scan function has been lost from my network, and so will not work. Later after Hours of using Scan Doctor and farting about with touching the small screen control panel on the envy. And reams of paper for the tests plus gallons of Ink I might by some chance of the Gods get the scanner to work. But when I go back to my normal mode of use ie Ubuntu. And forget about W 10 for several weeks, then come back to see if the virus definitions in W 10 or the latest Windows malware  have an upgrade.  I find that I've lost the scanner function again. Surely if the HP assistant software in W 10 is not being upgraded by the latest W 10 updates. And I can think of no way that Ubuntu can have an effect on the Assistant software. The fault appears to me endemic to the Assistant software in as much as it for my machine has been out of touch with it for weeks, whilst I am operating my desktop with ubuntu. Or it might have something to do with this warning that I found upon the reams of printed test  sheets that must have come from half the annual output of Finland, that I put into my  machine. It says that my Hp Printer is currently configured with an Auto IP address. That on most networks this will prevent my machine from communicating over the network. If this should happen the solution appears to be that I should touch my toes, wear an  ant -static arm band, and a tin foil hat. Remove my machine from where it is sited, pull out the power  plug for at least half of forever, then switch it back on after reinstating the power plug. Then go through testing again using the other half of paper from Finland's annual output in my machine. plus the necessary ink usage to bankrupt me. Now what I would just like to know, is  if it  is W 10 causing this,or if it is this auto IP address thing. Why is there no resolution so that I can set up my machine using a non auto IP address? Surely there must be a solution, why are things made so complicated?

[Clarbeston]

 Jasmine it was most kind of you to seek to help me with this matter. Thank you for the phone number but unfortunately as i live in great Britain, I suspect that it wil not work for me. Let alone the time zone problem. Thank you again. Regards Cliff.