HP Toolbox 2605dn printer: Windows 7 installer??

The software on the CD which came with my HP 2605dn runs fine under WinXP. It includes both the PCL6 driver for the printer as well as a Java-based utility named "HP Toolbox" that allows for communication with the printer when attached via USB.

However since the printer itself is supported "native" by Win7, the drivers for the printer get installed properly when Win7 is installed (printer should be ON at install, rather than OFF as is usually the case when installing drivers for a USB device after-the-fact, e.g. from the software CD under WinXP).

But the software CD actually is not usable under Win7, which means the HP Toolbox utility that would normally also be installed cannot be installed! This is a problem.


When the printer is attached via network, it can be communicated with directly (e.g. 102.168.1.102) from a browser. This is good enough to get lots of device status information.

However the browser interface does not include some functions provided by HP Toolbox, such as "Troubleshooting" which includes running the "cleaning page" function to try and get rid of toner from the paper/ribbon path. The black cartridge has a built-in "toner cleaner" that should normally be used when changing the black cartridge, but there's also a separate process to clean the ribbon... and this comes from HP Toolbox.

So... I've tried to find an acceptable place to find a Win7-installable version of HP toolbox. Unsuccessful. HP site seems to be a never-ending series of dead-ends, wrong printer, etc. Worthless.

I've also tried to reach HP by phone all day today, but I've been in the hold queue forever (perhaps they're closed for MLK Day, so I'll try them tomorrow).

But does anybody out there already have a solution to this? Is there some way I can manually install HP Toolbox from my existing software CD... or is that just impossible? If not, is there some web location where HP has made a downloadable version of a Win7-compatible installer file?

Any help appreciated. HP color laserjet 2605dn.

Thanks.

Just an update on this...

Since I couldn't install HP ToolboxFX from the software CD into Win7, and since the supposed article on the HP Support site describing how to manually initiate the "print cleaning page" function if you don't have HP ToolboxFX available does not actually exist on the HP support site, I decided to go back and boot to my WinXP partition where HP ToolboxFX WAS installed and DOES exist.

Sure enough, right there under "troubleshooting" is the "print cleaning page" button. Why this isn't also available directly from the control panel on the printer... well who knows. Apparently the printer initiates the function automatically when you change the black cartridge, but after that you MUST do it only from HP ToolboxFX. Crazy.

Anyway, now that I've used the "physical cleaning tool" inside the printer just above the black cartridge to remove black toner build-up, and also booted to WinXP so that I could run HP ToolboxFX there to print a cleaning page (to clean the ribbon), as well as upgraded the printer's firmware to the latest available as well as upgraded the printer's Win7 x64 drivers for both PCL6 and PS from the HP Support site... well, happily I report that my "smudged, dirty" appearance (obviously excess black toner) has now disappeared. White once again looks white.

I am having the same problem with one additional issue. I have a 2605dn and the CD is for windows XP. I run my printer off a Belkin Printer Server. All my home laptops from Dell that run XP can be easily configured to print to the printer through the print server. However, I cannot get the new laptop with windows 7 to work. I tried downloading the universal printer driver from HP for windows 7 64 bit. But when I try to print a test page it does not even show up in the queue. Any help is greatly appreciated. This is getting frustrating!

Dear dsperber & allanonbohe,

I have the same problemss. Just installed Windows 7, no toolbox available for my HP 2025Dn. But I found this website:
HP Community - Re: Toolbox FX for windows 7? - Enterprise Business Community | HP Online Forum

They saying, it is possible, but you have to connect your printer via UTP!!!

I also have a 2605dn and I am running Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit). In HP ToolboxFX you can manually initiate the "print cleaning page" function. I installed HP Easy Printer Care since an hp forum this says it contains HP ToolboxFX functionality. I cannot find how to initiate the "print cleaning page" function. Is there a way to do that with HP Easy Printer Care? Thanks.