Printer Setup, Software & Drivers

I am at my wits end with this printer.  

It will not scan to desktop with OCR.  The panel on the printer says "install the scanning software."  I downloaded every. single. thing. on the driver page for this printer.  The full feature software.  The basic drivers so I could use third party software.  None of it works.  I've reinstalled and wiped it from the registry three times now per solutions on this forum.

The problem is, the full feature software package just puts an icon on my desktop that takes me to a "connect a new device option."  There's no printer assistant.  There's no scan to computer software.   This printer has been set up and installed three times.  I try running HP Print and Scan doctor and it fails the driver check saying it can't communicate with the product.  But I can use the HP scan app to wirelessly scan files.  Problem is, it won't allow PDF or OCR.  So I pay for Nitro, and it can't scan either because it can't communicate with the scanner.

I've tried to enable "scan to computer."  I do not know how to.  Everything on the internet says to open the desktop icon to access printer assistant, but it just opens the setup to add the printer, and once added, only gives me an option to get more software from HP.com.  I used to have an icon for this "scan to computer" program, but I accidentally uninstalled it months ago and cannot find out how to redownload it.  It doesn't appear to to be part of the "full feature" software package, nor was it installed using the "HP easy start" app or anything else.  There was no CD in the box with this printer.

Everything that tries to scan is telling me to "install scan software" and I have about 95 different scan software packages installed at this point.  Why is the scanning software not included in the "full feature" software package I've downloaded and installed three times now?  Where do I get it?  Do I need to be using a cable or something?  How do I fix the scan driver so HP print and scan doctor can fix this issue?